Market-to-Table Cooking Class with a local chef in Florence

While the term “market-to-table” is widely used, this cooking class in Florence truly means it. Your expert culinary instructor will show you the ropes in navigating the daily food markets in Florence and the art of homestyle, Tuscan cooking.

Your lesson includes a full-course, hands-on overview of Florentine and Tuscan cuisine in an exclusive setting (private home for small groups or culinary studio for bigger parties) in order to provide an immersive, cultural experience with local Florentine home cooks and chefs.

You'll meet your warm, friendly bilingual cooking class chef in the market district where you’ll shop for fresh ingredients of the moment from the regions most earnest farmers and purveyors. A special opportunity to pick up Italian market shopping secrets, see how locals pick out the best artichokes and tomatoes and meeting the people who keep food traditions alive in the city!

Then return the kitchen of your instructor to transform your market haul into traditional Tuscan appetizers such as fried sage leaves or zucchini flowers, fried coccoli (savory fried dough) with prosciutto & fresh cheese, handmade pasta making (tortelli, ravioli, tagliatelle, etc), seasonal primi (first courses) like fresh tagliatelle in artichoke sauce or kale pesto, tomato sauces, polpette (meatballs) historical peppered beef stews cooked in wine (peposo), roast meats (pork loin arista) and local desserts like almond biscotti (cantuccini) and seasonal fruit crostata, panna cotta or macedonia.

This full-course Tuscan cooking class in Florence includes making fresh pasta from scratch and learning the secrets to handmade pasta. You’ll receive recipes to replicate at home guaranteed to be crowd-pleasers to impress your guests with.

After this hands-on immersive cooking lesson in Florence, you’ll deepen your appreciation for how Tuscans eat with the seasons. You’ll also understand why is no such thing as Italian cuisine- but rather distinct culinary repertoires that vary depending on which Italian region (there are 20!), and regional Italian cuisine varies from city to city, too! Learn to cook the Tuscan way with locals.

• Immersive hands-on culinary lesson led by a bilingual local expert culinary instructor
• Exclusive setting in your chef instructor’s private home in Florence. * Best for groups of 4 or less. 5 or more will be provided larger kitchen studio options
• Learn how to make fresh pasta by hand and pick up age-old secrets for the perfect strand or ravioli (types: tagliatelle, gnocchi, ravioli, etc)

• Make appetizers with seasonal delicacies such as zucchini flowers, porcini, artichokes, etc

• Food market walk in Florence to shop for your seasonal menu’ (for morning lessons only)

• Demystify making Italian tomato pasta sauces- from scratch!

• Discover Florence's meat legacy- learn historical main course dishes

• Meet a local chef instructor with generational culinary know-how and dive in to Tuscan cuisine

• Full-course menu with wine (appetizers, first course, second course and homemade dessert)

• Bake Tuscan cookies "cantuccini" and other Italian classic sweets (some with your instructor’s homemade fruit jams)

• Sit-down lunch or dinner of your creations with your instructor at their table

• True cultural immersion with locals who are passionate about sharing their regional culinary traditions

• Pick-up priceless tips and tricks in the kitchen you can’t get from a cookbook
Duration: 4/5hours, including sit-down meal with wine
Inclusions: *Market walk & shop (only for morning lessons), full-course meal instruction, 100% hands-on, all food/ingredients, personalized lesson with chef, water, coffee and wine.
Location: Depends on availability, either near Duomo or Santo Spirito in the Oltrarno
Not included: Travel insurance, extra hours, additional hours and trip cancellation insurance. *Market walk not available for evening cooking classes.
NOTE ON CAPACITY: We generally prefer private parties to be small to keep the experience hands-on with lots of attention from the culinary instructor. If you are a larger group, we can accommodate you in a larger venue with 2+ chefs, please inquire for rates and availability.

You will be in fine hands with an excellent culinary expert who loves teaching people the beauty of Tuscan cuisine to students from around the world. With this classic cooking class in Florence, you'll start off as a student and leave as a dear friend with priceless memories and knowledge of Tuscan cuisine.
Quick highlights:
• Exclusive, private hands-on culinary lesson led by a bilingual local expert
• Fresh pasta making by hand as well as sauces, plus a variety of traditional Tuscan family recipes from appetizers, mains and desserts
• Learning how to shop food markets of Florence with your expert chef instructor
• Cook with a Florence local in the exclusivity of their private home kitchen or a culinary studio (for parties of 5 or more)
•Sit-down meal of your creations with your instructor with wine, dessert and coffee to finish
(Full highlights and inclusions detailed in next section)
Start time: Morning (9am w/ market walk & shop) or Afternoon (4:30pm start w/o market)
*Please note: If you’d like a custom start time, please let us know in the questionnaire section of your booking or inquiry.
Days: Monday-Sunday (Sunday a.m. available only at custom rates- contact us for rates)
Private Lesson Cost: (DEPENDS ON GROUP SIZE AND *PERIOD) 1-2 guests = $275 pp, 3 guests = $225 pp, 4 guests = $205 pp, 5-6 guests = $195 pp.
For groups of more than 6, please contact us for a custom quote.
Youth tickets under 10 receive a $35 discount at check-out (2 adult ticket min. before a youth ticket may be added).
PLEASE NOTE: PRICING LISTED ABOVE REFLECTS BOOKINGS MADE WITH ADVANCE NOTICE. SHOULD OUR CORE PARTNERS BE UNAVAILABLE DUE TO HIGH DEMAND, WE WILL REACH OUT TO YOU DIRECTLY WITH ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS AND PRICING. WE HIGHLY ENCOURAGE BOOKING AS FAR IN ADVANCE AS POSSIBLE DUE TO OUR BEING A SMALL TEAM AND LIMITED AVAILABILITY.
*DURING HIGH DEMAND TRAVEL WEEKENDS & HOLIDAYS, THERE MAY BE A SURCHARGE AUTOMATICALLY APPLIED AT CHECK-OUT
Custom menu Cost: Please Inquire. Cost depends on how many people and request.