Lodging

OSTUNI PALACE, OSTUNI

Ostuni Palace has been newly constructed to bring space and light into the hotel with gorgeous views towards the historical center against the backdrop of the Adriatic sea with groves of ancient olive trees between the town and the sea. This four star hotel is the perfect place to start exploring Ostuni, ‘la citta bianca’, and the surrounding places in the Itria Valley.  There is also a small Spa at the hotel if you want to indulge in a massage or treatment.

MASSERIA MONTENAPOLEONE, PEZZE DI GRECO

Masseria Montenapoleone, is a beautifully restored farmhouse in the very heart of Puglia. What makes this place stand out from other lodgings is how the owners have lovingly restored every detail to maintain harmony with the original architecture and above all with nature. The estate produces extra virgin olive oil and boasts many fruit trees and a garden brimming with vegetables. Guests are encouraged to explore the grounds and enjoy the abundance of fruits, flowers and vegetables grown and celebrated at the Masseria. Naturally breakfast each morning is made with produce from the estate and includes such delicious treats as house- made preserves and traditional freshly baked cakes. The rooms are individually decorated and feature wooden beams, original antique floors and country-style furnishings.

RISORGIMENTO RESORT, LECCE

Risorgimento Resort is a stylish 5-star hotel located in a restored palazzo, just steps away from some of Lecce’s most amazing Baroque masterpieces including Piazza Saint Oronzo and the Duomo. The common areas and rooms of the hotel exude a relaxed ambience, which seamlessly blends the strong local traditions with a surprising modernity and elegance of style. Soak up the atmosphere of “The Florence of the South” and enjoy the convenience of visiting Lecce’s many treasures on foot. At the end of a long day of exploring you can treat yourself to a massage or a host of other relaxing treatments at their SPA Salus per Aquam.

Itinerary and Objectives/Outcomes

Sunday October 28: Nonna’s Pasta

The group arrival transfer will depart from Bari Airport around 11:30am for all the guests arriving on the Alitalia flight from Rome and the Lufthansa flight from Munich (Correct at the time of going to press, but subject to variation in airline schedules). From the airport we will visit the centre of Bari, including its fascinating old quarter known as Bari Vecchi. Here the local ladies still make pasta by hand sitting outside their houses. Their speed and precision will amaze you! Then we’ll enjoy a light lunch at one of the city’s best fish restaurants, Biancofore. Please note: wine is not included with your lunch (suggest that we include wine). After lunch we transfer to your first hotel, Ostuni Palace in the heart of Ostuni. Layne will present the itinerary for the week and go through the details of our culinary adventure. You are free this evening to rest and settle into the rhythms of Southern Italy. Welcome to Puglia! (L) Overnight: Ostuni Palace, Ostuni

Educational Objectives and Outcomes (2 hours): 

To understand the strategic location of Bari, which is the capital of Puglia and the importance of the old medieval city of Bari Vecchia where old ways of making pasta haven’t changed for hundreds of years. Attendees will see, first hand:

a) The technique for making orecchiette ear-shape pasta by hand with two simple ingredients

b) How pasta is handled, traded and sold on the streets of the Vecchia

c) The different sizes and cultural practices like why you may receive 1, 3, or 5- orrechiette gigante thrown in the batch.

d) Whole-wheat pasta and traditional semolina flour used in making the pasta.

Monday October 29: Burrata & Trulli Houses

This morning we travel 45 minutes to visit a local cheese artisan, who will demonstrate the art of making delicious fresh cheeses such as burrata, mozzarella and ricotta at his farm. Then we go to the UNESCO site of Alberobello to meander around the famous Trulli Houses. You are free for lunch in Alberobello, where you can choose between a wide range of typical osteria and other dining establishments. Make sure you eat light because tonight’s dinner will be an incredible treat: an 8- course tasting menu at the beautiful Masseria Frantoio where all the produce is grown on site (wine is included).  (B, D)

Overnight: Ostuni Palace, Ostuni

Educational Objectives and Outcomes (6 hours):

2 hours: To immerse oneself into life and operations at a cheese Masseria. The master cheese maker will teach you how to make fresh mozzarella and you’ll have an opportunity to make it yourself.  Then we’ll have a visit with the cows to learn about the feeding, milking and lifestyle on the dairy farm.

2 hours: To partake in a tour of the 16th century whitewashed Trulli homes of Alberobello (town in Puglia), known for their cone-shaped roofs, where cheese was stored and children slept. Animals lived inside with the family, while bathrooms were outside. Smelly homes (and children) were a sign of wealth.

