Villa la Rogaia

We booked and expected a cooking class in nice surroundings. But what we experienced then was much more a treasure chest of culinary highlights from Ornellas repertoire of Umbrian cuisine, accompanied by excellent wines from the region. Also the excursion to the truffle hunt with a tasting of truffle specialties was a great experience. Yet, La Rogaia doesnt mean cooking only. Annette and Wolfgang created, in tedious legwork, an oasis of rest in the idyllic Umbrian landscape. All apartments are generously designed and furnished lovingly. Everywhere you can admire Wolfgangs sculptures that fit harmoniously into the garden. Conclusion: a vacation exceeding all our expectations that makes you wish to come another time.

Annette and her team created a highly relaxed atmosphere in the Umbrian countryside. We were in La Rogaia for a cooking class with Mamma Ornella, a spectacular experience that we can highly recommend. In our free time we explored the surroundings by foot and found many hiking trails. The rest of the time we chilled on the pool, enjoying the clear fresh water. Overall, we can really recommend this holiday; it was a marvelous week.

If you have to cook for your family day in day out, you may ask yourself: is there something like gaining pleasure from cooking? Yes, it is possible. Where? At Villa La Rogaia, the house of Annette and Wolfgang, with Ornella in the kitchen. No, not the Italian film star Ornella Muti but Mamma Ornella. An upbeat, international crew of cooking enthusiasts meets in a picturesque country estate in the hills overlooking Lake Trasimeno and spends an exciting week between culture, Mediterranean cooking, and botany. With Ornellas help, we collected wild asparagus on the meadows surrounding the house. Pleasure with wine, pasta and truffle is guaranteed. Our motley crew quickly forms into a team. The common striving for the ideal menu creates connections across language and generation borders. Ornella becomes the queen of the kitchen and Franco, her husband, becomes the maestro of tagliatelle. Fortunately, Annette directs everything masterfully; translates simultaneously and gives us at any moment advice and assistance. No question remains unanswered. On Thursday, Wolfgang drives us to Citerna, where we meet for a truffle hunt with a truffle hunter and his dog. After the truffle hunt we are inaugurated into the secrets of the truffles and how to prepare them, followed by another highlight, the tasting of different products made of the noble tuber. The farewell dinner with lots of pasta is accompanied by excellent local wines. We really enjoyed this week!

Being an enthusiastic weekend hobby chef and fan of Italian cuisine, I wanted to get a more profound idea of Italian cooking. The really well created menus and valuable instructions and tips of Ornella and Annette, were very good and exceeded my expectations. I was particularly happy that my wish was fulfilled to make profiteroles and parmigiana. The cooking class, apart of being very instructive, was also a lot of fun. In combination with the Umbrian spring and the interesting truffle hunting and tasting day, this week remains for me an unforgettable memory. Many thanks to Ornella, Annette, Wolfgang and everybody in our group!