Aspira’s third year Gastronomy students from March 13th -16th visited Slovenia and Italy and returned richer for another interesting experience!
Slovenia was the first destination. In addition to the beauty of the landscape itself, they also enjoyed the various gastronomic amenities that were an integral part of this study trip. They visited the beautiful Zemono Castle, which is located in the rural part of Slovenia in the Vipava River Valley. Within the castle there is a restaurant “Pri Lojzetu” in which students had the opportunity to attend a meal presentation along with dinner and an educational workshop by the famous chef Tomaž Kavčić. Then they visited the wineries of winemakers Marijan Simčić and Ales Krstančić in Gorizia Brda and tasted some of the world’s best wines while touring the cellar. They also visited the restaurant “La subida”, which is located in a beautiful landscape near the Italy-Slovenia border. “La subida” proudly holds a Michelin star and is owned by the Sirk family. Students had the opportunity to try indigenous dishes, visit this family’s estate, view cottages made exclusively using only natural materials, and visit their family-run private farm producing one of the best wine vinegar in Europe.
In Italy, they visited the restaurant “Agli Amici”. It is a two-Michelin-stars restaurant. In this high-end restaurant, the students had the opportunity to taste the slow-food menu “Go green”, consisting of veggie dishes paired with wines, i.e. foods from local family farm. They also attended Chef Emanuel Scarelle’s educational workshop, toured the wine cellar and cheese ripening facilities for cheeses from around the world. Next up was a tour of various fruit and vegetable producers, followed by a visit to the mill from where from flour was purchased by restaurants. Finally, they visited the atelier of a conceptual artist who served many chefs as inspiration for dishes creation ideas. The trip ended with a visit to Grappa Nonino, the maker of the best Italian brandies!