Mamma Agata

Hello Chiara and Gennaro and Mamma Agata!!!! We wanted to send you a message telling you how wonderful it was to meet you and your family! It was truly a pleasure to spend time with your family and we will have wonderful stories to tell for years to come. Your family opened your hearts and home to us to share all your wealth, and it meant so much to Tim and I. Spending the day with you and Mamma Agata was our favorite time of our whole trip, and that's no lie!! Thank you again for all the wonderful memories, and I pray one day we will be able to do this again!! I am practicing all the recipes this week, so wish me luck!! If you don't mind sharing your "Red Hell" recipe with me I would love that as well. Also, please please let me know when we can purchase a copy of Mamma Agata's Cook Book, I would love to have one!! Again, thank you for all your kindness, it was a very special day for us and we will never, never forget! Please keep in touch! Kind Regards, Hollie and Tim Delgado

My Dear Friends, Mamma and Chiara and Gennaro, We are back home in the U.S. and I already miss Italy. What a wonderful trip we had! We wanted to let you and Mamma know how much we enjoyed our day with you. It was the highlight of our trip. We loved the view and the food and the company and the recipes ... but most of all, we loved you and Mamma. Your relationship to each other captured the heart of the day for me and my Mamma and Zia. Your presentation had passion and humor and great information ... and lots of Love. Thank you so much. We were also so amazed at your personal attention to each of us. The fact that your knew each of our names before we even arrived is the mark of a professional with great attention to detail. What a nice greeting ... we felt like old friends in your home. And ... I can not thank you enough for my packages of food that you graciously allowed us to take home to our hungry family awaiting us in the villa. What a surprise! We were able to share the fruits of your love with the rest of our group and they loved it. My only regret is that I did not demand that more of our group attend. Next time, we will all arrive at your door and we may never leave. By the way, the idea of a bed & breakfast is a marvelous idea. I will forward you some of the photos we took there soon. I'm still on Italian time, so I'm trying to get back into the swing of U.S. life ... but always, in my heart, will remain this incredible experience. Grazie mille. Much Love, michele, lonnie, louise grasso 15 October 2009 attendees

My husband and I visited Mama Agata and Chiari on our culinary tour of Italy. It was one of the highlights of our trip. Tonight I cooked the Farmer's spaghetti and my husband said it was the best pasta I had ever cooked. We would highly recommend a trip to the hidden treasure. Chiari, I did go to the cameo factory and got some beautiful earrings like yours. Thanks for the recommendation. You should tell them they need a website as I wish I would have bought a few more things there but don't have a way to buy anything else there:( (maybe a side business for you!). I hope to see Mama's book in William Sonoma soon. But would like to buy one when available so please put me on the list. Thanks Again. Judy and Mike Hooffstetter

My fiancé and I attended Mamma Agata cooking school in Ravello, Italy. I found the information online and was just delighted with our very special visit to Mamma’s beautiful villa which overlooks her bountiful garden and has a breathtaking view of the Almalfi Coast. Mamma Agata also grows her own produce which tastes divine. Chiara, her daughter who is the director of the cooking school was our translator and added additional insights and warmth to our Italian culinary experience. Mamma began cooking at a young age for her brothers and sisters and then as a teenager went on to cook for a wealthy American women who hosted celebrities at her Italian villa. While she has cooked for celebs such as Humphrey Bogart who often requested her “lemincello” (an Italian liqueur) cake for breakfast, Mamma is down to earth, pure love and exactly what you would expect to be as a delightful Italian Mamma. The cooking instructions were simple, the food delicious and the atmosphere warm and wonderful and as a result I felt like a true culinary goddess. Some of the dishes we enjoyed were eggplant parmigna, lemon risotto and lemon chicken. When we sat down to the table to eat what we had learned how to cook over several hours, my fiancé said now he truly felt like he was in Italy. I did too. I highly recommend attending her cooking class which will turn into a memory to last a lifetime. A great activity to share with your mate, family members or friends. From one goddess to another - Bless you Chiara and Mamma! I hope to return again.

I found the wonderful Mamma Agata after trawling through the internet for the perfect venue for our Italian wedding in September '09. The minute I read the website I knew I had found our dream venue. My thoughts were confirmed when I received the first of many emails from Chiara assuring me that she would do everything she could to make it the most magical day of our lives. Chiara made everything so easy to plan and took great care in giving us exactly what we wanted without compromising simplicity and tradition. I had read all the amazing reviews beforehand but nothing could have prepared me for the experience we were about to have. We did not view the venue before the week on the wedding as we live in Australia so I was really trusting my instincts and trusting Chiara. I was not disappointed. We arrived on a Monday to see the place and sample some food and found ourselves in the middle of one of the cooking classes, we were greeted like old friends and made to feel so welcome. We ate and drank until we were at bursting point, some of the best food I have eaten in my life! The day of the wedding I was overcome again when we walked in after our guests and the table and the surroundings were transformed into a fairytale setting. Candles and flowers were everywhere and our guests were enjoying the amazing pre dinner food. The meal and entire experience including the musicians Chiara had recommended were just amazing, it was exactly as I had dreamed our wedding would be, our guests were bowled over and it was the best day of our lives, it was just magical. A fantastic evening was had by all, Mamma Agata, Chiara and Gennaro took care of everything and we relaxed and felt like we were at home. Anyone who has the opportunity to have a wedding here should grab it with both hands, it will be an experience you will never forget. I'm very excited to get my cookbook now and to try my hand at some of Mammas amazing recipes and to enoy the wonderful memories!