Ravello ~ Music In The Kitchen™

Tie on your apron in the city of music, where you will learn how to prepare local cuisine, visit an award-winning vineyard and taste your way through Ravello on a Food Lover’s tour!

Our Music In The Kitchen cooking program will have you cooking Neapolitan classics with Chef Lorenzo who transforms farm-to-table ingredients, seasonal fish, meats and pasta into delicious southern Italian fare!  Using ingredients from his garden and trained cooking technique turn each recipe into a delicious work of edible art!!!

As featured in October 2011 – Click here to read more!

Ravello, named the city between sea and sky is magical – with lemon terraced cliffs, vineyards covering rolling hills and flower-lined walkways – and delicious food and wine.

Ravello Cooking Lessons

Cooking classes take place in our professional kitchen where you will learn to prepare traditional recipes of Ravello with our Executive Chef Lorenzo.  Learn how to make hand-made panzarotti, fresh ravioli stuffed with ricotta and eggplant and fish and meat recipes too.  Take your notes on the preparation of Mediterranean fish acqua pazza, while hands-on, you follow the recipe to create this famed Amalfi Coast recipe.  There’s antipasti – think Italian grilled eggplant rolled with fresh ricotta and hand-made ravioli stuffed with cheese and pumpkin.  Meat and fish are local ingredients made endless ways using garden herbs, extra virgin olive oil and our Chef’s method.  Use creamy mozzarella and ricotta in salads and stuffings while learning the importance of the Mediterranean diet.  Neapolitan desserts will have your singing with Amalfi Coast almond flour cake, torta di mandorle, Neapolitan crostata topped with fresh fruit and biscotti and limoncello.

Ravello

Ravello is located on a rocky spur high above the Amalfi Coast. This quaint town of villas, churches and rose gardens has been a destination for musicians, artists and writers throughout time.  Literati of time pasted, like Richard Wagner, Giovanni Boccaccio, Virginia Woolf, Gore Vidal and André Gide have lived in Ravello and created their best works of art.  Ravello is home to the Ravello Festival which was started in 1953 in honor of Richard Wagner.  Each summer, concerts continue outside in open air entertaining guests from around the world.

Ravello is known for its peacefulness, unique landscapes and terraced hillsides covered in lemon groves Far above, thin wisps of cloud reach down to caress stone rooftops creating a truly magic atmosphere.

Take a walk to the piazza and enjoy a cappucino or limoncello and watch the world go by. Visit the Cathedral San Pantaleone adorned with Byzantine mosaics, frescos and artwork. Take a stroll to the Villa Cimbrone and the Terrace of Infinity.  Venture into Villa Rufolo, home to the Wagner Music Festival, for ancient palazzos, gardens and relics!

A highlight of your stay is our Food Lover’s and Landmark tour through Ravello where you will explore, discover and taste your way through this magical village with our English-speaking guide.  Learn about ancient cuisine and culture while strolling through Medieval gardens, through piazzas and pedestrian walkways.  A lovely three hour tour with tastings included along the way.  Museum tickets are not included and must be purchased on site by each guest.

Amalfi

The town of Amalfi is rich in culture and history. The small town, perched on the coastline, is dominated by Amalfi’s Cathedral and its main streets are lined with small shops and elegant bars. Merchants display their wares outside and nothing could be more pleasant than browsing through stalls of herbs and spices, artisan jewelry, shoes, the beautiful handmade Amalfi paper, and local lemon specialties such lemon soap and lemon liqueurs. Suggested is a stop in at one of the oldest and most famous pastry makers in southern Italy – dating back to the 1800’s. A look inside reveals a sweet showcase of chocolate drenched eggplant flavored with pine nuts, liqueur and orange; fragrant ricotta pear tarts; candied lemon and orange dragged in dark chocolate; or festive pastries of the day! Whatever you decide to order, take a seat outside in the piazza at one of the small café tables that overlook the greatest people-watching site on the Coast.

Positano

John Steinbeck lived in Positano in 1953 and wrote, “Positano bites deep, it’s a dream place, that isn’t quite real when you are there and becomes beckoningly real after you have gone.”