2 hours: In-depth visit to the orchard and gardens of Masseria Il Frantoio before dinner plus dine and learn about the wine, olive oil and food cooked just a few steps from the farm to your table.

Attendees will:

a) Understand the types of fresh cheeses that are staples in the Mediterranean diet

b) Learn about how the less popular aged cheeses are made

c) Make fresh cheeses like burrata, mozzarella and ricotta. To differentiate between the different types and learn how they are prepared and stored

d) Learn about burrata and how it originated from this region

e) View how cows are fed, milked and live happily on the grounds of the dairy farm

f) Learn about the architecture, history and understand lifestyle inside the ancient city of Alberobello (how it was in the 16th century and how it is today).

g) Tour the inside of a Trulli home to see and understand how families lived.

h) Taste dried figs made the traditional way: stuffed with almonds and citrus

i) Experience a farm to table (0 kilometer) meal at an ancient masseria and tour the grounds to learn about the ingredients used to prepare the meal

Experts: Giorgio Spalluto, 3rd generation cheese maker and dairy farmer. Armando & Rosalba, estate owners and bio-organic farmers and life-long cooks (in the the case of Rosabla) at Masseria Il Frantoio.

Tuesday October 30: The Olive Harvest Day

This morning at 9am, check out of your hotel in Ostuni. Your luggage will be transferred directly to your next hotel, while we go in search of Puglia’s green gold – olive oil! Visit two local olive farms to participate in the harvest of the olives and understand modern versus ancient techniques used for making olive oil. This day starts with a visit to the olive oil estate, Masseria Salamina, where the passionate owner will describe the harvesting techniques and take us inside a modern mill to see the modern day pressing process. Afterwards the group proceeds to Brancati, a second farm with a fascinating underground mill that has been in use for olive oil production since the Bronze Age.

The visit will include a detailed breakdown of the pressing process through the ages and a tasting of the estate’s various oils with the owner (who teaches olive oil tasting). For lunch, enjoy a fabulous feast of local produce on the estate. This experience is a full immersion into the vital nature of olive oil and all it means to the Puglia region and the health of its people. Ostuni, the white washed city on a hill known as “La Cittá Bianca” follows for a gentle stroll and gelato before heading to our fabulous country retreat, Masseria Montenapoleone. Check in and enjoy the wonderful ambience of the estate. You are free to dine at your hotel – if you have any space! (B, L)

Overnight: Masseria Montenapoleone, Pezze di Greco

Educational Objectives and Outcomes (4 hours):

2 hours: To understand the history of olive oil and why Puglia was and still is the most important region in Italy for olive oil production.  To participate in harvesting olives and view the operation of a modern-day mill.

2 hour:  To see some of the world’s oldest olive trees and understand how they are being protected. To learn about different varieties of olives in the region. To understand how different varieties of olive oil are pressed and stored. To partake in an olive oil tasting, then a lunch and learn.

Attendees will:

a) Witness the modern day olive harvest and learn about the full range of harvesting techniques

b) See the pressing process at a local mill

c) View an ancient underground olive mill and understand how olives were pressed

d) Understand how olive oil was exported and used for lighting lamps

e) Learn about different types of olives and oils; when olives are harvested and how the region monitors and cares for the most ancient olive trees in the world.

Experts: At the first olive oil estate, the owner Filippo Angelini De Miccolis, 5th generation olive farmer; At the second olive oil estate: the owner, Corrado Rodio 7th generation olive farmer and registered olive oil tasting expert and also Michele Miccoli – tourist guide and recently qualified in a local “agroalimentare” project specializing in the production and commercialization of indigenous crops and traditions of Puglia. Qualifica di “tecnico della commercializzazione dei prodotti agricoli e agroalimentari Puglia 2015”

Wednesday Oct 31: The Bread & Sassi Day

Today, wake up for an early breakfast, followed by an early departure at 7:30am to the town of Altamura (2-hour drive) so we can experience all the phases of DOP bread. Our first stop in Altamura is at a local coffee shop for a quick coffee and restroom stop. Then we visit the Artisan Flour Mill to see the process of local organic and indigenous flours being milled. Then onto the bakery, where we will help the master bakers at a DOP bread producer make the dough. Next using a dough that has risen, we can get involved in the next stage of creating the many different traditional loaves.  Once ready, we can bake them and of course enjoy a tasting! Then we head to the famed UNESCO World Heritage Site Matera, perched high on a beautiful hillside and only recently seen by foreign eyes. You are free for lunch here before enjoying an afternoon guided walk of the town’s stunning sassi (ancient cave dwellings restored for current use as homes, shops and restaurants).  Afterwards we will shuttle you back to the Masseria for a well-deserved rest and a light dinner prepared in the Masseria’s country kitchen. Please note: wine is not included with your meal tonight. (B, D)

