Italiano/Cucina/Vino Course

A week dedicated to finally perfecting your Italian in a fun and friendly atmosphere, plus cooking, drinking and learning about some of the best food and wine in Italy.

It’s the week in Italy that will help you enjoy all your future weeks in Italy

In these classes you’ll:

* Finally learn the world’s prettiest language. Focus on learning the questions that you can ask to learn more, moving you from the owner of a few phrases towards conversational
* Spend the mornings in the markets learning utilitarian Italian, and in the classroom building your individual linguistic framework. You’ll learn the new concept and then apply it straight way, helping it stick forever
* Enjoy a staff-prepared lunch, where you’ll eat and drink with locals, practicing what you just learned
* Pass the afternoons and evenings in the kitchen, making fresh pasta from scratch, cooking everything that you’ll eat for dinner
* Enjoy these chalkboard talks over wine: Who eats what where in Italy? The history of Italian wine. Italy’s contribution to world coffee culture. The materials of kitchen gear. 1493: Southern vegetables. Olive oil fraud and what to do about it
* Revel in 10 healthy, wine-soaked feasts. Reconfirm your faith in humanity with time spent emotionally and intellectually connecting with people from all over the world, united through a love of Italian food and wine
* Master 6 shapes of fresh pasta production, using only a butterknife, a rolling pin and the (clean) spoke from an old umbrella
* Critically taste (and then drink freely) 17 different local wines, all sourced with 25 kilometers of the school, from grapes that have been in Southern Puglia for at least 200 years
* Finally, truly grasp extra virgin olive oil: Production, history, quality and learn to critically taste for attributes and defects.
* Gain market skills, tricks and tips, from how to select fish, fruit and vegetables, legumes, wine and flour
* Build Italian daily lifestyle habits, living for a week in one of Italy’s prettiest cities. By walking the same streets with a slower pace, you’ll get to know locals, the vendors, patrons in coffee and wine bars. You’ll play a part in the local community
* Prepare 25 local Mediterranean side-dishes, each dripping with high-quality extra virgin olive oil
* Learn about the history of amari (Italy’s after dinner drinks). Guided tasting of what must be Southern Italy’s largest private amaro bar

Week-long Classic Course in Lecce

Taken from TripAdvisor

  • ‘So much fun!!! Silvestro delivered so much knowledge and fascinating backstory about Italian cuisine, olive oil and wine. His incredible home and kitchen was worth the price of admission alone, and shows the years of planning and creating. An authentic sharing of important culture. Completely recommend’!
  • ‘Silvestro is a generous host & teacher and manages a diverse group really well. Really well run, comfortable, delicious, very generous and to top it all off, came home confident of my pasta making and other delicious morsels. Highly recommend’!!!
  • ‘Silvestro is a beacon of knowledge and was kind enough to answer all our questions, teach us the ins and outs of wine and olive oil tasting, shared tips of buying fresh fish and vegetables. Such a valuable experience from a greatly kind and intelligent person. Thank you! This experience will be highly recommended. Can’t stop thinking about your beautiful museum of a home also’ !

Logistic at a Glance:

When: From Monday morning to late Friday night, held several times throughout the year.

Where: In the historic centre of Lecce, in Puglia. In our owner’s private home

Daily schedule: From 10:00 to 15:00 and then from 18:00 until 23:00 or later

Taught in: Italian and English

Wine: At least 16 different wines, all sourced from historically-present (at last 200 years), autochthonous grapes, grown, produced and bottled within 25 kilometers from the school. All poured (generously) and explained by an Italian-trained sommelier

Cost: 2495 Euro (or 2295 Euro with the *discount code)

Twice-daily meeting point: Under the column in Piazza Sant Oronzo (Lecce’s main piazza—see map below). We meet under the column each time (never at the school) to facilitate daily local market visits

The Awaiting Table Cooking School Map

Walking: About 4,000 daily steps. And about two hours standing in the kitchen

Diet restrictions: We’re happy to serve you gluten-free pasta but we won’t be able to make it. If you can’t touch/be near regular flour and/or pasta, this is not the class for you

