Dining • Culinary Shop
EVOO Cooking School

SAVORING ITALY TOUR in TUSCANY

2013  EVOO TOURS  After our first visit years ago we became charmed by Italy.  The allure of the scenery, the history, the rich culture, especially the food and wine culture, and the famous Italian hospitality was so seductive that we  dreamed of sharing the experience with our customers. In 2010 an energetic enthusiastic vivacious woman knocked on our door at EVOO. Paola Roselli turns out to be a tour guide who studied languages and who has hosted many tours throughout Europe and especially her beloved Italy. She is now living with her American husband in Portland! We all hit it off and immediately began to put together our first EVOO tour to Tuscany.

In the beginning Paola asked us to describe the perfect tour. We told her we are not interested in seeing traditional tourist attractions. We wished she would concentrate on immersing our group into the artisan food and wine culture of the regions we visit. We wanted to see real people who are living out their passions, just like we do at EVOO.

We asked for a single villa or agriturismo from which to base for the week. Our day trips should include some cooking lessons, visits to artisan producers of local products from cheeses, pasta, salumi (Italian sausage/hard salami making) to wines, followed by tastings and sometimes lunch or dinner with our artisan hosts. And most importantly, our tours should be small–small enough to fit onto the smallest tour bus in Italy so we keep our numbers including us under 20 guests.

Paola has always delivered and is as involved during the trip as she was before the trip, when she visits many vendors and artisans to made plans for our group.

Now on our third year and fifth and sixth tours, we once again invite EVOO Encore Members and friends to join us for a culinary journey through Tuscany.  Each week is €2680 per person, paid in US dollars applying current exchange rate. This does not include airfare. Exact details are forthcoming to guests who inquire.

October 20-26  2013TUSCANY COOKING, EATING, WINE TASTING CULINARY TOUR

Etruscan castle in rural Tuscan where we call home for the week:

Travel the rural back roads with us to learn why Tuscany is world renowned for its food and food products. From exquisite olive oil to Florentine steaks, we explore the farms and the artisan producers who give us the real Tuscan  experience.

Off the tourist track, we stop at an olive mill near our villa  where we watch the pressing of the olives we have picked. You learn all  you need to know about olive oil! Shipping product home is available.

We  enjoy several artisan workshops in meat and meat products, cheese, gnocchi and Tuscan breads and bakery products. And there’s wine, of course; we visit three wine producers of Chianti and other wines of the area.  We visit the villages of Greve, Castellina, and Lucca.

The villa where we will call home for the week is a former castle located along an old Roman road  deep in the country side. Quiet, spacious grounds and vista views define its ambiance. The chef-owners of the property give us a cooking lesson in how to make many Tuscan favorites as well as to cook breakfast daily and dinners for opening night and for our farewell.

The rustic dining room at our Tuscan villa
Bob in a Greve cheese shop