For the enthusiastic gourmets: cooking lessons with famous chefs. Chocolate and its use for choice desserts is a constant topic of our lessons.

The dates for 2002 are the following:

from 11.02.2002 to 16.02.2002

from 25.02.2002 to 02.03.2002

from 11.03.2002 to 16.03.2002


One week is the duration of the seminar:
Every day there is a morning theoretical lesson, followed by lunch; in the afternoon the participants execute in the main kitchen the recepies explained during the morning lesson.

Different subjects are treated by our teacher and the guest teachers ( usually chefs coming from 1 or 2 Michelin star restaurants or professional working in the food & wine business ); you will learn how to cook, how to make pasta and a lot of secrets of italian gastronomy.

During the week different excursions ( on food & wine themes ) are planned to make your stay much more enioyable.

The rate per person (including full board from monday morning to Saturday lunch and alla the seminar materials) is 1.200 euro.

Lunigiana & 5 terre food & leisure

» Tuesday
- Arrival at the hotel / wellcome drink
- Dinner at Locanda dell’ Angelo: special menů with traditional dishes and wines from the region.


» Wednesday:
- Breakfast
- 09/30 Cooking Lesson: Pasta making and pasta sauces
- Lunch
- Visit to Luni (Portus Lunae ) the roman town and to Enoteca pubblica di Castelnuovo were all the wines produced in Liguria and Lunigiana are kept.
- Dinner out in a gastronomic restaurant of Val di Magra

Lunigiana: gardens, villas and fine Tuscan / Ligurian cuisine

Stretching beyond tha Apuan Alps on the northwestern border of Tuscany one discovers Lunigiana, a magnificent land with a rich medieval history and many traditions, as wondrously recounted by Kinta Beavor in "A Tuscan Childhood". Here enclosed by the magnificent Cinque Terre, medieval castles, villas and hidden private gardens, uneknown to most travellers, we are happy to propose the following itinerary...

» 1st DAY: Arrival at your lovely star hotel founded by world famous chef Angelo Paracucchi on the coast of the Val di Magra. Check in and welcome drink. Dinner at the Locanda dell’Angelo with a special menů of traditional ligurian dishes and wines from the area.

» 2nd DAY: Following breakfast, departure for Lerici to visit the "Gulf of the Poets" – immortalized by many English poets during the last centuries – with a guided visit of the town and privately owned gardens of Villa Marigola. Lunch at a lovely trattoria overlooking the sea in Lerici. Departure by boat to Porto Venere. Free time to walk around one of the most beautiful, unspoilt towns of the Italian Riviera. Return by boat to Lerici. Dinner in a lovely restaurant in Val di Magra.

» 3rd DAY: Morning cooking lessons on making pasta, the well known Ligurian sauce of “pesto” and other special pasta sauces. Lunch in the hotel. Guided tour of the beautiful historical medieval centre of the town of Sarzana and the roman ruins of the old port of Luni (amphiteatre & museum) followed by a guided visit to the Enoteca Pubblica of Castelnuovo Magra where all the wines produced in Lunigiana are kept. Dinner at the Locanda dell’Angelo.

» 4nd DAY: Departure for Carrara to visit the magnificent privately owned XVIIIth century villa and gardens "de Villier" with breathtaking views over Carrara’s famous marble quarries. Lunch in Colonnata, known throughout the world for its famous lard.
Afternoon visit of the botanical gardens of Montemarcello with a private guided visit to the contemporary art collection and gardens of "La Marrana".
Dinner at a lovely trattoria on the hills of Montemarcello.

» 6th DAY: Departure for Santa Margherita and visit of Villa Durazzo Pallavicino with its romantic park. Lunch in a local trattoria.
After lunch guided visit to l’Abbazia della Cervaia in Santa Margherita/Portofino with some free time to walk in Portofino. Return to the hotel for dinner.