Inside the Castle of Roddi, in one of the most beautiful Italian cooking schools, a unique and educational experience for gastronomy lovers. Through practical theoretical courses you will learn the recipe of a great chef in a practical and fun way.
At the Castle there are 7 modern steel workstations fully equipped with all kitchen utensils.
Participants are always personally involved and will have the chance to taste what is being prepared, paired with a glass of wine and a white Alba truffle gill. The educational material with the recipe and the exclusive Frette apron will be given free of charge.
Each participant will be presented with a gift:
- the kitchen apron with the International Alba White Truffle Fair logo
- the recipe prepared with the chef
- the handbook “All about the Alba White Truffle”
There are 7 workstations that can be used individually or shared in pairs.
The course has a limited number of participants and a maximum attendance of 14 people.
The workstations are fully equipped with all the necessary items for theoretical and practical lessons.
THE CHEF
Born in Naples in 1984, Raffaele Lenzi is the Executive Chef of the Al Lago restaurant. His arrival in the world of gastronomy is quite extraordinary: at the age of 14, he is already in the pastry shop, studying, curious, laying the foundations of a future that seems already written.
The first important chapter of his culinary career opened in 2008, when he returned to Italy to the court of Bruno Barbieri, as head of the 2 Michelin-starred restaurant Arquade at the Hotel Villa del Quar. After the season in Verona, he held the same position in Milan, at the Bulgari Hotel and Resorts by Ritz Carlton, where the signature is that of chef Elio Sironi. In 2010 he moved to southern Italy, to chef Pino La Marra at Palazzo Sasso, in the province of Salerno. Here, he worked his way up the ranks from station chef to junior sous chef, in a hotel restaurant, where the local cuisine, with a French twist, earned him two Michelin Stars. In the following year, Raffale reached one of the places that would most leave a legacy in his gastronomic memory as well as a deep influence in his current imprinting. We are at the Grand Hotel in Villa Feltrinelli, 2 Michelin Stars. Here, he has the opportunity to further increase his knowledge of the vegetable world, thanks to one of the most important experts on the subject: chef Stefano Baiocco.
From 2011 to 2013 he was in charge of the opening of the Armani Hotels & Resorts Milano as executive sous chef. An important challenge, which gives him the awareness that he is now ready to engage with three-Michelin-starred kitchens, such as Bo Innovation in Hong Kong and Manresa in Los Gatos, California. After this interlude, the time finally came to put himself to the test as an executive. And to do so, he chose to return to Italy, and specifically to the Ristorante Turbigo on the Navigli, for what was to be his last experience before meeting the Contreras family, which was to kick-start his most important collaboration.
In July 2016, he joined the Sereno Hotels project owned by the Contreras family, that has two hotels to its credit: the first in Torno on Lake Como and the second in Saint-Barthélemy, on the French-speaking Caribbean island also known as Saint Barts. Lake Como immediately became his second home: here he had the chance to return to practise the sport that had accompanied him since childhood and was part of his DNA. Weightlifting, yoga, cycling and, in the near future, even the triathlon. The saying “mens sana in corpore sano” (a sound mind in a sound body) seems to be tailor-made for him.
“In 2017 the restaurant was awarded the Michelin Star: an incredible feeling, even more so for the fact that from the very beginning I had carte blanche from the owners and consequently was able to express my philosophy in total freedom. The day I went on stage and was given the jacket with the Star, stitched at heart height, is one I will remember for the rest of my life”.
Since 2019, Raffaele has also been in charge of the Contreras family’s Caribbean hotel, taking care of the whole cuisine as Corporate Chef.
