Villa Cetinale, Italy
1-5th November 2027
Guest chef: Angela Hartnett
Workshops: Luca Dusi (wine), James Millar (tintype photography), Nick Strangeway (cocktails), Ilaria Bichi Ruspoli (cultural guide)
From £5450 per person
Join us for four nights of cooking, learning and exploring as we travel to the heart of the Tuscan countryside at the 17th-century Villa Cetinale. We will be joined by guest chef Angela Hartnett, who will bring her Italian heritage and love of regional cooking to the kitchen, while Valentine will bring his own style of cooking and love of seasonal ingredients. Wild mushrooms, truffles and chestnuts will provide inspiration, with the flavours of the Tuscan autumn at the heart of our time together.
Also joining us will be Luca Dusi, founder of Italian wine importer Passione Vino, who will share his knowledge of Italian wines through tastings and carefully considered pairings. Nick Strangeway will return to explore the art of cocktail making, using local botanicals and flavours.
The history of Villa Cetinale and its meticulously maintained gardens will be brought to life by Sienese cultural guide Ilaria Bichi Ruspoli, while guided hikes through the Montagnola Senese will take us deep into the surrounding woodland and along the estate’s ancient paths.
Photographer James Millar will introduce us to the intricate art of tintype photography, taking us through the fascinating process of creating our own images, from portraits to studies of the villa and its surroundings.
There will also be time to relax, stroll through the villa's gardens, take a dip in the pool and enjoy the simple pleasure of gathering around the table.
Angela Hartnett
Angela is one of the UK’s best loved chefs and restaurateurs, known for her sophisticated yet simple, Italy-inspired cooking. Her stellar career has included numerous top restaurants, from winning a Michelin star at Petrus to opening the acclaimed Murano in Mayfair in 2008. She’s since opened a trio of Cafe Muranos, as well as overseeing the much loved restaurant at Lime Wood Hotel in the New Forest and Cucina Angelina in Courchevel.
In January 2022 Angela was awarded an OBE for services to the hospitality industry and to the NHS during the Covid-19 pandemic. Her regular TV appearances, hugely popular podcast ‘Dish’ with Waitrose, cookbooks and various newspaper columns, not to mention charity work, make her one of the busiest people we know and we’re thrilled that she’s able to join us. Above all, Angela is fabulous company and we can’t wait to be in Italy with her.
The Location:
Villa Cetinale
Villa Cetinale is a magnificent Tuscan country villa surrounded by sweeping cypress-lined gardens and its own ancient Holy Wood, where formal beauty gives way to an atmosphere of mystery and enchantment.
The villa lies 10 kilometres west of Siena, constructed in the 17th century on lands belonging to Fabio Chigi, later elected Pope Alexander VII. His nephew, Cardinal Flavio Chigi, later commissioned Bernini’s celebrated pupil, Carlo Fontana, to create a Roman Baroque villa that draws wonder and delight to this day.
The gardens are abundant with climbing roses, wisteria and vine-covered pergolas that provide the ideal setting to linger with a glass of Chianti. Beyond the formal geometry of the gardens, the untamed beauty of the Holy Wood emerges, dense with forest and steeped in a history of pilgrimage and solitude, as well as the historic setting for several Palio races held on the grounds for the entertainment of Cardinal Chigi.
In more recent years, the villa has hosted the wildest of parties, with guests including royals and rock stars. This sense of hedonism merges with the villa's spiritual history to create a place of wonderful improbability. It is a place to marvel, to wander, to disappear and simply experience it as the light begins to soften. We wonder what scenes the villa has witnessed over the centuries, and we can't wait to bring Kitchen In The Wild to this historic setting.
