“Dora” In this image by @emlibendixen, captured in her steadfast and forward looking manner against the backdrop of our reclaimed Sicilian walls, this is Dora, our skilled and generous villa chef. She has a deeply felt passion and curiosity for food that is nothing but contagious, and both we, our guests and visiting chefs all love her food and cherish the possibility to cook with her. We have catapulted her from a more quiet existence cooking for her family and catering for friends to heading up our villa kitchen and we couldn’t be more proud of how she tackles the challenge of perfecting the house recipes for our discerning guests, working alongside the odd visiting Michelin star chef and facing the curiosity of international journalists! Having her portrait taken for @foodandwine magazine, dusting icing sugar over her freshly made cannoli, was certainly a highlight of the last year. Later this month will also see the publication of the @granddishes cookbook in which she is featured with her caponata recipe. And soon we will launch a series of exclusive Sicilian cooking retreats with Dora herself in collaboration with @thethinkingtraveller. We’ll be posting some stories over the next few days to show you more! #wanderlust #hideawayvilla #siciliancooking #cookingschool #sicilianfood #recipes