When just about any culinary survey is taken, the number one cuisine on the top of nearly everyone's list is Italian. We all agree, we love our friends of Italian ancestry, we love pasta with red sauce, we love wine from Tuscany, we love peppery olive oil, Parmesan cheese and Prosciutto. If it's Italian, it's at the top of our list and we always want to learn and experience more.
Here at Cooks, we share in "our" collective curiosity. We've been on a quest to find authentic experiences and to learn about Italian cuisine and the authentic preparations of generational favorites. All of our searching led us to the wellspring of Authenticity … The source of generational Italian learning — Casa Artusi in Forlimpopli Italy.
Casa Artusi is the 21st century cornerstone of the entire Artusi experience. From classes to history, to libraries of research and recipes Casa Artusi has it all … including a cadre of Nonna’s present and ready to share their knowledge, their experience and their twinkling approach to hundreds of years of making amazing food, building community and feeding family and friends.
The Casa Artusi Foundation was founded in Forlimpopoli, the hometown of Pellegrino Artusi.
The town of Forlimpopoli is in Emilia Romagna, East of Milano, South of the Alps, West of Venice and North of the vast rolling hills of Central Italy. The land is fruitful, the weather temperate, it is central to the entire country and the light is perfect. All of this contributes to a widely held belief this region of Italy is truly the Food Valley of the country. Pasta, parmigiano reggiano, prosciutto de parma, traditional balsamic vinegar of Modena, olive oil, breads, cheese and wine, everything held at the heart of Italian families is available, in abundance, in Emilia Romagna.
In early 2025, Cooks of Crocus Hill entered into a collaborative relationship with Casa Artusi and our friends at Esperienza Italia, a local nonprofit dedicated to offering immersive cultural experiences of UNESCO-recognized Italian cuisine to you from undiscovered places of beauty and culinary heritage in rural Italy, connecting you to their kind and passionate people. Learn more about their goodness in offering enriched cultural experiences here.
Our team has spent time in Fromimpopoli training with the chefs at Casa Artusi, the first center of gastronomic culture devoted entirely to everyday Italian cooking. We felt it was an important step in offering an elevated cooking experiences focused on traditional preparation, ingredients, recipes and culture in Italian cuisine. We are thrilled to bring to the table, opportunities to learn about the amazing food and culinary experiences of Casa Artusi and to experience your own Italian culinary and food discoveries with trips from Esperienza Italia.
Who was Artusi?
In the 1800’s Pellegrino Artusi was a tradesman and business owner traveling all of Italy. At a time when Italy was a patchwork of small kingdoms, Pellegrino was welcome in all corners of the peninsula. His travels, in search of commerce and relationships, afforded him the opportunity to experience the four corners of the country and everything in between. And, experience it he did!
At “Boots on the ground level”, Pellegrino started documenting his travels and his conversations. His curiosity was boundless. Families, cafes, inns, farmers, bakers, herders were his cadre of muses and educators. While Escoffier is considered to be the godfather of French cuisine, Pellegrino Artusi is certainly the best documentarian of where and how the amazing flavors and beautiful simplicity of Italian food came into being. Rather than restaurants and dining salons, Pellegrino was enamored with the food of the people. Meals and time spent with friends and family, around a robust and often chaotic dining table, was the music he sought to document and share. Hundreds of people, hundreds of tables, hundreds of meals and countless lessons captured with the purpose of sharing. Artusi’s experiences and documentations were recorded in his 1891 cookbook, La Scienza in Cucina e l’Arte di Mangiar Bene (Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well) can still be found in homes all across Italy and the world.
“I love beauty and goodness wherever they are found." – Artusi Pellegrino
Our team (and our family) has spent time and have trained with the chefs at Cahas spent time in Fromimpopoli training with the chefs at Casa Artusi, the first center of gastronomic culture devoted entirely to everyday Italian cooking. We felt it was an important step in offering an elevated cooking experiences focused on traditional preparation, ingredients, recipes and culture in Italian cuisine. We are also offering classes with Casa Artusi chefs (visiting from Fromimpopli!) in our Artusi Residency classes. Our special cooking classes offer a rich Italian cooking experience in Minnesota so you can bring a bit of Italy to your table.
Register for an Artusi class here
Matteo Milandri approached the world of cooking at a very young age, driven by a deep passion for his homeland and a natural curiosity about food and its transformations. Growing up surrounded by the aromas and flavors of Romagna, he began to nurture his dream of becoming a chef as a child.
After graduating from Pellegrino Artusi Hotel Management School in Forlimpopoli, he embarked on a training program that took him to Italy and abroad, working alongside great masters of gastronomy. Each experience contributed to build a solid culinary vision, based on ambition and practicality, but also creativity and respect for local ingredients, in perfect harmony with the teachings of Pellegrino Artusi.
Today, Matteo is the executive chef of Casa Artusi Foundation Cookery School in Forlimpopoli, where he coordinates and develops a wide range of activities, including cooking classes for food lovers, tourists and professionals, menu design for events and dinners hosted by the italian diplomatic network in Italy and abroad, and gastronomic experiences that celebrate Italian culinary culture through Artusi's legacy.
Chef Matteo’s classes at Cooks
Susy Patrito
Susy grew up in the Piedmont region of Italy, in a family where food was the love language. As the founding director of the legendary Casa Artusi, she was immersed for nearly two decades in the culinary heritage of Emilia-Romagna, collaborating with producers, agricultural consortia, chefs, and scholars to protect and share the region’s treasures.
Susy has been a guiding force for Esperienza since its beginning, welcoming guests into the heart of Italy’s culinary heritage. In 2022, she resigned her position at Casa Artusi and now leads Esperienza’s culinary trips with a rare blend of expertise and soul. She is driven by her passion for culinary and cultural treasures, and her belief in the power of meaningful connection, and she still maintains relationships with key food artisans.
Susy believes the best travel unfolds slowly, experienced through meaningful encounters with people, meals in village kitchens and Michelin restaurants, and the quiet beauty of everyday life. Her gift is revealing the Italy most people never see, the one shaped by traditions carried on in rural villages and country farms. A tour guide since college, Susy says that travel done with care has the power to change lives—ours and the people we meet.
We are excited about our partnerships in offering enriched learning experiences and hope you’ll join us!
Karl & Marie