Overnight: Masseria Montenapoleone, Pezze di Greco

Educational Objectives and Outcomes (4 hours): 

2 hours: Experience the coffee culture  (the romance, the intense love of coffee and the social experience), which was the inspiration for the Starbucks chain. See how the indigenous wheat varietals are being milled in an artisan flourmill. Understand the process and stages of milling, using an old-ways method.

2 hours: Attendees will learn about the old traditions of DOP bread making and will bake their own bread in a DOP bread-producing bakery.

Attendees will:

a) Breakfast and learn– taste and learn about a typical fast breakfast and how coffee drinking plays a role in the Italian culture; and how Italians drink almond milk!

b) See indigenous wheat varietals being ground into flour at an artisan flour mill

c) Understand why the town of Altamura plays an integral role in the traditions of DOP bread making

d) Learn about the type of wheat grown in the region

e) Learn how to identify DOP Altamura bread and how it is regulated

f) Prepare the dough and make the loaves alongside expert DOP bakers

g) Taste different types of bread and learn about traditional bread products of the region ie: taralli

h) Hear why McDonald’s could not survive in this area

i) Visit a community of ancient cave dwellings to see how people lived over a thousand years ago

Experts: Giuseppe Di Gesù, bread maker and owner of bakery; De Bendetti family, 4th generation miller

Thursday Nov 1: The Farming Culture of Puglia’s “Masserie”

The morning starts with an in-depth tour of the masseria’s estate with the passionate and engaging owner Giuliano. The estate is rigorously organic and specializes in biodiversity and the cultivation of indigenous crops, fruits and vegetables that in many other areas have died out. Giuliano will demonstrate the use of the produce in the traditional cuisine of the area in a class dedicated to pasta and focaccia bread. We will enjoy the pasta we have made in a delicious lunch. Please note that wine is not included during the lunch. Afternoon and evening will be at leisure. Or for our active guests, there is an optional hike immediately after lunch in the surrounding countryside. (B, L)

Overnight: Masseria Montenapoleone, Pezze di Greco

Educational Objectives and Outcomes (4 hours): 

2 hours: To participate in a tour of an organic masseria and understand how crops are planted, rotated and harvested. Learn about the importance of biodiversity on this well-managed farm.

2 hours: Participate in a cooking class to learn the techniques of homemade pasta and focaccia.

Attendees will:

a) Participate in a farm tour of ancient crops and local animals on the masseria’s estate

b) Gain knowledge about ancient varieties of local fruits and vegetables from the Mediterranean

c) Understand the importance of biodiversity and why organic farming has always been a way of life

d) Learn about the use of local products in traditional dishes

e) Take part in preparing pasta and focaccia in traditional ways from Giuliano (family member/manager of masseria) and Teresina (in-house cook)

Experts: Masseria owner and dedicated organic farmer, Giuliano Monteneve. Teresina, life-long cook.

Friday Nov 2: Salento Vineyards & Lecce

We bid farewell to Masseria Montenapoleone this morning. At 10am, after checkout our driver will take us to visit one of Puglia’s most renowned wineries – Li Veli. After a fascinating tour with the vineyard’s expert oenologist, you will be treated to a private lunch and wine pairing overlooking the aging barrels of wine. Our final destination is Lecce, the capital of the Salento Province. Known as the ‘Florence of the South’, the city hosts amazing Baroque masterpieces and treasures of Italy. Afternoon and dinner at leisure in Lecce (free time for shopping or optional walking tour of the historical center) (B, L)

Overnight: Risorgimento Resort, Lecce

Educational Objectives and Outcomes (4 hours):

3 hours: Learn about the traditional grapes and wines of this region and why Primitivo is considered the real “Zinfandel”. Tour the vineyard and learn about harvesting and winemaking.

1 hour: Lunch and learn about food and wine pairing.

