Agata and Salvatore were married and remained employed at Villa Civita through the
time my mother was pregnant with my sister Giovanna. Shortly thereafter, Salvatore
left Villa Civita to begin a career as a waiter in a hotel restaurant and with much
hard work and long hours, he became the Maitre d’hôtel and continued in this business
for more than 40 years.
Thankfully for us, Salvatore's expertise enabled him to acquire knowledge that was
vital to opening a cooking school, as he taught us the proper way to set a table
for every occasion, as well as the proper way to serve our guest and common mistakes
to avoid. From day one, he has been the most amazing teacher and he continues to
oversee each special occasion we host at the Hidden Treasure.
You'll often see Salvatore walk up from the garden to the house and pass by the
terrace and offer his advice on how to make the most of a table setting. We all
love Papà Salvatore dearly, and we especially love learning new things from him
every day!
What many of you may not know is that Papà Salvatore has a deep passion for nature.
His love of organic food and animals is what provides him with the strength to work
long, hard days in any type of weather, just so he can make sure that everything
is just perfect for our family and our guests.
In fact, all of the vegetables, including the tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, zucchini,
herbs and fruit that Mamma Agata uses during her cooking class or for the special
events are produced in the garden and cared for lovingly by Salvatore! His love
and experience in growing organic vegetables and maintaining the grounds of the
farm is also what helps us to prepare healthy and tasty dishes that are as fresh
as you can get.
Every morning before the cooking class Mamma Agata provides Salvatore with a list
of her needs for the cooking class, including tomatoes, olive oil, herbs and sweet
Salvatore goes and collect everything for her, just as she requested. Mamma Agata
is also very sweet but very particular about the ingredients, they must be fresh
and tasty and Salvatore does all his best to please her and of course all our students!