Discount code: (See FAQ below)

Q: What is the structure of the day? How much classroom, how much kitchen?
A: You’ll spend the mornings in the classroom with Francesca and then apply it right away in the markets and caffès. Lessons are fun yet profound, designed to stack up many early victories to build momentum. You’ll enjoy a staff prepared lunch with locals as lunch guests, to apply what you just learned while it’s still fresh. And then spend afternoons and evenings in the kitchen and around the table with Silvestro, learning our local food and wine, hands-on, as we normally do

Q: Who is the food and wine teacher?
A: Our owner has been teaching the food, wine and olive oil of the Puglia to students from 59 countries for the last 22 years. He is a sommelier of wine (AIS) and a sommelier of extra virgin olive oil (FIS) and has been a professional wine writer for magazines since 2010. He also lectures on behalf of the region of Puglia and annually teaches university classes here in Italy

Q: Who teaches the language element of this class?
A: Dottoressa Francesca Leo is a professional language teacher, who specialises in teaching Italian- in Italian- to students from all over the world. A lot of the lesson revolves around her ‘husband’, George Clooney: how he orders his coffee, his favourite vegetable, whether he likes the weather today, etc. This playful technique is remarkably successful, moving students away from their memorised Italian script, of their names, ages, countries and jobs

Q: Where do I sleep in Lecce?
A: Anywhere you like but we have suggestions. You’ll be give access to Student Services

Q: What is the discount code?
A: The discount is only applicable to those that use the phrase, ‘I have read the course description thoroughly’, in your introductory email.

Q: In Italian, will I also learn all the dirty words in and the type of profanity to cause a priest to white-knuckle a crucifix?
A: It’s scheduled for Friday’s lesson

Q: Is there a final exam?
A: Yes. Soon we’ll be launching the advanced Italian course and those that pass the exam will given the optional first spots. In level one, the final exam is optional

Italiano/Cucina/Vino Course

A week dedicated to finally perfecting your Italian in a fun and friendly atmosphere, plus cooking, drinking and learning about some of the best food and wine in Italy.

It’s the week in Italy that will help you enjoy all your future weeks in Italy

In these classes you’ll:

* Finally learn the world’s prettiest language. Focus on learning the questions that you can ask to learn more, moving you from the owner of a few phrases towards conversational
* Spend the mornings in the markets learning utilitarian Italian, and in the classroom building your individual linguistic framework. You’ll learn the new concept and then apply it straight way, helping it stick forever
* Enjoy a staff-prepared lunch, where you’ll eat and drink with locals, practicing what you just learned
* Pass the afternoons and evenings in the kitchen, making fresh pasta from scratch, cooking everything that you’ll eat for dinner
* Enjoy these chalkboard talks over wine: Who eats what where in Italy? The history of Italian wine. Italy’s contribution to world coffee culture. The materials of kitchen gear. 1493: Southern vegetables. Olive oil fraud and what to do about it
* Revel in 10 healthy, wine-soaked feasts. Reconfirm your faith in humanity with time spent emotionally and intellectually connecting with people from all over the world, united through a love of Italian food and wine
* Master 6 shapes of fresh pasta production, using only a butterknife, a rolling pin and the (clean) spoke from an old umbrella
* Critically taste (and then drink freely) 17 different local wines, all sourced with 25 kilometers of the school, from grapes that have been in Southern Puglia for at least 200 years
* Finally, truly grasp extra virgin olive oil: Production, history, quality and learn to critically taste for attributes and defects.
* Gain market skills, tricks and tips, from how to select fish, fruit and vegetables, legumes, wine and flour
* Build Italian daily lifestyle habits, living for a week in one of Italy’s prettiest cities. By walking the same streets with a slower pace, you’ll get to know locals, the vendors, patrons in coffee and wine bars. You’ll play a part in the local community
* Prepare 25 local Mediterranean side-dishes, each dripping with high-quality extra virgin olive oil
* Learn about the history of amari (Italy’s after dinner drinks). Guided tasting of what must be Southern Italy’s largest private amaro bar

Week-long Classic Course in Lecce

Logistic at a Glance:

When: From Monday morning to late Friday night, held several times throughout the year.