Over time, Positano has attracted artists, writers, and photographers who came to capture its magic. Positano’s small winding streets are filled with tiny cafés, terraces, and artisan shops selling ceramics, limoncello and antiques. Take a walk along the stone pathway, the one little street that leads to the beach. The green and yellow majolica dome, Positano’s landmark, is that of the Chiesa Madre, or the parish church of Santa Maria Assunta. It was built on the site of a former Benedictine Abbey of Saint Vito, a 13th-century Romanesque structure, and was almost completely rebuilt in 1700. At the altar, is a 13th-century Byzantine painting on wood with the Madonna and Child. Legend claims that the painting was once stolen by Saracen pirates, who, when fleeing during a raging storm, heard a voice from the heavens, say: “Posa, posa!” “Put it down, put it down.” When they placed the statue on the beach near the church the storm calmed, as did the Saracens. Positano was saved, and the town’s name was established. Others claim the town is named after the god Poseidon.

Ravello Accommodations

Check into the beautiful 4-star villa hotel overlooking the sea.  Once the residence of a noble family, this villa retains the historic charm of its aristocratic past with gentle renovation updates.  Just a few steps away from the famous Villa Rufolo, each room is elegantly and modernly equipped with comfortable beds and linens, private ensuite baths, private terraces or balconies.  All have breathtaking views both of the Mediterranean Sea and the mountains. The large dining room boasts an impressive stone fireplace made of mineral stone in Neoclassical style.  Each morning enjoy a continental breakfast buffet featuring freshly pressed juices, fruit tarts Italian cappuccino, coffee and tea.  You can also dine in open air on the glassed-in porch – weather permitting.  Exhale, unwind and soak up the beauty of Ravello!

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Itinerary~ 5 days, 4 nights

Sunday: Arrival & Check In

• Transfer from Naples airport to Ravello.
• Arrival at your 4-star luxury palazzo hotel in Ravello.
• In the evening, enjoy your Welcome Dinner featuring a Chef’s Tasting with a full course menu of local fare.  Wine not included.

Monday: Food Lover’s Landmark and Garden Tour Ravello & Cooking Class 1

• Breakfast is served.
• After breakfast, join our English-speaking Guide in the piazza for a Ravello Food Walk and Landmark Tour with tastings along the way.
• Tour and taste your way through Ravello’s food, history and culture, while tasting samples of the local food along the way.   The three hour tour, blending landmarks and food tastings included along the way.   You can opt to explore Ravello or enter any one of the museum – museum tickets are not included and can be purchased on site per guest based upon where you decide to visit during your tour.
• Following the tour, head to the kitchen for your hands-on cooking class and prepare a full course menu featuring local fare. Following the cooking class, everyone enjoys the food that was prepared in the class with local wine included.
• Dinner on your own. Suggestions provided.

Tuesday:  Amalfi & Positano Excursion

• Breakfast is served.
• Set out for your full-day excursion to visit the towns of Amalfi and Positano with your driver.  Discover the Amalfi Coast with stops in the ancient town of Amalfi – with is Cathedral, shops and winding streets – and sample Italian pastries in the most famous caffes in Italy.  The excursion continues to Positano.  Explore, shop, walk along the beach and soak up the beauty of the Pearl of the Amalfi Coast.  Following Positano, meet your driver and return to your property in Ravello.
• Dinner on your own. Suggestions provided.

Wednesday: Cooking Class 2 & Mozzarella Cheese Making

• Breakfast is served.
• Following the tour, head to the kitchen for your hands-on cooking class and prepare a full course menu featuring local fare. Following the cooking class, everyone enjoys the food that was prepared in the class with local wine included.  In this cooking class, learn how to make delicious Mozzarella cheese.   Watch our chef turn pure milk into creamy Mozzarella; use the cheese in our menu creating a full course menu of Neapolitan cuisine.
• Afternoon free to explore the towns of the Amalfi Coast, hop on a bus or take a taxi or venture to Vietri and explore the ancient sea side town known for ceramics
• Dinner on your own. Suggestions provided.

Thursday: Departure

• Breakfast is served.
• Transfer to Naples airport or Train Station and arrivederci!

Note: This sample itinerary schedule may vary due to inclement weather, saints days; festivals. All activities, in the event of rescheduling, are always included during the week.