Attendees will:

a) Learn about grape varieties

b) Learn about wine production in this region

c) Find out how much wine is produced and how much is exported vs. sold locally

d) Learn how to taste wine like an expert wine taster

e) Why wine of this region is so robust

f) Find out about organic vs. biodynamic wine production

g) Learn about pairing wine with food

h) Lunch & learn- how to pair wines with a traditional Mediterranean lunch

Expert: The Falvo family has been making wine for three generations, first in Tuscany and now in Puglia. Alessia from the family will host our visit and share the many details of their decisions on grape varietals, planting, harvesting and blending.

Saturday Nov 3: Flavors of Gallipoli

This morning you are heading west, to Gallipoli on the Ionian coast. We will meet with renowned chef and cookbook author Anna Maria Chirone on Corso Roma in the beautiful old town for your cooking class and lunch. First collect some seafood from the local fishermen. The fish market is lively and captivating and Anna Maria is a skilled teacher and will be happy to welcome you to her cooking school for some delicious local dishes. Back in Lecce, local nutritionist Dr Sara Occhionero will meet the group to share experiences of the dietitian field in Southern Italy which will help to place into context the many techniques and traditions experienced during the week. For our final dinner, we’ll enjoy a gourmet interpretation of the best Salentine cuisine paired with outstanding local wines.

(B, L, D) Overnight: Risorgimento Resort, Lecce

Educational Objectives and Outcomes (6 hours):

4 hours: To explore a strategic old seaside city of Gallipoli and its flourishing fish market. Then prepare a traditional Mediterranean-style meal using local seafood and other local ingredients with an expert chef and cookbook author.

2 hours: Presentation and meeting with leading researchers and experts in the field of agronomy

Attendees will:

a) Understand why Gallipoli was a strategic city on the Mediterranean coast and the history of its ports

b) Tour the old city and watch how the locals buy fresh seafood at the old city open air seafood market

c) Spend the day with Puglia’s most renowned chef and cookbook author Anna Maria Chirone

d) Learn how to choose fresh, local seafood at the market

e) Learn Anna Maria’s techniques of healthy Mediterranean cooking and prepare a meal with Anna Maria and colleagues at a local cooking school in Gallipoli

f) Meet leading researchers and experts in the field of agronomy in the ancient city of Lecce to learn about health benefits of olive oil, ancient grains and the future of food that will keep Italians at the top of list for the world’s healthiest countries.

g) Learn and dine: experience a zero kilometer Salentine meal in the ancient city of Lecce

Experts: Anna Maria Chirone, dedicated food expert and chef,  Dr Sara Occhionero, nutritionist from Bari and co-author of the book Mangio Puglia.

Sunday Nov 4: Farewell

After our final group breakfast at the hotel, our team will shuttle you to Brindisi Airport and bid you arriverderci. According to current flight schedules the group transfer will arrive at Brindisi Airport at around 10am. If this is too late for your flight, you will need to make alternative arrangements. Our tour operator will be on hand to assist anyone with additional transfers (B)

In addition to the educational objectives and outcomes, the following details are included in your tour cost:

• 7 nights lodging at 4 star historical hotels
• 7 breakfasts
• Visit to the old quarter of Bari “Bari Vecchia”
• Visit to a burrata cheese farm
• Visit to the UNESCO site of Alberobello
• Exclusive visit to an olive oil estate during the olive harvest
• Visit to the White City of Ostuni
• Cooking class at Masseria Montenapoleone
• Bakery experience in Altamura
• Visit to the UNESCO city of Matera
• Private winery tasting experience
• Visit to the baroque city of Lecce
• Cooking class in Gallipoli
• 5 lunches and 3 dinners
• All group transfers during the itinerary
• Group arrival transfer from Bari Airport around 11:30am on Oct 28
• Group departure transfer around 09:30am to Brindisi Airport on Nov 4

Guidelines for making flight arrangements:

We advise that you do not book flights until the minimum number of participants has been reached and that the trip has therefore been confirmed. We will provide this notification on or before July 15^th.  Please book one of the following arrival and departure flights in order to participate in the group transfers. A supplemental fee for transfers will apply if you book flights that do not coincide with these arrival and departure times:

Sunday Oct 28^th:

Rome Fiumicino to Bari with Alitalia. Departing Rome at 9:55am and arriving in Bari at 11am. Flight AZ1617

Sunday Nov 4^th:

Brindisi to Rome Fiumicino with Alitalia: Either of these options departing as follows:

• 7am flight AZ1620. Arrives Rome 8:10am OR
• 11:15am flight AZ1624. Arrives Rome 12:25pm

If you would like to fly with Lufthansa, which operates a convenient direct flight from Munich to Bari, you can take the below arrival flight that will coincide with the group arrival. But please note there will be a $250 supplement for a private transfer to Bari Airport for the return flight, since the group departure is from the much closer Brindisi Airport. The supplement is per vehicle, and can be shared with other guests if they are on the same flight. Alternatively, there are trains from Lecce to Bari starting at €11 per ticket, but please note that train services are more infrequent on a Sunday. See www.trenitalia.com for details.

