By Kristin Jensen
Pelican Hill’s harvest season is capped off with Festa dell’Autunno, an annual culinary celebration featuring wine dinners by acclaimed Italian chefs, a street festival and marketplace with Italian goods. This year’s event, held Oct. 8-11, is the first to begin on Thursday, with activities for the street festival on Saturday running until 8 p.m.
Averaging 500 guests each year, Festa is one of the only occasions Camp Pelican—the resort’s children’s offering—is open to non-guests, as it’s transformed into Carnevale dei Bambini for children to paint flags, don costumes and parade down the bungalow avenues. Families can also peruse the marketplace for authentic Italian fare, including handmade pasta straight from pasta chef Julia Holland’s kitchen—she makes nearly 300 bags to be sold with accompanying sauces for easy home cooking.
THURSDAY, OCT. 8
Wine Dinner With Chef Alessandro Bocci (6-10 p.m.)
Enjoy autumn flavors with a four-course dinner at Pelican Grill, prepared by chef Alessandro Bocci of the Michelin-starred All’Acquacotta restaurant at Terme di Saturnia Spa & Golf Resort in Maremma, Italy.
FRIDAY, OCT. 9
Wine Lunch With Chef Sebastiano Lombardi (noon to 2:30 p.m.)
Chef Sebastiano Lombardi from the Michelin-starred Ristorante Il Pellicano in Porto Ercole, Italy, prepares a three-course lunch menu paired with fine Italian wines at Andrea Ristorante.
SATURDAY, OCT. 10
Italian Street Festa (2-8 p.m.)
Highlighted by flag bearers from Bologna, Northern Italy, dressed in traditional Renaissance costumes, this street festival features food and wine from Sicily, Tuscany, Piedmont, Romagna and Veneto. Savor options like octopus carpaccio with shaved fennel and olive salad, or gnocchi with fontina cheese sauce. There’s also a wide selection of sweet plates, including homemade gelato, seasonal berry crostada, lemon-scented cannoli and assorted biscotti.
Wine Dinner With Chef Sebastiano Lombardi (6-10 p.m.)
Lombardi returns to Andrea Ristorante for a five-course dinner menu paired with Italian wines.
SUNDAY, OCT. 11
Under the California Sun Brunch (10 a.m. to 1 p.m.)
The weekend’s concluding jazz brunch features endless prosecco mimosas and custom-made omelets to be enjoyed at communal tables.
