Have you ever dreamt of becoming a plant-based, gourmet culinary chef? Not only can you make this dream come true in a mere three weeks, but you can do it on-site in Italy! What is the most impressive part of this incredible opportunity? The course combines the best of yoga, meditation, and plant-based learning. You can stay, play, learn, and leave with a Gaia culinary arts certification, all for under $5,000.
Welcome to The Yoga of Cooking at Lakshmi School in Verona
The sacred union of mind, body, and spirit is deeply connected to how you receive nourishment. Optimal nourishment from food strengthens the physical body (in the yoga tradition, they call it the Anamaya kosha) to best support mental and spiritual awakening. What you eat and how and where your food comes from are all fundamental aspects of nourishment.
Considering this, Lakshmi School in Verona has created a delicious and nutritious vegetarian cooking and eating lifestyle. When you pair the best and most consciously cultivated vegetables, fruits, and herbs with an expert, sophisticated, and artful palate, you get Gaia Gourmet Cuisine. You will nourish all the senses and layers of who you are to live your best life.
Imagine yourself in the heart of Italy, surrounded by the rich culture and breathtaking landscapes, while immersing yourself in a plant-based culinary course.
Are you interested in embarking on a new career in plant-based culinary arts while contributing to the environment, practicing yoga, and striving for optimal wellness? Our Gaia Gourmet Culinary Training immersion offers a unique blend of experiences. You’ll journey to a picturesque destination and spend twenty days mastering gourmet cooking through hands-on experience. Indulge in various delicious, colorful, and decadent vegetarian and vegan dishes. Enhance your culinary skills to nourish yourself and others, all while savoring a glass of Barolo in Italy!
In this unique certification program, students participate in all aspects of catering various wellness retreats. The course is based on tried and tested Gaia Gourmet methods and recipes under the guidance of Chef Naga and his team. You’ll gain tools and insight to embark upon a new career in the plant-based culinary arts, such as catering yoga retreats and wellness events or working as a private chef. This program is also a great option if you’d like to join a friend or partner during their yoga training course!
Who is this plant-based culinary arts program for?
If you want hands-on experience in a working vegetarian kitchen preparing Chef Naga’s world-renowned dishes, this program is for you. You will get to perform the full range of cooking, from the basics to the advanced. You will make some of the most delicious vegan and gluten-free desserts, an array of different dressings, and sumptuous sauces so that you can reproduce them at home for yourself, family, and friends or potentially set you up for a career in wellness retreats or the culinary arts.
This experience will allow you to cultivate greater confidence and skill while cooking at home. If you already have professional kitchen experience, this program will inspire your plant-based repertoire and open your eyes and tastebuds to new possibilities. All levels of cooking experience are welcome. Prior experience is optional.
The Culinary Course curriculum
The Gaia Gourmet method centers on focus and awareness, bringing mindfulness to the kitchen as you lovingly transform the raw materials into a multi-sensory, communal dining experience. This training is 100% experiential and not held in a traditional classroom. All the learning happens hands-on in real-time, in an authentic Italian kitchen.
During the program, you’ll learn by doing. Catering three high-quality meals daily requires a structured approach, so the menu is standardized for maximum practice time. With only two participants per culinary training, you’ll spend ample time in front of the stovetop, oven, blender, or grill, honing your skills and gaining confidence in the kitchen!
Your daily schedule will be filled with culinary adventures during your three-week stay. You can expect to spend approximately 40 hours in and around the kitchen each week. From day one, you’ll work with the finest natural ingredients to create nutrient-dense gourmet cuisine in a precise, professional environment.
Other highlights may include shopping for goods and produce at the best local markets and farms, optional group wellness excursions, and exclusive enjoyment of an exquisite private château.
Your Classroom at The Villa and Wine Resort
The timeless beauty of Villa Dei Cipressi, nestled on the highest hilltop of the Sona Village, is both enchanting and inviting. Her classically elegant architecture and design are said to date back to the end of the ninth century.
Spacious rooms come tastefully decorated with antique furniture, including many beautiful Art Deco pieces, original artworks, exquisite lighting, ancient tiles, linen drapes, and luxurious bedding. You will begin each day with a lovely morning yoga practice in the panoramic sunroom facing the park.
The grand estate, recognized as a Heritage Site, spreads over 28 acres, including vineyards, olive groves, and gardens, with Villa del Cipressi as the crown jewel. Outside the villa are ancient coniferous and cypress trees, a rose garden, a lily pond with a fountain, and a bamboo grove with an outdoor pizza oven. With an expansive lawn, swimming pool, and several cozy seating areas, students are welcome to relax and enjoy the breathless views of the Verona Valley with a delicious glass of wine cultivated right on the property. All this creates a romantic, dream-like atmosphere in exclusive privacy.
The History of the Land
The property is part of the Garda Lake Morainic amphitheater. The unique geologic formation comprises many horseshoe-shaped hills carved out by glaciers and streams one hundred thousand years ago. The unique soil composition is a key to their world-renowned wines. The town of Verona is to the East of the property, Garda Lake to the West, and the stunning Dolomites are visible to the North.
The Landini family has owned this property since 1963. They are motivated by their love of the land, its vineyards, and olive groves. Their 40 years of success in wine production are synthesizing rich traditions developed over centuries, wisely measured modernism, and, most importantly, good soil. To this day, they still harvest the finest selection of grapes for their boutique wines by hand.
Meet Your Instructors
Chef Naga – Your Culinary Chef and Instructor
Chef Naga is a self-trained plant-based chef. In 2001, after profound life realizations while on a 10-day silent Vipassana meditation retreat, Naga became a vegetarian. Chef Naga developed and honed his meditation and culinary skills by embracing the empirical scientific method of running experiments, analyzing data, adjusting accordingly, and repeating again and again. The results of this refinement process are multidimensional vegetarian and vegan dishes with rich and complex flavor profiles and gluten-free, vegan desserts that are nutrient-dense and recently described as “plate-licking amazing.”
Liz Lindh – Your Yoga Instructor and assistant chef
Liz is a licensed and board-certified doctor of acupuncture and oriental medicine, a national certification commission for acupuncture and oriental medicine diplomate in Chinese herbal medicine, a holistic skincare therapist, a natural beauty expert, and a yoga teacher and teacher trainer. Her dynamic Vinyasa yoga classes are a fusion of fluid movement, flexibility, core strengthening, and balance, where you will find rhythm and awareness, breath and calm, ritual, and integration of body, mind, heart, and spirit. She teaches intending to spread love, health, and beauty.
What’s Included in the Course?
- Gaia Gourmet certification upon successful completion of the course
- Gaia Gourmet culinary training manual
- Gaia Gourmet apron
- 20 nights in luxury accommodations
- Three incredible, organic Gaia Gourmet vegetarian or vegan meals each on-site day (excluding arrival, departure, and excursion days)
- Unlimited coffee, an assortment of teas, and fresh fruit for snacks
- Weekly self-serve laundry with access to a machine and weekly towel and linen changes
- Full access to magical private properties, including gardens, trails, swimming pools, and more
- Morning yoga and meditation classes
- Select yoga workshops that relate to the cuisine
Are You Ready to Make Your Culinary Dreams Come True?
To read more about this incredible opportunity or to book it, use this link.
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