About the location: A delicious and entertaining cooking tour of Sicily’s wine country, with interludes to visit Sicily's famous Greek temples, and visits to the traditional and newer wineries and the new wines that are tomorrow's "Super Sicilians." Sicily is one of Italy’s fastest growing wine areas, where young, keen winemakers, with modern techniques are improving the traditional grape varieties and have added new ones, to produce Sicily’s excellent Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Bianco D’Alcamo etc., as well as local grape varieties.
Lead by Chef Paolo Monti, this is a wonderful opportunity to experience the exciting flavors and sights of this exotic Italian region, with its wonderful hospitality and traditions, its pastries, and spices with a hint of ancient Arabic influence...

Your home for most of the week is the lovely four-star Hotel Capo San Vito (your first night will be at a hotel in Palermo). The beach of San Vito lo Capo stretches until the end of the cape bearing the same name. The town has a seafaring tradition and is built around the ancient Saracen Fortress, subsequently transformed into a sanctuary dedicated to San Vito. The climate, the beach, the sea, the little streets adorned with flowers, the fresh fish, the intense perfumes and the lovely views, all offer an unforgettable holiday.

About the cooking lessons: With Chef Peppe Buffa you will explore the delicacies of Sicilian cooking during 4 hands on lessons. Chef Peppe is a noted chef and specialist in Sicilian cuisine, and will conduct lessons along with his good friend, Chef Paolo Monti, a very well-known Tuscan chef who specializes in Mediterranean cooking
 

• 7 nights full board at four-star hotel, all beverages included, including meals out in restaurants.

• 4 hands on Cooking Lessons with Chef Paolo Monti and Chef Peppe Buffa, followed by the meal with beverages

• Admission to all tours and events, wine-tastings at local wineries, and all group transportation while in Italy

• One round-trip group transfer from Palermo Airport by minibus at a pre-arranged time.

Day One - Sunday

• Pick up at the airport in Palermo and transfer by minibus to your hotel.

• Check in at the hotel with some time to rest before dinner.

• 8.00 pm Aperitifs and Welcome Dinner.

Day Two - Monday

• 8.30 am Breakfast, followed by excursion in Palermo. Enjoy this beautiful Mediterranean town with its typical street market “Capo”, just like an Arabian Suk with its colorful shops, stalls, fish vendors and fried food sellers.

• We will also visit Palermo’s most important churches and monuments.

• Snack lunch in Monreale.

• 3.00 pm Departure for Segesta to visit the temple area then continue on to San Vito Lo Capo. Check in to Hotel Capo San Vito.

• 8.00 pm Dinner in hotel's restaurant.

Day Three - Tuesday

• 10.00 am, start with the first cooking lesson with Chef Peppe Buffa and introduction to Italian and Sicilian Cooking followed by lunch.

• Rest of day on own.

Day Four - Wednesday

• Breakfast in the hotel.

• 9.00 am Visit a fish market and Tuna roe artisan in San Vito Lo Capo, where you will learn how to select fresh fish.

• 10.00 am Second cooking lesson on Sicilian fish specialties with Chef Peppe Buffa.

• 3.00 pm Free time to explore San Vito Lo Capo.

• - 7.30 pm Dinner in the hotel's restaurant.

Day Five - Thursday

• Breakfast in the hotel.

• 9.00 am Departure by minibus to visit some of the best Sicilian wine makers, Florio, Rallo, Duca di Salaparuta, with wine tasting in all.

• Lunch at Donnafugata Winery.

• After lunch on to the salt flats in Trapany and stop for a visit in the salt Museum.

• 5.00 pm Return to San Vito Lo Capo and light dinner at the hotel.

Day Six - Friday

• Breakfast in the hotel.

• 10.00 am to 2.00 pm Sicilian cooking and Sicilian pastry lesson: cannoli, cassata and the typical marzipan fruits, among other things.

• 2.30 pm Afternoon excursion to the ancient hill town of Erice.

• 7.30 Wine tasting and dinner in a "Baglio" with local specialties.

Day Seven - Saturday

• Breakfast in the hotel.

• 10.00 am to 2.00 pm Final cooking lesson of Italian and Sicilian dishes with chef Paolo Monti.

• Free afternoon.

• 8.00 pm Farewell Dinner at Chef Peppe Buffa’s Restaurant with live Sicilian music and the entertaining “Cantastorie,” typical Sicilian storytellers in traditional costume who will sing in dialect a story of a saint or a local hero.

call to inquire for 2008 rates. Thank you.