From the verdant hills of northern Italy to the bucolic farmlands of Normandy, top cooks are decamping to the countryside. Over the past few years, big names and cool up-and-comers have taken on head chef roles at rural “restaurants with rooms”, where ingredients are seasonal and ethical, and the accommodation is romantically rustic. Now, a new school of food-obsessed travelers is following them, chasing culinary thrills, eco-friendly cooking, and proper relaxation.
Across the border, Villa Lena, a sublime 1,200-acre agriturismo in the craggy Tuscan hills, has gained fresh fans thanks to a new restaurant concept created by Paris’s Marco Baldeschi and Michael Sager, of London’s Sager & Wilde. Osteria San Michele dishes up produce from Lena’s sun-dappled organic ortos, while the villa is a pastel-colored vision of neo-Renaissance architecture. There are similarly sylvan resorts in Spain , Sweden , and Slovenia .