Small-Group Italian Cooking Class in Florence

Florence, Italy

Meet Chef Giovanni and learn how to cook a four-course Tuscan banquet in a private home in the heart of Florence! Numbers are limited to a maximum of 25 people on this small group Italian cooking class, ensuring you'll receive personalized attention from your knowledgeable food expert.

Whether you're a cooking enthusiast or a novice, this full-day cooking class promises to be fun and entertaining. You'll source produce from a local market, a unique opportunity to meet Italian locals and best of all, you can wow friends and family with your Tuscan recipes when you return home.

First, you'll take a trip to the Florence Central Market, shopping with Chef Giovanni to pick up the ingredients for your lunch. Meeting the butchers, the bakers, and the farmers selling vegetables from their gardens, you will learn how to distinguish the highest quality ingredients and how to barter to get the best price. You'll also taste local food and wines.

Then it's time to start your cooking lesson in a private kitchen in Florence. During this true hands-on experience, you will learn how to prepare bruschetta, fresh home-made pasta, and a main course, accompanied with a selection of Chianti wines.

And at the end of your lesson your reward will be the delicious lunch you have prepared, under the watchful eye of Chef Giovanni.

USD $100.53

Traveler Reviews

Review by: Betsy F	March 2012
This was great, one of the absolute highlights of our trip. A visit to the market, taking the most fresh ingredients back to prepare homemade pasta and tiramisu. Delicious!!

Review by: Jere L	March 2012
This is a great class!!! Giovanni was the chef, and he did a superb job! The recipes were easy and will definitely be repeated here at home!

Review by: Jonathan M	March 2012
It was amazing. It was very cool going through the market and learning to cook like italians do. Chef gionvanni andre were great!!

Review by: Huibert K	March 2012
Nice and profesional chef, nice colleagues, nice visit to the local market and very nice cooking

Review by: Susan C	March 2012
I just loved it. The whole experience was fantastic, and I would recommend this event to anyone.Such fun and great time. Chef brilliant. I left my recipes behind, so if anyone has them can they let me know.

Review by: Carla E	December 2011
This was definitely one of the highlights of our trip. Chef Giovanni was great! We thoroughly enjoyed our tour of the market and made a delicious "Thanksgiving" meal with our new friends. I would highly recommend anyone visiting the Florence area sign up for this class... you won't be disappointed!

Review by: nisha	November 2011
Excellent experience with friendly talented chef._br/_ Friendly, fun environment created._br/_ Really enjoyable class, delicious meal created._br/_ Have already given Giovanni's recipes a go now that I'm back home with good results!

Review by: lhaldane	November 2011
Had a lot of fun and the food was amazing! Wished we had gotten a printed recipe instead of taking notes- Also, for what we paid should have been given an apron!!

Review by: Kim	November 2011
Great fun!

Review by: Sopiah M	November 2011
Had a smashing time with some very lovely people. The chef was very knowledgable and friendly. Would definately do this again. Lotas of fun and laughs and I even learned something ;-)

Review by: Kelly M	November 2011
This cooking class was a lot of fun and I am happy I signed up for it! It was well organized and accomplished what they described.

Review by: gayle	November 2011
We enjoyed every minute of this class. We actually cooked and observed and tasted every aspect of our meal. Prior to cooking we shopped for our food and that experience was wonderful. Absolutely recommend this course.

Review by: tnj606	November 2011
My advice for this activity: TAKE IT!!

Review by: Charles E B	October 2011
The cooking was exactly what I was looking for in terms of shopping, tasting, hands on cooking. Giovanni and Arturo made it such a pleasure to cook and have fun. The food we fixed tasted great!!!

Review by: mandy c	October 2011
Had a great time!

Review by: Patrick H	October 2011
Everyone was wonderful. The only thing we wished was that maybe we got to cook more.

Review by: Gwen	October 2011
Had such a fun time in this class!!! Learned alot!!

