Chef Kevin O’Donnell of Newport’s Giusto Restaurant and Mother Pizza will lead a culinary tour of Sicily Sept. 12-19, 2026, as part of Oldways’ Culinaria travel program.
The seven-day immersion will explore Sicilian food, wine, history and culture across the island from east to west, with stops in Ortigia, Agrigento and Palermo. The tour promises authentic cooking demonstrations, market tours, visits to ancient sites and special access to local farmers, artisans, culinary historians and cooks.
Oldways is a nonprofit food and nutrition education organization founded in 1990 that promotes healthy eating through cultural food traditions. The organization’s Culinaria Tours program offers heritage diet travel and discovery experiences.
O’Donnell, a Rhode Island native, has extensive experience cooking in Italy. He interned in the country through Johnson & Wales University’s continuing education program and later spent two and a half years working under Chef Lorenzo Polegri at Ristorante Zeppelin in Orvieto, Umbria. He also worked at the Michelin-starred Del Posto in New York City under Chef Mark Ladner.
In Paris, O’Donnell opened L’Office as executive chef, where the restaurant earned a Bib Gourmand award in the Michelin Guide and was named Best New Bistro in Paris by Le Guide Lebey. He later served as executive chef of The Salty Pig in Boston before opening SRV, a Venetian-style bacaro and wine bar in Boston’s South End with co-chef Michael Lombardi in 2015. The restaurant earned a four-star review from Boston magazine and a James Beard Award nomination.
O’Donnell led an Oldways culinary tour of Piedmont, Italy, in 2024.
The Sicily itinerary includes a guided tour of the Ortigia Market led by O’Donnell and Chef Maurizio Moceo of Macallè Sicilian Bistrot, with emphasis on essential Sicilian ingredients including pistachios, capers and grains. A cheese tasting at Caseificio Borderi is also planned.
O’Donnell will demonstrate pasta-making, and participants will learn to make arancini during a group dinner at Macallè Sicilian Bistrot. He will also lead a cooking class at the Gambero Rosso Academy with a seaside dinner.
Additional highlights include a guided tour of Greek archaeological ruins at the Valley of the Temples in Agrigento, with a picnic lunch and olive oil tasting in the Kolymbethra Garden. In Palermo, participants will stay at the Grand Hotel Wagner and experience the city’s street food scene in small groups. The tour also includes pastries at Caffè Sicilia in Noto, a winery tour and tasting, and a presentation by culinary historian and cookbook author Mary Taylor Simeti at Corona Trattoria.
The tour may be eligible for continuing professional education unit credit pending Commission on Dietetic Registration review and approval.
The price is $6,275 per person with double occupancy. A single supplement is available for $1,350. What’sUpNewp readers can save 5% by using the code What’sUpNewp at checkout.
For more information and to register, visit oldwayspt.org/trip/sicily-food-wine-history-and-culture.