Fred Bollaci, President/CEO of New York and Palm Beach, Florida-based Fred Bollaci Enterprises, considered by industry leaders and influencers across the culinary, travel, and fitness spectrum to be the leading authority on “healthy gourmet ‘la dolce vita’ living” in the United States, Italy, and beyond, has welcomed the renowned Toscana Saporita Cooking School and Chef/Owner Sandra Rosy Lotti as the first Golden Palate Italia™ Charter Member of the international Fred Bollaci brand, it was announced today.
Sandra Rosy Lotti with Chef Mario Batali
“As someone who loves preparing and eating the best food, having been raised in a family of Italian-American connoisseurs, and spending countless summers vacationing (and studying in Italy during college), and beyond, Toscana Saporita and Sandra Lotti are the perfect inaugural Golden Palate Italia™ Charter Member and Chef, exemplifying the very best that the Golden Palate lifestyle is all about, and is the perfect ambassador of the Golden Palate lifestyle in Italy–which is very accessible to all Americans of good taste. Last fall (2014), I visited Italy and proudly announced over 75 inaugural Golden Palate Italia recipients of my Golden Palate Certificate of Excellence™ , recognizing some of the finest restaurants, hotels, spas, wineries, and artisans in all of Italy. I had a fantastic week at Toscana Saporita cooking school in Tuscany, near Lucca. After an incredible week, I invited my new friend Sandra to be my first Charter Member 2015-16 for all of Italy. Charter Members and I work closely together to promote our vision of a healthy, gourmet lifestyle.”
“Charter Membership is a distinctive honor at the highest level, reserved for a few very special Golden Palate Partners who are beyond hands-on owners who create a total sensory experience and become part of my “forever family.” I see my Charter Members as ambassadors of my global brand and vision, as they see me as an ambassador of them. It is all about the people–people like Sandra Lotti. The Golden Palate is a collection of “the very best” and my Charter Members are a very exclusive “famiglia” or family, both in Italy and in the United States. I am very proud and honored to have Sandra and Toscana Saporita as the first Charter Member of my family from Italy,” Mr. Bollaci said. “My Golden Palate program in the U.S. has developed quite a following among connoisseurs and people aspiring to take my lead and enjoy the best cuisine and establishments at every price point in many top destinations, including the Northeast, Florida, and California, while remaining committed to overall health, fitness, and wellbeing. Golden Palate Italia takes this concept to Italy, my ancestral homeland, and the inspiration for much of my success and philosophy,” Bollaci said. “Go enjoy Italian hospitality at its finest- go see my friend Sandra and learn to be an authentic Tuscan cook! Cook and eat like an Italian (the Mediterranean diet with local, regional, and seasonal influences), tour around Tuscany, enjoy a glass of wine, and take a passeggiata in the morning, and another after dinner,” Bollaci said. “This is the time-honored Italian recipe for success!”
“Golden Palate Italia makes Italy accessible to Americans of good taste, at every price point and provides a “Golden Palate Roadmap” of the best destinations- casual to upscale restaurants, caffe’s, hotels, resorts, and more–places where you will be treated well and can enjoy a taste of my ‘la dolce vita’ lifestyle and remain committed to healthy living. Sandra epitomizes what it means to be not only a Golden Palate Partner and recipient of my Golden Palate Certificate of Excellence, to me she is the Italian ambassador to people of good taste in the United States and worldwide of exactly what Italian hospitality (treating people like “famiglia”) and cuisine, which emphasizes quality, tradition, freshness, and health benefits is all about. Spend a week at Toscana Saporita–one of the best experiences of my life, and come away a better home cook, better consumer, and better host or hostess,” Bollaci said of his time at Toscana Saporita in October 2014. “Lotti (Sandra) is a fun-loving, vivacious, genuine human being with a great sense of humor (don’t get her started on France or the Tuscan culinary traditions that somehow were adopted and rebranded as French), her positive energy and passion for what she does and believes in so strongly–her Tuscan and Italian heritage” is the kind of spirit and fire that inspires me. People like her make we want to get up in the morning and do my very best at what I do, and work towards being the best I can be and to share my talents with others, as she does at Toscana Saporita.” “Many people can cook, and many can teach, but Sandra goes above and beyond merely cooking and teaching. She pours her heart and soul into her work at Toscana Saporita, which she has operated for some twenty years and hosted thousands of home cooks, connoisseurs, and even “celebrity chefs” like Mario Batali and Mary Ann Esposito. You come away from Toscana Saporita not only learning some amazing skills and witnessing an authentic Tuscan way of life spending a week at the agriturismo “La Casa Rossa” in Massacciuccoli, between Lucca and Viareggio, you become part of a new family, Sandra’s family for one–spend a few minutes with her and you feel like you’ve known her your entire life–that is how positive and contagious her energy is–and also the “family” of guests (some 16 or so) you spend the week cooking, eating, and touring around Tuscany with. These are the kind of experiences that result in life-long memories and friendships. Toscana Saporita is way more than a cooking school. Going to Tuscany, staying on that farm, and learning from Sandra is literally like nourishing your soul. You come away better, you come away inspired. These are the kind of people I invite to be Charter Members of my company and global family–people whose personal dedication and passion for what they create and how they touch and better their patrons’ lives are those who get the invite,” Bollaci said.
Bollaci is going back to Toscana Saporita the first week of November 2015 to attend the Advanced Cooking Class with Sandra Lotti and a group of students. The Advanced Class is geared towards well-versed home cooks and restaurant industry chefs/professionals looking to hone their skills and bring home some Tuscan authenticity to their kitchens, and is typically offered one week per year, while the regular cooking class is offered many times a year in the spring and fall, and is perfect for anyone interested in learning more about true Tuscan and authentic Italian cuisine and improve their basic skills for home cooking.
