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What You’ll Love About Your Week in Turin and Piedmont
Join us to experience the culture and beauty of Turin, along with the spectacular landscapes of vineyards, farms, plains, and forests that are home to the signature products of the Piedmont Region – wines, truffles, rice, chocolate, cheeses and more.
To bring it all together, we’ll have guided food, wine and cultural tours with our food and wine guide Alice Rossi as well as local guides, plus cooking classes with Chef Kevin O’Donnell.
We’ll be staying in one hotel in Turin, within easy walking distance of the elegant downtown of Turin, full of charm, great shopping, cultural sites and world-class museums. We’ll venture outside Turin to visit producers of Barolo wines, rice, cheese, and experience a truffle hunt. We’ll learn about vermouth and cocktails, and we’ll eat fabulously in neighborhood trattorias, wineries, and classic city restaurants.
If you’ve always wanted to experience the wines of Piedmont and go on a truffle hunt, this is the trip for you!
Registered Dietitians can earn continuing education credits.
Questions? Please read our Travel FAQ here, call us at (617) 896-4875, or email us at Travel@OldwaysPT.org
Day by Day
Sunday, October 13, 2024Check in at the Hotel Victoria Torino. We’ll get together for an early evening welcome meeting at the hotel, where you’ll have a chance to meet your fellow travelers. We’ll also enjoy a sampling of cocktails before we move onto dinner at the nearby restaurant Piola 1706.  |
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Monday, October 14, 2024Enjoy a guided cultural and culinary tour of Turin, including stops for chocolate and for Bicerin, the cocoa and coffee drink famous in Turin. We’ll finish at Porta Palazzo, where you’ll be free for lunch or more walking. In the late afternoon, Chef Kevin will lead us in a hands-on cooking class, followed by dinner.  |
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Tuesday, October 15, 2024Today is rice day. We’ll leave Turin in the morning, driving north to Vercelli to visit Cascina Oschiena, one of the oldest producers of rice in this part of Italy. Rice has been produced on this farm since the 16th century at the time of the Benedictine Monks. The rice is grown in an Ecological Biodiversity Protected Area and it is ‘Friend of the Earth’ certified. We’ll learn about the production and the farm, and enjoy a lunch of a classic Piemontese Risotto. After we return to Turin, you’ll be free to rest, shop or explore on your own. Dinner is on your own.  |
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Wednesday, October 16, 2024Truffle Day! We’ll have the full truffle experience after a free morning. First, we’ll divide into groups and go out with guides and their dogs to hunt for truffles. Our hunt will be followed by a Truffle dinner in Alba. |
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Thursday, October 17, 2024Today we will visit the famed Langhe wine region, starting with the spectacular LaMorra vista and a visit to the Barolo Castle and Wine Museum. After a light lunch, we’ll visit the G.D. Vajra Winery in the Barolo region, where we’ll have a tour and a tasting. We’ll have a lunch at an Agrotourism farm before returning to Turin.
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Friday, October 18, 2024Today we’ll travel south to the Fiandino Farm in Villafalleto. The farm has 100 brown cows and they make all their cheeses with thistle rennet. We’ll conclude with a lunch nearby. You’ll be free in Turin until 6 pm when we’ll have a Vermouth Esperienza at the hotel. You’ll learn all about Vermouth, we’ll have a tasting and then you can make your own Vermouth Mix. You’ll be free for the rest of the evening. |
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Saturday, October 19, 2024For our last day, you’ll have a choice of visiting some of Turin’s many museums. You’ll be free for lunch and the afternoon for packing and last-minute shopping. Our time in Piedmont will finish with a great farewell dinner at Casa del Barolo Enotavola.  |
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Sunday, October 20, 2024Departures or additional travel on own.  |
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See Your Beautiful Accommodations
Hotel Victoria is located in a quiet pedestrian-only street in the heart of Torino’s aristocratic downtown. Within a few blocks you can find the main touristic attractions, museums and theatres, Torino’s world-renowned baroque architecture, Italy’s most elegant brands and some of the finest restaurants. The hotel has a swimming pool and a spa, where you can arrange massages and beauty treatments.
Meet the Chef and Guide You’ll be Traveling with
Chef Kevin O’Donnell
Our tour is led with Chef Kevin O’Donnell, Chef and Owner of Giusto restaurant in Newport, Rhode Island. Kevin lived and worked in Umbria for three years, training with a chef at a farmhouse in the region!
