Parma’s Epicurean Escape | Multiple Dates 2024
Join us in Parma, the Italian epicenter of gastronomy
Ahhhh Parma! Did you know that Parma is the first Italian city designated as a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy? If you are a gourmand or just love Italian food this is the place to be, and we want to take you (and just a few friends) to all our favorite places. We have been coming here for years… it is the original adventure we first started! And it continues to be one of our most popular adventures. You’ll visit our friends who run some of the finest boutique, multi-generational, and award winning food production houses, to go behind-the-scenes to places that don’t offer tours. Walk through racks of millions of dollars of Parmigiano Reggiano and Prosciutto, taste Balsamic vinegar where its aged in a family attic in Modena, and even get your hands wet making the freshest buffalo mozzarella! Back at our sweet farmhouse you’ll learn to craft handmade pastas, stuffed pastas, ALL the pastas, and with different sauces, all while learning our Courageous Cooking Methodology that will have you cooking from the hip. The outdoor kitchen also features an authentic wood-fire oven where you’ll make the most perfect pizzas, and more! We’ll experiment with whatever foods capture your imagination to show just how many things are possible in a high temperature oven. You’ll also be the honored guests at our friend’s winery for a day of feasting alfresco unlike any other. You’ll explore it all and return home cooking intuitively like an Italian grandmother!
September 22-28, 2024 - SOLD OUT
November 3-9, 2024 - SOLD OUT November 10-16, 2024 - SOLD OUT
Discover what’s included
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Stay in a charming Italian farmhouse
Six days, 5 nights in a lovely Italian farmhouse tucked into the countryside outside of Parma. It’s the perfect setting for the Dolce Vita, with a sparkling pool, large alfresco patio, and fruiting fig trees. The nearest neighbor is a wonderfully large, adorable pig, one farm over, whom we affectionately call Pigaro.
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All meals and beverages
All meals and beverages (including alcohol and alcohol-free alternatives) from arrival dinner to departure breakfast are included. Discover fun new things, like what we call Jelly Jar Wine, with a label that looks like Smuckers, but a sparking red experience that is utterly unique! You will eat some of the best meals of your life, slow food, in the cradle of all things Italian!
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Italian Cooking Classes
Learn to cook pasta from scratch including ravioi hand-rolled and machine rolled; a variety of sauces including Bolognese and learn to cook over an open fire in our wood-fire pizza oven. Classes will be taught by both our local Parma friends and RecipeKick Instructors, within the rustic kitchen and outdoors at our casa. Learn delicious skills you can take home as the best souvenir.
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![Explore Parma's Gastronomy]()
Explore Parma's Gastronomy
Birthplace of Italy’s top 3 culinary all-stars… Parmigiano Reggiano, Prosciutto, and Balsamic Vinegar! We'll go behind the scenes to see how they each are made. We’ll also spend a dreamy day at a winery, shop at local markets, make heaps of handmade pasta, and explore the world of truffles!
Casa dei Campi
Casa dei Campi is a charming restored farmhouse in the countryside surrounded by farmland and lovely old estates. The farmhouse is the kind of place that quickly feels like part of you, as if you’ve been coming here for years. We love to fill it with our favorite friends (and make new ones!) and up until now it was actually by invitation only for returning guests as a special opportunity to dive deep into Italian gastronomy. This is a special place where time moves more slowly, where nothing is fussy, and we get to spend time with people who truly love food, especially really delicious Italian food.
The farmhouse itself has three floors of rooms, each of them unique and each with a quiet elegance that is wonderfully Italian. Room assignment is simply determined by the numbers in your group, and your desire for private bath or shared, as well as mobility. Let us know what you’re after and we will take care of you! To secure a room for this trip, click through to Book Now and you will be given available options to choose from to fit the size of your group.
The farmhouse also features a beautiful formal dining room, many cozy spaces to curl up and read or chat, and a charming indoor kitchen. Not to be outdone, the outdoors here also shine. We spend most of our time outside— when we are not out on delicious excursions— in the outdoor kitchen and generous alfresco space, which is a culinary delight. The outdoor kitchen features a traditional wood-fired oven, another fully-equipped indoor kitchen, an expansive covered patio, with a lounge and the longest dining table, surround by the beautiful grounds and fruit trees (we try not to eat ALL the figs), and sparkling swimming pool, patrolled occasionally by a few neighbor cats. Here we cook, we learn, we create, we laugh, a lot. We make homemade pastas, the sauces, the veggies, the desserts, and keep coming up with even more things we can cook in the wood-fired oven. Once you learn about Jelly Jam Wine (not made from jelly nor jam), you’re basically family. Benvenuto!
Important Notes
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Everything but flights. All of our trips are all-inclusive, from when you arrive until you depart, we will take care of you in style! You are responsible only for getting yourself here and home. We take care of all the accommodations, meals, drinks, tours, gratuities, transportation, cooking lessons, and excursions; with lots of laughter to boot.
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You’ll book your flights in and out of Milan Malpensa Airport (MXP) or if you are traveling beforehand, you can make your way to the Fidenza train station, which is closest to our villa. We will meet you there and take care of everything else.
Arrival. Plan to arrive by 3pm to Milan Malpensa if you’d like pickup. Or, arrive to the train station by 4pm.Departure. Book a departure flight that leaves no earlier than noon, as we will need to drive an hour to the airport, plus you’ll need time to be there ahead. We are also happy to take you to the train station if you plan to extend your trip elsewhere in Italy.
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We will meet you at the airport in Milan or train station in Fidenza and take care of you from there!
For the curious, we will be driving to the sweetest restored farmhouse in the Parma countryside. It will be our home base for cooking classes, relaxation, and our deep dive into Italian delicacies through our bespoke excursions across the week.
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Whatever brings you joy! Italians love casual elegance, and we are very much come as who you are. We suggest comfortable walking shoes for our excursions, but none of these are challenging walks. We will only have 1 or 2 times where you might want something nicer than your casual day clothes, a nice meal out, for example, at a winery.
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In September, Emilia-Romagna typically experiences mild and pleasant weather. The average daytime temperatures usually range from about 79°F to 63°F. Really wonderful weather.
In November, the weather cools with autumn, and daytime temperatures are usually between 55°F to 41°F. While the weather is colder, it's still a charming time to visit, especially for those interested in experiencing the region's fall beauty and culinary delights of that season.
No matter when you come, Bring a layer for rain and for evenings.
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You should be able to navigate some stairs, and walk through a cheese factory for example. There are stairs in the villa to get up to the bedrooms. Of course, we will carry your bags for you.
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Yes to both! In Italy there is wine, but there will always be non-alcoholic options available as well. Non-drinking is on the rise and we enjoy providing fun alternative drinks. The winery visit will still be fascinating and beautiful, for the landscapes, history, food, and interesting artisan process.
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We are able to accommodate any dietary restriction or preference. Once your booking is confirmed, we will be communicating with you and will ask about any dietary restrictions.