Where: In the historic centre of Lecce, in Puglia. In our owner’s private home

Daily schedule: From 10:00 to 15:00 and then from 18:00 until 23:00 or later

Taught in: Italian and English

Wine: At least 16 different wines, all sourced from historically-present (at last 200 years), autochthonous grapes, grown, produced and bottled within 25 kilometers from the school. All poured (generously) and explained by an Italian-trained sommelier

Cost: 2495 Euro (or 2295 Euro with the *discount code)

Twice-daily meeting point: Under the column in Piazza Sant Oronzo (Lecce’s main piazza—see map below). We meet under the column each time (never at the school) to facilitate daily local market visits

The Awaiting Table Cooking School Map

Walking: About 4,000 daily steps. And about two hours standing in the kitchen

Diet restrictions: We’re happy to serve you gluten-free pasta but we won’t be able to make it. If you can’t touch/be near regular flour and/or pasta, this is not the class for you

Discount code: (See FAQ below)

Taken from TripAdvisor

  • ‘So much fun!!! Silvestro delivered so much knowledge and fascinating backstory about Italian cuisine, olive oil and wine. His incredible home and kitchen was worth the price of admission alone, and shows the years of planning and creating. An authentic sharing of important culture. Completely recommend’!
  • ‘Silvestro is a generous host & teacher and manages a diverse group really well. Really well run, comfortable, delicious, very generous and to top it all off, came home confident of my pasta making and other delicious morsels. Highly recommend’!!!
  • ‘Silvestro is a beacon of knowledge and was kind enough to answer all our questions, teach us the ins and outs of wine and olive oil tasting, shared tips of buying fresh fish and vegetables. Such a valuable experience from a greatly kind and intelligent person. Thank you! This experience will be highly recommended. Can’t stop thinking about your beautiful museum of a home also’ !

Q: What is the structure of the day? How much classroom, how much kitchen?
A: You’ll spend the mornings in the classroom with Francesca and then apply it right away in the markets and caffès. Lessons are fun yet profound, designed to stack up many early victories to build momentum. You’ll enjoy a staff prepared lunch with locals as lunch guests, to apply what you just learned while it’s still fresh. And then spend afternoons and evenings in the kitchen and around the table with Silvestro, learning our local food and wine, hands-on, as we normally do

Q: Who is the food and wine teacher?
A: Our owner has been teaching the food, wine and olive oil of the Puglia to students from 59 countries for the last 22 years. He is a sommelier of wine (AIS) and a sommelier of extra virgin olive oil (FIS) and has been a professional wine writer for magazines since 2010. He also lectures on behalf of the region of Puglia and annually teaches university classes here in Italy

Q: Who teaches the language element of this class?
A: Dottoressa Francesca Leo is a professional language teacher, who specialises in teaching Italian- in Italian- to students from all over the world. A lot of the lesson revolves around her ‘husband’, George Clooney: how he orders his coffee, his favourite vegetable, whether he likes the weather today, etc. This playful technique is remarkably successful, moving students away from their memorised Italian script, of their names, ages, countries and jobs

Q: Where do I sleep in Lecce?
A: Anywhere you like but we have suggestions. You’ll be give access to Student Services

Q: What is the discount code?
A: The discount is only applicable to those that use the phrase, ‘I have read the course description thoroughly’, in your introductory email.

Q: In Italian, will I also learn all the dirty words in and the type of profanity to cause a priest to white-knuckle a crucifix?
A: It’s scheduled for Friday’s lesson

Q: Is there a final exam?
A: Yes. Soon we’ll be launching the advanced Italian course and those that pass the exam will given the optional first spots. In level one, the final exam is optional