Secrets of Spoleto and Umbrian Cooking

Day One

Order of activities may vary based on season and dates booked.

• Arrive at Spoleto train station and transfer to the town center to check into your hotel.
• Begin your trip with a welcome aperitif with your host, Richard di San Marzano, followed by a gourmet welcome dinner.
• Overnight.

Day Two

• Breakfast.
• In the morning, embark on an orientation walk to get to know the ancient town of Spoleto. Visit the Duomo, famous for its facade and Fra’ Fillipo Lippi’s final fresco cycle; as well as the market square that dates back to 200 BC. You’ll also have time to stroll the maze of enchanting lanes that characterize Spoleto as one of Italy’s most beautiful hill towns.
• Enjoy a light seasonal lunch al fresco, weather permitting.
• In the afternoon, begin your first hands-on cooking class, in which you will create an entire Italian menu.
• Dinner to follow based on your efforts in the magnificent candle-lit 500-year-old dining room of your hotel.
• Overnight.

Day Three

• Breakfast
• Today is devoted to everything one needs to know about the most essential ingredient of the cuisine of Italy: extra virgin olive oil. We embark on a trip to Campello and environs, one of Italy’s most famed olive growing areas which produces olive oil that is prized by chefs and cooks the world over for its robust flavor and vibrant color. We explore an ancient olive grove with extraordinary handmade stone terraces on steep hillsides that support and produce the olives that provide an oil that is the finest of its kind. Weather permitting, we will have a picnic featuring local porchetta bread rolls and discuss the history and mythology that surrounds the story of olive oil.
• We then visit one Umbria’s oldest olive mills to learn how it is produced, the different qualities of olive oil, how to taste and select it, and how to use it in innovative recipes. Along the way your host will also share what life is like at an olive mill.
• Return to Spoleto in the late afternoon for some time on your own.
• Dinner in Spoleto

Day Four

• Breakfast.
• Start the day with a visit to La Rocca, a military fortress that dominates the valley of Spoleto with its museum, frescoed rooms, and massive viaduct. Take a scenic walk and discover the castle’s extraordinary history.
• Lunch on your own.
• In the afternoon, meet our next chef for a cooking class where we make pasta by hand at a local restaurant where the dishes will be a surprise (but will be based on the season)!
• Dinner to follow the class based on what you made — and perhaps more! The seemingly never-ending feast will be served in a restaurant that has hosted artists of the Festival of Spoleto for over 60 years.

Day Five

• This morning enjoy a country stroll through a scenic vineyard on your way to the tiny medieval walled town of Bevagna, which is interestingly characterized by how history has been incorporated over time. Roman sites coexist with modern buildings.
• Light lunch in Bevagna.
• Next, it’s on to Montefalco, a town famous for its wine. Experience a wine tasting at one of Italy’s most prestigious wine makers, along with some food pairings.
• Dinner in Spoleto
• Overnight.

Day Six

• After breakfast, enjoy some time on your own to shop and stroll in Spoleto. Perhaps sit in one of the piazzas with a cappuccino and people watch.
• Lunch on your own.
• In the afternoon, return to the kitchen for one last hands-on cooking class, this time led by Chef Eros Patrizi who leads master classes for cooks of all skill levels.
• Dinner to follow in Chef Eros’s elegant Michelin-starred restaurant “Tempio del Gusto” – a magical experience!

Day Seven

• Breakfast followed by check out and transfer to Spoleto train station.