Cooking Vacations is an American company located in Boston, Massachusetts with a passionate team that creates delicious food, wine and culinary experience in Italy.
Lauren Birmingham Piscitelli
Creator & Owner
Lauren is a writer, publicist, photographer, and creator of Cooking Vacations Itlay. Born into an Italian-American family of chefs and pastry chefs, she grew up in the kitchen with her Neapolitan grandmothers and mom learning how to cook. After visiting Italy uncountable times and dreaming of living there, she followed her dream and created Cooking Vacations Italy. She continues to create new cooking experiences as she travels throughout Italy, interviewing chefs, artisan food makers and winemakers documenting their stories while writing articles and photographing for Tastes of Italia Magazine. In addition to her writing, she has appeared in many publications, and been on radio and TV shows. The most notable article is a feature story on the cover of National Geographic Travel Magazine written by Elizabeth Berg, award-winning and NY Times best-selling author. The cover story was later translated into Chinese and reprinted in the Chinese National Geographic Traveler. Lauren and her husband Rino also have a podcast produced by Jordan Rich of WBZ TV and radio.
She has welcomed and hosted many guests from around the world, including the Royal Family of Jordan. The Prince, Princess and their family came to Italy on a Cooking Vacation in Positano where Lauren personally toured with them, and hosted the family’s cooking classes and tasting tours during their stay.
She worked with Todd English on his WGBH TV Food Tripping show in Bologna, Italy. She is also a guest speaker at the New York Times Travel Trade Show where she shares her knowledge about food and travel in Italy. She also leads cooking tours and classes in Boston sharing her knowledge and cooking skills with guests in her hometown.
Lauren studied English and Communications at Rhode Island College, then began her career as a writer and photographer for The Brown Daily Herald at Brown University. After graduating, she joined the marketing and publicity department at Hasbro Toys, Paris, France launching the American toy line on the European market while studying French in Paris. She returned to Boston and created Birmingham Public Relations where she managed media campaigns for stars and celebrities including the Red Sox, Celtics, Patriots and Bruins and sports team stars; celebrity chefs; Rebook sports; Saucony sneakers/Boston Marathon; the Wilbur Theatre, and well-known restaurants and clubs. She spearheaded the MasterCard Celebrity Golf Tournament with E. Macey Russel, partner of Choate Hall & Stewart for Lee Elder, golf legend, JoJo White, Lenny Clark, Pedro Martinez, and other Boston athletes. She donates her time to the Anacapri In Art on the island of Capri, the Boston Bruins Foundation, to name a few charities. She continues to oversee and manage her public relations company in Boston.
Born in the USA, she is an Italian-American who splits her time between Boston and Positano, Italy with her Italian husband, a former race car driver, Rino Piscitelli. Rino and Lauren produce extra virgin olive oil on the sunny Amalfi Coast. A published writer – see pages from her cookbook, “It’s A Dream Place – Stories & Recipes of Food, Love and the Amalfi Coast,” https://www.cooking-vacations.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Its-A-Dream-Place-Cook-Book_compressed.pdf, photographer, and foodie. She loves to cook! Traveling, and discovering newrecipes and trends is a never-ending adventure for her.
Maura Stoeckle
Cooking Tour Manager & Food Writer
Maura applies her creative talent in writing and organising tours for Cooking Vacations. She loves to read, write, travel and spend time with her family. After discovering a true passion for Italy over several visits, Maura learned that her paternal great-grandfather was from a small Sicilian village. As a new mamma, Maura is busy chasing her son Patrick around, but loves daydreaming about sipping a caffé in an Italian piazza, and can’t wait to explore her family’s newfound Italian roots with the next generation.
Marie Lucia Birmingham
Business Manager
A chef at heart and always in the kitchen, Marie heads up the accounting department keeping all the reservations in order. She loves to cook,-while listening to her Italian classics. She follows in the foot-steps of her mom Philomena and her grandmother Lucia, as a mom and cook. And like her grandmother, she is always with her children and grandchildren. Marie loves it best when she is rolling out dough, making fresh pasta and baking those sweet biscotti with granddaughters Chloe Lucia and Siena Rose.
Olivia Gaibor
Junior Project Manager
Olivia enjoys taking on projects that explore both creativity and culture at Cooking Vacations. Her coursework at Boston College focuses on these same subjects as she pursues a dual degree in International Studies and Communication. In her spare time, she loves to practice her creative writing skills, discover new music, and go on long walks with friends. When home in New Jersey, Olivia looks forward to more long walks, especially with her dog, and Sunday dinners with her Italian grandmother’s homemade meals. For her, there’s no greater expression of love than sitting down with family, friends, and delicious foods on the table!
Signor Fabrizio
Wine Sommelier
Signor Fabrizio is our Cooking Vacations wine maker and sommelier. His vineyard is set in the Tuscan hills of Chianti. He produces high-quality organically dynamic wine including vino bianco, white; Chianti DOCG, red; rosato, rose, and vin santo, after dinner wine. He is passionate about carrying on his craft following generations of family wine making and being part of the Tuscan Wine Roads museum. His knowledge and accolades of award-winning wine makes him a leader in the field.