Pack your spoons and spatulas! Dig up those darling aprons you bought last Spring! This is a culinary treat – a week full of dining, recipes, demos and charming chefs!

Summer school in Asheville at the Seasonal School of Culinary Arts offers a foodie experience that will leave you feeling inspired by the resources of the local farms. Savor time with the top chefs of Western North Carolina, coupled with renowned wine experts, and a surrounding that is pastoral, flanked by blue mountains, and reeling with music and dance as a backdrop.

Each day begins with a walk followed by breakfast.followed by a 3-hour class with master chefs, a gourmet lunch, and a wine tasting afternoon into evening session. The music in the background will be the drone of bagpipes and the lilt of flute and fiddle, as the Swannanoa Gathering’s Celtic Week enhances the colors on our plates.

The overall theme of the week revolves around the riches of Appalachia. Each day holds a theme to reflect the Appalachian roots including Grits & Ramps, Hogs & Hoecakes, Taters & Maters, Greens & Beans, and Moonshine & Morels. For a full schedule visit the event website.

Culinary aficionados may sign up for the week-long culinary immersion course, or, if you have time or budget restraints, you may sign up simply for the day (or half day) theme that interests you the most.

The Seasonal School of Culinary Arts is held in four locations throughout the seasons: Ithaca, Sonoma, Paris and the Warren Wilson College in the Swannanoa Valley near Asheville.