Born and raised in North Kingstown, Kevin got his feet wet in hospitality early on. Starting as a cabana boy at Bonnet Shores Beach Club at just 15, he then worked at a variety of mom and pop spots throughout high school, gaining experience from dishwasher to pizza cook. It wasn’t until he graduated, however, that he truly stepped into the restaurant industry.
Under the mentorship of Chef Walter Slater at Junction Pizzeria in Wickford, Kevin truly fell in love with cooking and the undeniable adrenaline of the kitchen. While there, Kevin was inspired to enroll in Johnson & Wales’ Continuing Education program which afforded him the chance to intern in Italy—an exciting opportunity to connect with his heritage and explore its cuisine. After four months, he returned home where he met his next mentor—and now-collaborator/Giusto General Manager—Aaron Edwards, and joined him at his new restaurant, Trattoria del Corso, as Chef de Cuisine. Here, Kevin’s love for Italian food blossomed, but after a year was pulled back to Italy.
For two and a half years, Kevin fully immersed himself in Italian culture and cuisine under Chef Lorenzo Polegri at Ristorante Zeppelin in Orvieto. It’s here that he first experienced the creativity of freestyle, non-traditional Italian cooking, and Kevin credits this time and Polegri’s tutelage with inspiring him to think outside the box while inside the kitchen.
Back in the States, Kevin cooked at the famed Castle Hill Inn in Newport and then the Michelin-starred Del Posto in New York City. Opportunity again came knocking, and he headed back across the pond, this time to Paris. As Executive Chef, Kevin opened L’Office, a tiny bistro that garnered rave reviews and recognition both locally and internationally for its melding of French and Italian cuisine.
In 2012, Kevin joined forces with the owners of The Salty Pig in Boston and developed its pasta program. Three years later, the team collaborated on a brand new restaurant concept, and in June 2016 opened SRV with co-chef Michael Lombardi. The Venetian-style Bacaro and wine bar was an immediate success, earning a 4-star review from Boston Magazine, a James Beard Award nomination, and continued critical acclaim since.
Now, Kevin returns home with his high school sweetheart, Sarah, and young son to open his first independent restaurant concept in Newport. Giusto is a labor of love where familiar flavors come together in creative ways for a fun dining experience.
Alice Rossi
Our favorite beloved guide in Italy, Alice Rossi, is a native of Parma, Italy, where we met her. Although she loves her home city and region, she is incredibly knowledgeable about all Italian food and wine, and she is a pleasure to be with, no matter the city and region! Alice writes this about herself:
“My passion is food, and my dream is to share my passion! I love getting its magic across, whether to experts or to other interested people. I did a degree in Food & Wine Science so that I could turn my passion into a job. After university, I worked for a year (2012-2013) at Barilla Academy, where I was in charge of Gourmet Touring and Taste Education. I organized and publicized tours about Food & Wine and special tastes. My various jobs made me realize how much I love working in close contact with people, so I decided to become a tourist guide and tour leader. This gives me the chance to show off our Food & Wine specialties to Italian and foreign tourists, and to share my emotion and passion!”
Flights
There are several options for flights. Flying from the US into Turin’s Airport (TRN) is possible with a connection in Paris, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Madrid, and London Gatwick. Another option is Milan Malpensa (MXP), an international airport that is 90 minutes away.
We will provide you with airport transfer information, and if you are interested, we can group participants arriving at the same airport at the same time.
Pricing & Tour Registration
Please download and complete the registration form below, which includes instructions for how to submit the form and deposit to Oldways.
Price per person from $5,275 per person
If this trip must be cancelled due to Covid-19, refunds will be issued.
Prices are based on rates of exchange, taxes, and other costs as of the tour publication date. We reserve the right to correct errors and changes, and to increase program prices to cover increased costs, tariffs, and taxes received after prices are published and to reflect currency fluctuations.
Insurance
Medical Insurance
Oldways has procured medical and evacuation insurance for all Culinaria participants while traveling on one of our Culinarias with an Accident & Health policy from The Hartford. Additionally, Hartford partners with International Medical Group (IMG), a leading global assistance provider, to give us 24/7 access to medical and travel assistance services anywhere in the world. The policy also gives you as a Culinaria participant insurance for medical expenses, evacuation, and repatriation.
Since 1990, IMG has offered travel assistance services and a global network of medical providers to millions of people in nearly every country around the world. Working across time zones and in different languages, IMG’s commitment to “Being There” provides end-to-end coordinated care – so you can feel secure while traveling.
Please let us know if you need more information about the medical insurance.
Travel Insurance
While we cannot offer travel insurance for the cost of the trip or your air travel, here are three widely used travel insurance companies: