Tuscany, Italy, February 2024: The Argentario Golf & Wellness Resort, a 5-star destination in the Maremma, is offering tempting Tuscan fare alongside championship golf with its ‘Farm to Table’ Half Board Package, with prices starting at Euros 418 (US$449) for two people per night.
The half board option, which includes a daily 4-course dinner and buffet breakfast, gives golfers the chance to embark on a gastronomic journey that places emphasis on local cuisine made with organic produce from the Resort’s own vegetable garden and orchard and carefully selected local farms in the Maremma with a few seasonal specialities from the rest of Italy. Many of the dishes, created by the Resort’s award-winning chef Emiliano Lombardelli, are unique to the Argentario kitchen, which prides itself on producing delicious, healthy dishes accompanied by wine from the region.
Argentario’s organic olive oil & a local Tuscan pasta dish from Emiliano Lombardelli
During the day, golfers can enjoy 18 holes over the par 71, 6,218 metre course that features a front nine that weaves in and out of natural Mediterranean vegetation and ancient olive groves on the inward nine holes. Designed by the architect, David Mezzacane, and professional golfer, Baldovino Dassù, the layout is a varied, spectacular and technically challenging course.
Testament to its quality and its facilities, Argentario joined The PGA’s growing list of exceptional branded resorts as the ‘PGA National Italy’ in 2019 and earlier this year it was announced that the golf club would host the Italian Open on the DP World Tour in 2025.
Then in the evening, guests can indulge in Emiliano’s delicious dishes at the stylish Club House Restaurant that overlooks the 9th green with views of the Orbetello Lagoon. Here each meal is begun with local homemade bread and the extra virgin spicy olive oil, made from fruit harvested from the ancient olive trees that line the Argentario golf course, which employs only organic practices.
Some of the Club House Restaurant’s mouth-watering plates include traditional Roman pinsa with cured ham and organic mozzarella and roasted octopus as an antipasto, followed by pastas such as homemade green ravioli filled with pink shrimps in Mediterranean sauce and tortelli filled with ricotta cheese and chard in ragu Maremma style.
For the second course, one of the standout dishes is braised veal cheek in wine sauce accompanied by celery root. The gastronomic experience concludes with a choice of homemade desserts such as the Club House tiramisu.
“Our menus change in line with the seasons and according to the vegetables and aromatic herbs harvested in our vegetable garden. At Easter, for example, we will have asparagus, artichokes, courgettes and various types of aubergines that are paired with all our Mediterranean aromatic herbs including basil, thyme, parsley, sage and marjoram. In late spring, we will have peas and celery as well as fruits such as peaches, apricots, pears and plums,” explains head chef Emiliano Lombardelli, who was born and grew up locally.
The 13th hole at the Argentario Golf Course (l) and the stylish, comfortable surroundings of the Argentario Club House Restaurant
The package also includes an element of wellbeing as all guests have access to the 2,700 metre square spa and all its services and facilities, as well as the use of the golf driving range, padel and tennis courts, mini football pitch and jogging paths around the property,
This half board package includes:
- Buffet breakfast
- A daily 4-course dinner (beverages excluded) at the Club House Restaurant
- Spa Access
- Use of driving range, padel and tennis courts, mini football and jogging paths
- Indoor garage parking (upon availability and reservation) or outdoor parking (no reservation required)
- Wi-Fi internet
For those seeking an alternative dining option outside the Half Board package, the Resort is also home to the Dama Dama Restaurant. This fine-dining haven celebrates the fusion of traditional local ingredients with premium international products, including the likes of Tahitian vanilla and Sichuan pepper. Each dish is carefully presented in a creative and modern fashion, ensuring that the dining experience at the Dama Dama is a captivating journey through both the local terroir and cuisine; a sensory experience that excites the palate and takes you to the heart of gastronomic delight.
Whilst for those wanting to take a taste of the Argentario ‘Farm to Table’ offering back home, the Resort also offers Foodie Boxes that include Argentario extra virgin olive oil, jars of wild boar ragu typical of the Maremma region and cabbage soup made with ingredients from the onsite organic farm. The boxes also make delicious presents to give to friends and family and can be viewed at argentariostore.com.
“In addition to being farmed organically, the olive groves on our property are grown in a very particular type of valley that features both high and low Mediterranean scrub that experts have found creates an oil that is the absolute essence of the Mediterranean,” comments Nicola Alocci, the Resort’s in-house expert taster of olive oil. “The cultivars from which we harvest our fruit are made up of three types from Tuscany and one from Lazio as Argentario is on the border between these two regions, which combine to give the oil its unique and distinctive flavour.”
Argentario is the first 5-star Resort in Italy and one of the few Golf Resorts in Europe to belong to the golf portfolio of the largest and most prestigious hospitality group in the world, the Marriott International group. As a member of Marriott Bonvoy, guests benefit from a loyalty program that allows all travellers to collect points and transform them into benefits, free stays and much more.
Argentario is just 90 minutes by car from Rome Fiumicino Airport and two hours from Rome Ciampino Airport.
To book a Tuscan vacation, call the Resort on t: +39 0564 810292 or e: booking@argentarioresort.it
