Rome is the city of emperors and saints, but its soul belongs to the shepherd. Led by acclaimed food writer Katie Parla, this is a deep dive into Rome’s lesser-known foodways: full of grilled meats, mountain cheese, bitter digestifs, and the local producers who keep Lazio’s traditions alive.
Rome is the city of emperors and saints, but its soul belongs to the shepherd. On this journey, we’ll trace the roots of Roman cuisine from the ancient cattle markets of the capital to the wild hills of southern Lazio—where monks once foraged, popes retreated, and lamb still reigns.
Led by acclaimed food writer Katie Parla, this is a deep dive into Rome’s lesser-known foodways: full of grilled meats, mountain cheese, bitter digestifs, and the local producers who keep Lazio’s traditions alive. Moderate activity level. Meat-centric itinerary.
Via Colle Buono, 2, 03041 Serre di Conca FR, Italy
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Travel to Picinisco, the little medieval village where D.H. Lawrence wrote The Lost Girl
Cheese-making workshop with third-generation shepherd and cheesemakerLoreto Pacitti at his farm-osteria Casa Lawrence,
Lunch of grilled meats, cheeses, and local wine with Loreto, overlooking grazing lands and pristine nature
Digestivo in the garage-cave of Luigi, a local legend who forages for gentian root in the Appenines to make a wonderful version of the local digestivo genziana
Grilled meat and aperitivo at Bottega del Macellaio in Casaliveri, where butcher Roberto Cerdone exclusively sources beef, pork, veal, and lamb from small farms in the area that raise their animals immersed in nature
Private transfer to the airport or wherever your journey continues
What’s Included
All breakfasts, lunches, and dinners, as well as snacks and beverages between meals
All accommodations and transportation during the trip (except when taking a taxi or ride app independently during unscheduled time)
Expertise and services of our experienced trip leaders: at least one guide and one host per trip
Additional guides and experts from the region
Transfers to and from the airport or wherever you are on the day the trip starts and ends
Daily Roads & Kingdoms gifts, notes, and playlists related to the themes, activities and narratives of each trip
All gratuities for accommodations, meals, guiding or transport
What’s Not Included
International airfare to and from the journey (note: some trips begin and end at different airports)
Airport transfers on days that fall outside of the trip dates
Personal bar tabs (when not with the group)
Personal laundry or spa services
Personal travel insurance
Meet Our Hosts
Guide & Trip Designer
Katie Parla
Food Writer, Publisher, Raconteur
Katie Parla, a native of what she calls the 21st region of Italy (that’s New Jersey), always dreamed of moving to Italy. And now, 20 years after she made the leap, she’s one of the foremost authorities on Italian food and drink, in all its thousand variations. You may have seen her guiding Stanley Tucci around Rome for his CNN show, or perhaps you’ve read one of her many books (the most recent, Food of the Italian Islands, is a banger). Either way, we’re thrilled she designed this incredible journey for us through Rome and its pastoral hinterlands.
R&K Host
Eugenio Signoroni
Acclaimed Food Writer
There may not be a single person in all of the Republic better qualified to know what to eat, at what time of year, and with whom, than Eugenio Signoroni, pictured above far left. After a long career at the iconic Slow Food that included editing the authoritative Osteria d’Italia guide, he branched out to write prolifically on Italian food culture in all parts of the boot. He is the host of Lievito Madre, one of Italy’s top food podcasts, and he lives in the heart of Piedmont. A perfect host for this journey.
Where You’ll Stay
Palazzo Velabro
ROMAN HOLIDAY
This stylishly restored 18th-century residence comes complete with a hand-frescoed lobby and marbled bedrooms filled with bespoke furnishings. There’s also a cinema and a creatively stocked library. But it’s the views of the Roman Forum, Palatine Hill, and Arch of Janus that put it over the top for us.
Relais Colle Buono
Lazio Pastoral
Set on more than 12 acres of olive and citrus trees amid the rolling countryside of the Comino Valley, Relais Colle Buono is a unique luxury boutique property with a world-class kitchen. Fancy a slow food breakfast curated by a Michelin-starred chef with a view of Abruzzo National Park? You’ll have that here. Want to gaze at the Apennine Mountains from an infinity pool? They’ve got you covered.
Katie’s knowledge base is incredible!! From food and wine to art and history.
Traveler
Sicily, East to West 2024
This trip exceeded anything I could have imagined. Food and sights were incredible. Our hosts were next level.
Matt P.
La Vita Siciliana 2024
Katie and Eugenio make traveling in Sicily magical. I wish they could accompany me on all my trips around Italy.
Gelato for breakfast. Evening aperitivos. Leisurely late-night meals: Lean in to the rhythms of Sicilian life with an unparalleled food bounty shaped by the Mediterranean and centuries of conquest and exchange. Many of Italian cuisine’s best-loved dishes are rooted in Sicilian soil—join us for a tour of some of the best ingredients and meals Europe has to offer.
Despite producing some of the best wine, cheese, salumi, and seafood on the continent, Abruzzo improbably flies under the radar, its dreamlike mountainous hinterlands, hilltop Renaissance towns, and coastal enclaves still remarkably untouched by mass tourism. But true heads know, which is why our guide Eugenio Signoroni, one of Italy’s leading food writers, put together this fantastically well-connected journey through his favorite region.
