If calories didn’t count, I’d like to grow old at Mamma Agata’s.
I’d start the day with a perfectly prepared cappuccino which I’d enjoy on the terrace, a sun-dappled perch 1,000 feet above the brilliantly blue Tyrrhenian Sea, before strolling through the tiered garden where lemons, tomatoes and persimmons grow.
Midday would see a pour of the house-made wine, some nibbles of freshly baked bread dipped in homemade tomato sauce and a small feast of farmer’s spaghetti, eggplant parmigiana and the most-lemony lemon cake.
Seriously. This place is spectacular. And you should go here if you can.
We booked close to a year in advance for a day at The Hidden Treasure. Signing up to spend the day with a group of strangers isn’t something I would normally do, but Chiara Lima, Mamma’s vivacious daughter, changed all that.
Chiara is the most genial host and welcomes guests with such ease that you feel like you’ve always known her. She runs the class with her husband Gennaro, who is also a sommelier and maker of the world’s best limoncello.
When we were there, we were lucky enough to have Mamma Agata herself cook for us. It was pretty special as she’s cooked for everyone from Humphrey Bogart, Jackie O and Elizabeth Taylor to Pierce Brosnan (Bogart lovingly called her “Baby Agata”).
I can’t describe how something as simple as tomato sauce or lemon cake can be so transcendent, but I’m sure it’s got a lot to do with the picture-book setting in which the ingredients are grown.
And it’s funny how the donning of aprons, ample wine and food can change the group dynamic – read, no one wanted to leave at the end of the day and most of us exchanged contact details.
If you book, Chiara will “warn” you, in advance, to forgo breakfast the day of your class. Wiser words have not been spoken.
