• Arrival and settle in to your hotel room on the beautiful island of Ikaria, home to the renowned Diane Kochilas cooking school and one of Greece’s famed Blue Zones.
• Time to explore this amazing Greek island on your own, stroll through nearby villages, or relax on the beach and begin to soak in the relaxed atmosphere that defines this Greek cooking vacation.
• Welcome dinner with your host, Diane Kochilas, featuring authentic Greek cuisine prepared with fresh ingredients and traditional flavors.
• Transfer back to your hotel and overnight

• Breakfast, and transfer for your first Ikaria cooking class with Diane Kochilas at her island home. A sample menu might include traditional Greek dishes such as:
  • Tender lettuce salad with herbs and green almonds
  • Dolmadas
  • Giant beans with herbs and honey
  • Stuffed eggplant
• Lunch to follow, and return to your hotel around 1:30 pm.
• Free time this afternoon to relax, explore the island, or enjoy the peaceful surroundings of this small-group Greek cooking school Greece experience.
• This evening might feature an “Olive oil for dessert” demonstration — a highlight of the Mediterranean diet and Ikaria’s culinary traditions — followed by dinner out at a local taverna to taste more authentic Greek food.
• Transfer back to your hotel and overnight.

• Breakfast.
• Next, a cheese experience, from milking goat to making the cheese —a look into local food traditions and the foundations of Greek cuisine.
• Enjoy a nature walk learning about and foraging for wild herbs and seasonal ingredients, including a lesson on folk pharmacopoeia and the island’s rich history of herbal knowledge.
• Next, time to cook together, perhaps focusing on “Land, Sea, and the Seasons,” or other local recipes.
• Lunch to follow.
• Rest of day on your own.
• Overnight.

• Breakfast and either a free day or a seasonal excursion, depending on the time of year and local activities.
• Around 6:30, head back to the kitchen to prepare your dinner with Diane Kochilas. This cooking class will feature fresh herbs and seasonal ingredients for a fast, healthy meal prepared with authentic Greek food traditions in mind.
• Overnight.

• Breakfast and your next cooking class, which might feature “fearless phyllo” and traditional grains.
• Lunch to follow.
• Free time this afternoon.
• Overnight.

• Breakfast and pickup this morning for a visit with a local beekeeper. Travel into the forested interior of Ikaria to meet one of the island’s most accomplished beekeepers and taste wonderful local honey — a delicious example of the region’s fresh, natural ingredients. (Some weeks may feature another seasonal activity.)
• Transfer to Diane Kochilas’ home for your farewell class/lunch. The menu might include:
  • Ikarian fish soup with trahana
  • Grilled octopus
  • Katsikaki riganato
  • Your hostess’s special roasted potatoes
  • Garden salad
  • Galaktoboureko
• Transfer back to the hotel rest of day at leisure.

Breakfast and departure.