Sunday Oct 28^th

• Munich to Bari with Lufthansa (operated by Air Dolomiti). Departing Munich at 10:50am and arriving in Bari at 10:50. Flight 8128

Sunday Nov 4^th

• Bari to Munich with Lufthansa (operated by Air Dolomiti). Departing Bari at 12:10pm and arriving into Munich at 4:10pm. Flight 8129

If you’re interested, please provide your name, email and telephone number and we will be in touch to answer questions. You may also email: [email protected]

About Layne Lieberman:

Layne Lieberman, MS, RD, CDN, is an award winning registered dietitian/culinary nutritionist, author, journalist and innovator in the food and health industries. With a lifelong passion for wholesome food and better health and wellbeing, Layne helps consumers achieve a healthy balance in diet and lifestyle.

In the restaurant field, she has teamed with a number of high-profile chefs to create and market healthy menus and provide recipes and nutritional analysis.

In the mid-1980s, Layne created the Nutrition Learning Centers, a storefront center for weight loss and medical nutrition that combined cooking classes, a health food store and nutritional counseling. Following that successful venture, she served for 20 years, from 1991 to 2010, as Director of Nutrition for America’s first supermarket chain, King Kullen Grocery Company. She proceeded to turn the chain into a national leader, selling organic foods and other healthy alternatives to conventional supermarket fare.

In addition, Layne headed the chain’s consumer and industry health communications, initiating a roster of health bulletins and circulars that reached one million homes weekly. Her nutrition newsletter won over 30,000 subscribers in the metropolitan New York region, and also she was editor of King Kullen’s quarterly Diabetes Newsletter.

Philanthropically, she has devoted over 25 years to the American Heart Association as a board member, event chairperson, menu consultant, spokesperson, and a driving force behind the AHA’s annual Hamptons Gala. In June of 2012, the American Heart Association with their “Humanitarian with a Heart Award” honored Layne. She acted as an advisory board member and lecturer for Dr. Mehmet Oz’s Foundation For The Advancement Of Cardiac Therapies.  Since 2015, Layne’s recipes and nutrition messages are prominently featured in the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America’s quarterly magazine.  She is a member of Les Dames d’Escoffier Colorado and the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, the largest organization of food and nutrition professionals with close to 72,000 members.

From 2010 to 2012, Layne lived abroad in Geneva, Switzerland, to study the food, health and dietary habits of other countries. There she wrote and published her first book titled Beyond the Mediterranean Diet: European Secrets Of the Super-Healthy, which is successfully being sold worldwide through all major wholesalers and retailers. The book was named one of the “Best Indie Books of 2015” by the Independent Book Publishing Professionals Group, as a book that “deserves to reach a wide audience.” The Next Generation Indie Book Awards is the world’s largest not-for-profit book awards program for independent publishers and self-published authors.

Layne has extensive media experience in both print and television. She has been featured on Good Morning America, The New York Times, Fox News and has been quoted in hundreds of articles.  She  regularly blogs for Huffington Post, Boulder Bubble and WorldRD and  on other sites including the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics’ Food & Nutrition Magazine, Diets In Review, Access Hollywood, Shape, Kroger’s magazines and Fox News.Layne received a Bachelor of Science in Nutritional Biochemistry from Cornell University and earned a Master of Science in Clinical Nutrition from New York University. During her Masters studies, Layne worked in Public Relations for Ketchum Health Communications. After completing her Masters degree, Layne spent two years at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine doing a research fellowship as the General Clinical Research Nutritionist in the areas of diabetes, heart disease, and other chronic illnesses.

Later, at the Culinary Institute of America, Layne completed the Chef-RD training program. She and her husband now divide time between Colorado, Florida and New York.

Please see Layne’s Huffington Post blog about Puglia here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/layne-lieberman/puglia-italys-land-of-ple_b_8494386.html

Award-Winning Culinary Nutritionist & Author: Beyond The MediterraneanDiet

[email protected]