Varenna: Il Caminetto and Vezio Castle

I don’t remember exactly where I first found the info for the Il Caminetto cooking class in Gittana, a town of all of 65 people up the hill and around the bend from Varenna, Italy. But, I do remember the advice saying that Moreno, the owner and chef, only does his demonstration a few days each week and for a maximum of 12 guests and to reserve it early. So, before we had plane tickets or a hotel room, or really much of a plan at all for our trip, we had a reservation for a cookery demonstration and lunch.

Heading to the ferry for our cooking class in Varenna.

Crossing our fingers that we managed to board the correct ferry for our intended destination.

Hi Varenna! You are awfully pretty too.

We met the charming Moreno and our fellow classmates at the ferry terminal in Varenna and from there he drove us about 20 minutes to his home and restaurant. His family has been in the area for hundreds of years and has owned the building that houses the restaurant for almost that long. He is passionate about food and about his home and is wonderfully engaging and entertaining.

We sat and watched and listened as he took us through all the steps needed to make a beautiful meal. He even called up Norah and Ben to be his assistants in constructing tortelloni and shooed away both Norah and me when we tried to help Ben with his craft.

The class went on for a long time – like five hours long – which included bottomless pours of white and red wine. While Eli and I found this extremely pleasant and relaxing, the kids were less enthusiastic. They did a great job and definitely hung-in for a while, but they were ready for a change of scenery by the end of hour two.

Fortunately though, just across the street were three Belgian women who had rented an air-bnb with their kids. While their kids spoke Dutch and French and ours spoke only English, the kids quickly agreed on a simple vocabulary for a chase game, basically the exclusive use of the word “Freeze!” And, because the chef assured us that they only have about one car per day pass through the street of the village, we left the kids to their own devices and sat back at the table to enjoy the rest of the meal.

Once the class wrapped up, we took a walk up to Vezio castle which overlooks Lake Como just above Varenna. This was a defensive position and fort, not a residence, and helped to protect villagers in Varenna from would-be invaders from nearby Como.

Spending time in Italy, you quickly realize how much history – and how many layers of history – exist in the region. The castle, for example, dates to the middle ages, but there is evidence of human settlement in the area that dates back at least 1000 years before that.

In talking about the history of the area our chef said matter-of-factly, “There is just so much old stuff here. It is impossible to maintain it all.” Because of this, for example, the oldest church in his village is in terrible disrepair. But with at least $10 million euros needed to restore it and a town of only 65 people, it is an impossible task.

Moreno and his restaurant, Il Caminetto, were recently filmed by the Rick Steves crew, so we’ll be keeping an eye out for that feature!

Ben “Harry Potter” Finkel at dinner back in Bellagio.