Italy In SF

How would you like to spend a week in Tuscany learning about food, culture, and how these two intersect from one of the most renowned experts on the topic? Well, that’s exactly what you could be doing this summer, when La Petraia, a wonderful Agriturismo in the Chianti hills of Tuscany, hosts a special week-long culinary tour/ culinary culture program with Michael Pollan.

I first heard Michael Pollan speak at Berkeley about his now best-selling “The Omnivore’s Dilemma“, and I have since had an incredible amount of respect for a journalist who could understand the world of food so well, and communicate to a larger audience the kind of food philosophies that are so predominant in my Grandma’s view of the world. I have heard him speak since in a couple of occasions, and I have him to thank for introducing me to amazing “food revolutionaries” like Joel Salatin of Polyface Farm and Dan Barber of  Blue Hill Farm. I am feeling slightly envious for those fortunate enough to spend a week with Michael and get to know him personally while discussing topics in food, foraging, sustainability and the anthropology of cooking.

One of the most intriguing features of this program is the special Field-to-Table approach the Grants brought to La Petraia, one of the features that Michael Pollan often talks about in his books: sustainability through localization. The trip will in fact include cooking classes, almost all meals (with the story behind each!) as well as foraging excursions and lectures by Mr Pollan. Now, I do not organize this trip personally- but I sure wish I did! If you’d like to learn more, the full itinerary with pricing is found here, and if you’re going be prepared to take your video camera and a heck of a lot of pictures, because I want to know all about it!

Filed under: Events, italy