Review by: MsDee	October 2011
Chef Giovanni and Andrea were wonderful hosts and cooking instuctors. We were all made to fell like we were friends all participating in preparing an amazing meal of homemade pasta, ending with a light delicious tiramusu. The tour of the Mercato Centrale was an extra bonus where we sampled virgin olive oils, balsamic vinegars, pane and fruit, all while gathering the fresh ingredients of our meal. The walk to the kitchen was short and pleasant through the outside market of vendors. Once inside the converted restaurant, the high cathedral ceiling and the long table were perfect for the group. Don't miss this part of the trip, you will go home with a "Certificate of Proficiency of Florence" by Chef Giovanni Manna and all your friends will want to come to dinner at your casa!

Review by: Rebekah J	October 2011
Chef Giovanni and Andrea did a fantastic job! The meal felt traditional, yet authentic. The walk around Centrale was perfect, and made it feel personal - like our own taste of Italy. I love that we all got a part in participation. I would definitely recommend this experience - Especially for any foodie. The meat sauce and pasta were to die for!

Review by: Dan	October 2011
The trip to the market and cooking class were both informative and fun.

Review by: Ann-Maree Hayes	October 2011
Excellent. had a lovely day and learnt enough to hope we may yet master pasta. Loved walk through market and tastings. Our chef and assistant were wonderful. Would highly recommend this. My daughters and I will remember this for ever.

Review by: Mary Z	October 2011
The chef was excellent at explaining all the recipes. We went to the market, got an explanation of olive oil, chatted with the butcher and made homemade pasta and tiramisu! An exceptional experience.

Review by: Deb	October 2011
Fantastic class! Wonderful meal that we prepared together from scratch and by hand... and an excellent education on the Tuscan philosophy of cooking. Authentic. A highlight of my trip : )

Review by: Jill	October 2011
The cooking class was a wonderful experience. I enjoyed every minute of the day and the food was wonderful. The chef and his assistant where wonderful teachers. The chef gave very good instruction and everyone who took the class should beable to make the dishes at home. He spent alot of time making sure everyone understood how to do what he was demonstrating. It was a awesome experience.

Review by: Marana Marie B	October 2011
Chef Giovanni was really nice and helpful. He gave really helpful tips on how to make an authentic Italian dinner.

Review by: Caroline S	October 2011
It was a lot of fun to learn how to make an authentic Italian meal from scratch. There were 18 people in our class, so even though we got to help out, it was more of a cooking demonstration at times. Overall, a fun experience!

Review by: Lynn K	October 2011
Touring the market and testing olive oil and balsamic vinegars was very interesting, and the food we made was excellent. Only improvement would be to really have a small group as advertised originally. We had 16 people and were squished around the table, not impossible but too many to get in the kitchen and see everything.

Review by: Jegajothy R	October 2011
I enjoyed the cooking class and also had an opportunity to learn how olive oil is graded, how many different balsamic vinegar. I would recomend this class. Friendly cheiff and his assistant.

Review by: Clikens1	October 2011
Outstanding. Enjoyed the trip to the market. Giovani did a great job as chef and instructor.

Review by: PETROS C	September 2011
Amazing cooking class. We ate by far the best pasta in our entire stay in Italy and an amazing Tiramisu. What an experience!! Highly reccomend it

Review by: Ronda W	September 2011
This was an absolutely phenomenal experience! Both Giovanni and Andrea were great with the group and in teaching us how to make our meal. It was not just teaching, but we got to participate in each step as well! It's definately one of the highlights of my entire Italian trip!

Review by: Stacy B	September 2011
This was so much fun, I definately reccomnd it.

Review by: Evelyn D	September 2011
Loved the class. It was a highlight of our trip.

Review by: Lorraine	September 2011
This is a great day outing if you like to cook, good fun and you get to eat your handywork!

Review by: Alison P	September 2011
Had a great time, Andrea was excellent!

Review by: spumkin	September 2011
This was really fun! My husband who is not a huge fan of cooking really got into it. The market visit and tastings was excellent. The 2nd chef Antonio was so friendly, and we ran into him a few days after and he was still interested in talking to us. Giovani the main chef was ok, but came accross a bit pushy. Would have been good to have an advanced cooking class for those who know their stuff.

Review by: kathebe	September 2011
This was an "ok" class. Giovanni doesn't have much of a personality and always has a stern look on his face.

