Cooking Vacations in Italy: Tuscany, Sicily, Amalfi and Northern Italy. All-Inclusive & Small Groups.

As you look at each of our locations, you will find the accommodations to be very unique. Private village homes in Soriano, small boutique hotels, and even private villas in some locations. We choose our accommodations very carefully, because it is important that our guests get a real sense of home during their vacation with us. The sense of family we pride ourselves on would get lost in big and anonymous hotels.

The cooking classes in each of our locations are always based on the regional cuisine of that location. Some locations are more about home cooking taught by a local "home cook"or "Nonna," and a few are more upscale, taught by Michelin-starred chefs. But in all cases, our classes are 100% hands-on, full participation. We don't do the "sit and watch a chef cook" thing. We roll up our sleeves and cook the meal we will be eating that day. Our classes are also structured more like cooking events than "academic" classes. They are like a group of friends getting together to cook, with one person being the expert of the group.

One of our main goals is to get our guests into the local lifestyle as much as possible in each location. We believe in doing, rather than just seeing. So we make cheese with shepherds at some locations, we get insider's wine experience at wineries, and even harvest and make wine when it is harvest time. When olives are being harvested, we not only harvest olives, but make our own olive oil. We participate in local festivals as locals, and learn artisan crafts with the artisans themselves.

Both in our cooking classes, and the restaurants we frequent, we are all about local, organic, and fresh. In our cooking classes, if we are able to grow. it on site, we do, and pick it right there... together. If we can't, we always favor small, local growers, ranchers and producers that we know by name. Even the flour we use for our pasta, if we can source it from a local flour mill, we do it. With regard to restaurants, we will pass by chains and mass-market eateries every time, and sit down with the small mom and pop restaurant that has the grandmother cooking in the kitchen, and the kids serving tables. We insist on the best of the best. That means that if we are having dinner in a town that is known for a particular dish, and that tiny little Trattoria down the road is the best in town, that is what we are having!

On our vacations, you are unlikely to have any wine you have heard of. This is because wherever we go, we seek out the small, family-run winemakers where we get to know the growers, and know exactly how they make their wine. This always means they don't have a giant factory and world-wide shipping to your local big box stores. Their customers are usually the locals who care about quality far more than "how many points this wine has achieved in a magazine." The same goes for wines when we are in restaurants. Each of our vacations is planned down to every detail, including which wines we will be having with out meals. In every case, it is something sourced locally and organically. One of the more notable side-effects of this is that many guests often marvel when they don't get wine headaches from the red wine. Simply put, it is natural and not full of fillers meant to help the wine keep for months during shipping and extreme weather conditions.

This is without a doubt the single most important thing of all. It is what we are all about. We are constantly laughing together & having nothing but fun. Our groups are small, causing everyone to become friends right away, and by the time you leave, you will have become extended family... not just with us, but with the other guests. Have a look what past guests have written us, or better yet, if you are on FaceReserve, join our fan page and talk with us, plus dozens of past guests! People often wonder how we are able to grow the way we do and make sure we never lose that real sense of family with our guests. It is actually quite simple. We stick to the mission statement we started with no matter what. That is, what would we do if dear friends and relatives were visiting, and do that.

As you look at all of our itineraries, you will see that we always have a mixture of "headliners", as well as places you have never heard of. This is because the traditional tourist guides only mention the well-known places, but Italy is full of hidden treasures. We balance the known and the off the beaten path on our trips so you not only see what you have always wanted to see, but you also discover what you didn't know you didn't know.

Our excursions are also very different than other tour companies. We are all about that sense of friends and family, so we do our excursions like a group of friends... as it would be if you were visiting a friend abroad. So we don't do classic "follow the umbrella" history tours, but rather take a stroll together while we stop and smell the roses.

Have you ever been on a tour, and found yourself getting some "demonstration," immediately followed by time to shop in the store your are essentially stuck in? That is called "Shop-Steering," and it is a major source of income for most tour companies. After you pay inflated prices for sub-par product that was likely misrepresented, your guide goes in the back and collects the 25% commission owed to the tour company for bringing people there. It is everywhere, and done by even the highest end luxury tour companies, but we think it is dishonest, especially given that our goal is to develop a sense of friends and family with our guests. So we will never do it. Similarly, most tour companies spring sudden "optional" activities once you are there as a captive customer. Again, we simply cannot develop a sense of family with you if we are putting our hands out for money to do extras. It just would never work, so it will never happen with us. We mean it when we say that once you are with us, you are a guest, not a customer.

All of our cooking and wine vacations are truly all-inclusive in nature. From the moment we meet, all meals, transportation, tours, all expenses... everything is on us. The only thing you will pay for is airfare, personal expenses and any gifts you may wish to bring home. There are no surprises, and no hidden costs.