Every summer Diane Kochilas, and her husband, artist Vassilis Stenos, escape to her ancestral village on the island of Ikaria,. For several years they ran a restaurant together, but decided to concentrate instead on private dining and cooking and art classes.

They invite people from all over the world to join them for a serene week of cooking, gardening, painting and more. The island, a wing-shaped parcel of land named for the felled Ikarus of Greek mythology, is in the eastern Aegean, between cosmopolitan Mykonos and touristy Samos. However, it is a world apart.

Ikaria is untrammeled and pristine. The village, Christos, where Diane and Vassilis have their school, is on the north side of the island nestled among pine forests overlooking the sea. Life here still moves with the unhurried, timeless rhythms of an agrarian community. It is the perfect place for a truly holistic vacation, to forget about the world and immerse yourself in nature.

The cooking classes take place in a hundred-year-old traditional village home, surrounded by the couple's organic garden, olive and fruit trees, and sprawling, untamed nature. As a result, most of the produce used in each class is organic, and guests are encouraged to help out (optional, of course!) in the extensive vegetable garden.

The cooking school week begins with an introduction to Greek Food and Wine and a Welcome Dinner on Sunday evening. Classes begin on Monday. They are both hands-on and demo and each session is organized around a full meal and menu, with wines and other Greek spirits. Guests dine with Diane and Vassilis in the garden, either at lunch or at dinner, depending on the time of the individual class. The remainder of the day is free to enjoy the pleasures of a remote Greek island vacation.

Diane’s philosophy behind each of the classes is to promote the healthful, flavorful, simple foods of her beloved adopted land. The menus are geared toward home cooks and the ingredients are available in kitchens far away from her Greek-island retreat. Every class is taught in English.

Day One

Welcome to Ikaria! Sunset Welcome Dinner in Nas; we all meet and dine together for the first time at a lovely taverna at sunset

Day Two

9:30 a.m. Pick-up at Hotel Cavos Bay
10 a.m.-2 p.m. Cooking Session: Introduction to Greek Island Cuisine
Students learn to make a variety of dishes culled from the vast repertoire of Island Cooking, full of fresh, robust flavors and simple techniques. Some of the dishes you may prepare include: Greek-Island Roasted Eggplant Salad with Capers and Tomatoes, Roasted Eggplant Salad with feta and Herbs, Santorini Fava (Creamy Puree of Yellow Split Pea) with two garnishes, Cretan Barley-Rusk meze,
Ikarian bread salad with fruit, vegetables and herbs, Ikarian vegetable medley "Soufico," Ikarian potato salad with tomatoes and herb
Return to hotel--afternoon free.
9 p.m. pickup--dinner in town at a local taverna for grilled specialties and time in the village

Day Three

9 a.m. Pick-up at Hotel Cavos Bay for visit to local beekeeper.
12 noon Stop at Villa Thanassi for a honey and Greek cheese tasting
Light lunch in our garden and return to hotel or stay in village for free time on your own.
5:30 Pick-up at hotel for your cooking session: Fearless Phyllo. Some of the dishes you may prepare include: basic homemade phyllo pastry
Zucchini and herb pie, savory pumpkin pies, multi-layered northern Greek cheese pie, open-faced chicken pie, small greens and cheese pies
custard phyllo dessert. Dinner in our garden with a sampling of Greek wines.
11-11:30 p.m. Return to hotel

Day Four

9:30 a.m. Pick-up from Hotel
10 a.m. Cooking Session: Recipes from a Greek Country Garden. Here are some of the recipes that may be prepared:
Stuffed grape leaves
Stuffed eggplants
Greens and lamb avgolemono
Vassili's fries
Black-eyed peas with wild fennel and olive oil
Green beans with trahana
Yogurt mousse with sour cherry spoon sweet
2-2:30 p.m. Depart for hotel; afternoon free
5:15 p.m. Pick up from Cavos Bay for excursion to Theoktisti Monastery and wine tasting at Karimanlis Estate in Pigi
9-9:30 p.m. Dinner at Popi's taverna in Fytema, a local landmark for really good home-cooked local food
11:30-midnight Return to hotel.

Day Five

9:30 a.m. Pick-up from Cavos Bay for the Hot Springs in Aghios.

Drive around island to see it in its entirety
Lunch on great fresh fish at the port on Aghios Kyrikos
3 p.m. Return
8 p.m. Pick-up from Cavos Bay for Cooking Session: Fish in the Greek Island Kitchen. We will cook the day's catch as well as with other fish and seafood. Here are some of the dishes you might prepare:
Island fish soup
Shrimp with creamy ouzo sauce
Cretan octopus with fennel, orange and olives
Seafood cigars with spicy pepper sauce
Rice-stuffed squid
We will enjoy our seafood dinner in the garden and sample a variety of Greek island wines.

Day Six

9 a.m. Pick-up from Hotel
Walking excursion to Diamanto Plaka's home and farm to see goats, milking and cheese making.
Light lunch on her veranda
Noonish return to Cavos; afternoon free
5:30 p.m. Pick-up at Cavos for Christos
Final Cooking Session: A Meze Feast. Here are the menu selections (subject to change):
A not-so-classic tzatziki
Skordalia
Roasted tomatoes
Shrimp saganaki
Haloumi cheese pan-fried with ouzo and raisins
marinated grilled octopus
Light ground-meat keftedes
Kid roasted in the wood-burning oven with potatoes
Loukoumades (fritters) with honey and cinnamon

Day Seven

Depart Ikaria.