Review by: Anne T, United States of America	July 2010
It was fantastic! Chef Giavanni was terrific! We loved getting his "local" perspective at the Central Market. We are experienced cooks and still learned a lot. It really made our Florence experience unique and was a highlight!

Review by: michael w, United States of America	July 2010
very nicely done......kids had a blast....

Review by: Joseph D, United States of America	July 2010
We loved every minute of our cooking class.

Review by: Kevin B, Australia	July 2010
This was one of the best things we did during our stay in Italy. Our chef was half an hour late not a good start but Giovanni tried to charm his way out of it - he was quite the charmer. We made our way to the market a 15 minute walk where we spent two hours walking around taking in the sights and smells of the market with various tastings and explanations of the food. Giovanni spent a lot of time chatting and drinking with friends and we spent a lot of time waiting for Giovanni but that is the way things are done here! Giovanni checked with everyone in the group to see if there were any vegetarians, allergies etc, before deciding upon then buying the ingredients for lunch. There was a 20 minute walk back to the kitchen which is where Giovanni really came into his own. He was an excellent teacher and chef and got everyone involved including two young boys on our tour in the cooking process. Unfortunately we had 11 in our group instead of the normal 8 so it was quite crowded in the kitchen, but we all had a turn at making something towards the lunch. We cooked a three course meal plus a spicy tomato sauce with the tomato offcuts. Our meal was delicious - bruschetta, pasta with a meat sauce, and tiramisu for dessert. Giovanni was a great teacher. We all received certificates at the end of the day. A word of warning - do not book to do anything else after this course as it often runs over the 5 hours allowed especially if it starts half an hour late!

Review by: Adrianne H, Australia	July 2010
We had a brilliant time. Florence markets are awesome, and Giovanni showed us how to choose the freshest products Italian style... lots of charm and kisses! Learnt so much about cooking delicious dishes that we were able to apply all the techniques for the rest of our holiday. Thank you for a relaxed, fun, delicious and highly informative day.

Review by: Lori O, United States of America	July 2010
What I liked about Chef Giovanni is he fielded multiple questions with patience. He kept the talented cooks in the group entertained along with the novices. The resulting lunch was delicious.

Review by: Frances W, United Kingdom	June 2010
What a great day we had, Giovanni is a brilliant tour guide and chief. He kept us thoroughly entertained during the market tour and helped us find some bargains to take home. We bought delicious fresh ingredients for our cooking class, sampled cheese and olive oil before heading back to the apartment to start cooking. We made 3 yummy meals and leant the secrets to Italian cooking. I'd love to do this cooking class every day if I could. I'd highly recommend everyone to take this tour.

Review by: Doreen H, Canada	June 2010
What a great day we had in Florence with Chef Giovanni. Something you will never forget....

Review by: Jay B, United States of America	June 2010
We had a great time. It was a small class of five. The market was fun, the chef was great and the food was excellent! I have made the lemon chicken since then and got raves.

Review by: Graciella C, Brazil	June 2010
Highly recommended. The visit to the market is very useful to know, taste and buy the products of the region. The cooking class was a great experience. Bruschetas, fresh pasta with meat sauce and a delicious tiramisu for dessert. All accompanied by wine from the Chianti. Chef Giovanni has worked well, gave much of his knowledge to the group, including great tips on cooking.

Review by: Olivia A W, United States of America	June 2010
Fun class! Enjoyed Chef Giovanni and learned a lot. The visit to the market was enjoyable. Great experience!

Review by: Anonymous, Canada	June 2010
We did this on our honeymoon. Loved the walk through the market. The food was great and the wine was good. We made some great food, but unlike the description that we were going to make a 4 course meal, we only made a 3 course meal. But overall we still loved it and didnt even really realize that we missed a course in the meal until just after we walked out. Chef was extremely knowledgable and more than willing to talk about meals and provide reciepts that we werent even making!

Review by: Jeffery J, United States of America	May 2010
The class was awesome, it was a little larger than what we were told, it lasted from 1000 am till about 430pm, The chef was very informative, provides paper to write down recipes, the trip to the market was nice we were able to go back there a couple more times and eat lunch and shop. The food and wine was excellant we tried one of the recipes for some friends while we were there. It was money well spent, if I ever return to Florence I would do it again.