Shakespeare’s Fair Verona™

Check into a fairytale 15th-century castle and be a king and queen during your stay!  Traditional Veronese cuisine prepared by Chef Michele paired with fine wine from the Veneto region are the key ingredients in this luxurious cooking tour.  During your stay, enjoy the lush green gardens flowering with fragrant sage, lavender and rosemary and a peacefulness that sets the mood.  Chef Michele’s masterful cooking lessons, guided with care, will have you preparing exquisite food of the land featuring farm-to-table produce and products.  Join us in the countryside of Verona where Shakespeare called it, “Fair Verona.”

Verona Cooking Classes

Under master Chef Michele’s expert guidance, you’ll learn hands-on how to create a complete menu – antipasti,fresh pasta or risotto, main course and dessert. Michele’s style marries traditional recipes of Veneto with modern touches, using local and traditional products including sweet Montagnana ham, renowned Fassona Piemontesebeef, and tastasale, traditional salami.

During your Verona hands-on cooking classes, you’ll prepare Risotto alla Veneta, risotto made with pork and a cinnamon sauce and Baccalà alla Vicentina, salted cod with Verona polenta. Learn about the tradition of fresh fish with a simple and sublime preparation of sea bass in foil paired with wine of region such as Valpolicella or Bardolino.  Prepare antipasti, using seasonal farm-to-table ingredients – think asparagus, sweet peas and beans along with salumi and prosciutto. Discover local artisanal cheeses including robust Grana Padano, full-flavored and Brie, Bastardo del Grappa, nutty and piquant, Monte Veronese, and Il Brillo di Treviso, aged in red wine. Desserts are endless with torta di rose, rose cake, Italian jam tart pie or panna cotta with mint and chocolate.  Everyone enjoys the foods that were prepared in the cooking class following  – in the castle or in the garden dining areas.

Exploring Verona

After a day to in the castle, discover world-famous viniculture districts of Soave Classico and Valpolicella. Visit a local winery that has been run by the same family for more than a century.  Meet your driver who will take you to this award-winning winery where you will visit an eno-museum and learn how this family cultivated Corvina, Cornivone and Rondinella grapes that make up the fresh, fruity Soaves and fragrant Valpolicella wine.  You’ll tour and taste a variety of the wine from dry to the sweet.

Visit Verona and experience the romantic Piazza Bra, with caffès and restaurants and shops – stroll the square, soak in the ornate Veronese architecture or visit the pink stone Verona Arena.  Visit the bustling market at Piazza delle Erbe and view the 14th-century Madonna Verona fountain.  Visit the Casa di Giulietta, Romeo and Gulietta’s castle, and take a photo on the ornate stone balcony.  See a panoramic landscape of Verona from San Pietro Castle and visit the Church of San Zeno Maggiore, a stunning 9th-century basilica.

Verona Accommodations

Check into the gorgeous 14th-century castle. Feel like royalty in your your spacious Junior suite overlooking the gardens – with a dreamy canopy bed.  Luxurious furnishings and modern comforts with gorgeous linens and beautiful bedding and a private ensuite bath with magnificent hand-painted clawfoot tub, make your stay comfortable and relaxing.  Daily breakfast is included with espresso, cappuccino or tea, and fresh baked cornetti, farm-fresh eggs, cakes and breads along with fresh fruits, jams and biscotti.

The castle was built in 1336 by Signor Guglielmo.  At the time, it was surrounded by a wide moat and three rings of fortified walls joined by a drawbridge and had both defensive and state functions.  Set between Padua and Verona, 5 km from Montagnana, the castle and property are set on 25,000 square meters of land in the countryside of Verona.  Lush flower gardens are at your every turn, a beautiful outdoor dining area and endless green fields.  Agriculturally rich farmlands and valleys provide local chefs and artisan bakers with pure and fresh fruits of the land making it an ideal location for excellent cuisine and wine.

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Itinerary ~ 6 Days, 5 Nights

Day 1: Arrival & Cooking Class 1

• Arrival and Check in.
• Enjoy your Cooking Vacations’ Welcome Bag and Prosecco.
• Later in the afternoon, tie on your apron for your first cooking class with Chef Michel in our hands-on cooking class preparing an antipasto, fresh pasta and sauce, main course and dessert. Dinner follows and includes the food that was prepared in the cooking class with local wine and water included
• Dinner follows and includes the foods that were prepared in the class with a toast of local wine

Day 2: Cooking Class 2

• Breakfast is served.
• Following breakfast, meet your driver for a visit to famous wine producer of Verona with tour and wine tastings included.
• Return to the property.
• Later in the afternoon, tie on your apron for your first cooking class with Chef Michel in our hands-on cooking class preparing an antipasto, fresh pasta and sauce, main course and dessert. Dinner follows and includes the food that was prepared in the cooking class with local wine and water included.

Day 3: Cooking Class 3

• Breakfast is served.
• After breakfast, meet your driver for an excursion to Montagnana, with English-speaking guide.  The tour includes a visit with tasting of typical cured ham.
• Return to the property.  Lunch is on your own.
• Later in the afternoon, tie on your apron for your first cooking class with Chef Michel in our hands-on cooking class preparing an antipasto, fresh pasta and sauce, main course and dessert. Dinner follows and includes the food that was prepared in the cooking class with local wine and water included.

Day 4: Excursion to Verona

• Breakfast is served.
• After breakfast, meet your driver for a guided visit to Verona.  This tour is 5 hours.
• Take time out to enjoy lunch in Verona on your own.
• Dinner on your own with suggestions provided.

Day 5: Wine Tasting

• Breakfast is served.
• After breakfast, meet your driver for a tour to Arqua Petrarca and Monselice, with English-speaking guide.
• Later in the afternoon, tie on your apron for your first cooking class with Chef Michel in our hands-on cooking class preparing an antipasto, fresh pasta and sauce, main course and dessert. Dinner follows and includes the food that was prepared in the cooking class with local wine and water included
• Dinner follows and includes the foods that were prepared in the class with a toast of local wine.

6: Departure

• Breakfast is served.
• Following breakfast, check-out and arrivederci! A presto!