For guests who are not able to spend an entire week cooking in Tuscany “who wound’t want to?,” Bollaci said, “you won’t want to leave, trust me,” Toscana Saporita recently introduced a new program called “Freestyle Cooking.” Ideally, this is a three-day program, which is an abbreviated version of the regular class, where students cook in the morning, enjoy a lunch they helped prepare, then get to relax on the nearby beach in the resort town of Viareggio in the afternoon, before coming back to Toscana Saporita for a sumptuous, authentic Tuscan dinner each night. The program is also offered before “the holidays” where the emphasis is on holiday traditions as well as before “Carnevale.” Freestyle also enables students to spend as little as one full-day cooking at Toscana Saporita with Sandra, as well as her son Alessio, a master in bread making, or with Chris Covelli, from the US who also teaches at Toscana Saporita, which hosts visitors from around the world, including Italy, “but they totally cater to Americans,” Bollaci said. “Most of the wonderful people in our class were from the states, and everyone there speaks English, so the language factor is not a problem. They offer shuttle service to and from the train station and guided tours of local cities and attractions–it doesn’t get any easier or better than this for people who have never been to Italy, or people who have been over a dozen times, and speak the language, like me,” Bollaci said. “Everyone is so nice. It is an extraordinary experience, a gem, and something you should experience.”
Guests in the Freestyle program stay at the Hotel Piccadilly in Lido di Camaiore, facing the calm Thyrrenian sea. Every morning after a great continental breakfast guests are picked up at 10:00 am and are taken to the school to cook for several hours. Lessons include fresh pasta and ravioli, risotto, desserts, gelato, meats and fish, amazing appetizers, pizza baked in a real wood oven and so much more. Lunch will be served at 1:30 and paired with great Tuscan wines. At 3:00 pm guests will be taken back to the hotel and from that moment on the day is yours! Guests can relax at the Beach (included in the package) and swim in the crystal clear sea or lounge by the swimming pool (chairs and umbrella included). Many choose to walk on the beautiful promenade and enjoy the sunset from the wharf, as well as visit the local market and enjoy one of the charming cafes on the promenade. In the event of rain (or if guests desire), Sandra will organize a visit to local towns of Lucca, Viareggio or Pisa. Sandra “is always available when it comes to go shopping or touring! The weather is not gonna stop us!” she boldly declared. Dinner is served at 8 pm at the Hotel. Sandra recommends this program highly on its own, or in addition to a standard week at the school. “Lido di Camaiore is a beautiful Seaside resort, a cozy little town where cafes, restaurants and shops are always open (during the Summer) and night life is a MUST– you can literally stay out until you drop,” she said. “Clubs, restaurants and pubs are all within easy reach–will you need a car? why?? didn’t we say you are relaxing???” which gives you a glimpse into the vivacious and fun-loving Italian soul of Sandra, who elevates the “cooking school in Italy” experience into so much more.
The Advanced Class “Advanced Fundamentals of Tuscan Cuisine” features Head Chef Instructor Sandra Lotti and Alessio J.M (her son) and her staff of chef instructors from the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) and The International Culinary Center. The class portion is 5 days cooking instruction (32 hours) with additional touring. Guests arrive on Sunday and depart the following Saturday.
For more information, please contact: info@toscanasaporita.com or +39 335 8129 442, or visit www.toscanasaporita.com
Skills taught include:
-Pasta shapes and how to marry them with sauces, plus the effective use of different flours and recipes, Pasta sauces and fillings, including the essential ”soffritto” method for making Tuscan sauces, basic sauces and soups.
Fish: cleaning, boning, filleting and preparation, Chicken: boning, quartering, stuffing and preparation, Pastry, cakes and custards, doughs and breads. Includes puff pastry, pate à choux and pasta frolla, Vegetables: carving, stuffing, preparation, Meats: lamb, hare, wild boar; how to roast, deep-fry and braise.
Other highlights of the week include:
-Wine, cheese, truffle and olive oil tastings, the much-anticipated White Truffle hunt with Cristiano Savini and his dog Giotto, followed by a White Truffle tasting menu at his restaurant, Wine tasting and Lesson with Emiliano Alessi from the celebrated Cennatoio Winery in Panzano in Chianti, and each meal is paired with the greatest wines of Tuscany and all of Italy.
2015 marks the 11th annual Advanced Course at Toscana Saporita. In this course you’ll work with the key ingredients that are indigenous to Tuscany and indispensable to its cuisine, including game meats, Mediterranean fish, Tuscan vegetables, truffles, cheeses, olive oils and vinegars.
The Advanced Course builds on Toscana Saporita’s 21 years of successful culinary instruction, having taught so many people the fundamentals of Tuscan cuisine. It all takes place on a charming country estate where for a week at a time, guests “live like true Tuscans,” living in fully updated 17th-century rooms and enjoying leisurely meals on the estate’s sun-drenched lawn.
Fred Bollaci will be featuring Toscana Saporita and Sandra Lotti as his first Charter Member and Chef for all of Italy, as well as listing some of his other favorite Golden Palate Italia Partners throughout Italy in his upcoming Golden Palate™ column in VENU Magazine, the leading arts, culture, and luxury lifestyle publication in the Northeastern United States and beyond. For more information on Fred Bollaci and The Golden Palate in Italy and the US, please visit Fred Bollaci Enterprises, and Buon’ Appetito!
Fred Bollaci with Chef Sandra Lotti
