Your Concierge and Head Cook
Elizabeth Wholey
Your Concierge
A Californian from a farming family, has lived in Italy for over thirty years. After studying Medieval and Renaissance art history at the University of California, Berkeley, she worked in the printing industry until she came to Italy to help establish the Altabella properties. Wishing to share with our guests what she has learned over the years, she wrote the book Sustenance. Food Traditions in Italy's Heartland, which explores the rich history of life and artisan food traditions along the Upper Tiber river valley.
Paola Cesari
Your Head Cook
A Tuscan, born and raised in Sansepolcro, received her diploma from the Liceo Artistico. The curriculum included courses in the restoration of furniture, in ceramics, and in cooking.
This latter training supplemented Paola’s life experience growing up with a mother and an aunt famous in their extended family and beyond for their unusual culinary skills. The aunt ran a classic Italian Osteria, serving a traditional local menu.
These early experiences assisting her mother and aunt as a sous chef shaped Paola’s deep commitment to perfecting such local specialties as roast suckling pig, various kinds of home-made pastas with porcini mushrooms and truffles gathered in the nearby forests, native plant-based dishes made with wild asparagus and chestnuts gathered in the surrounding fields and woods.
This early immersion in the ancient recipes from the borderlands between Umbria and Tuscany grew into Paola’s primary art form.
For large groups, she can call in assistant cooks, including an expert in the outdoor grilling of locally grown meats over an open fire.
