Cooking Lesson: From The Market To The Table in Florence

Badge of Excellence

Florence, Italy

5 hours (approx.)
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English

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Overview

Learn to prepare a full Italian meal from scratch during a small-group cooking class in Florence. Your instructor is a professional chef who takes you first on a shopping excursion to the Central Market, then leads you through making fresh pasta by hand, bruschetta, ragu sauce, and tiramisù. Includes lunch with wine, recipes, and a participation certificate to take home.

Small-group cooking class with lunch, in Florence
Visit the Central Market to shop for ingredients and get a close look at a typical Florentine market
Make fresh pasta by hand and prepare bruschetta, ragù sauce, and tiramisù
Includes recipes and a participation certificate
Sip wine, water, or a soft drink with lunch

Sample Menu

Main

Fresh homemade pasta

Dessert

Tiramisu

What's Included

All ingredients and cooking utensils provided
Explore Florence’s Central Market on a guided tour with our chefs
Sample seasonal and traditional local products during the market visit
Hands-on cooking class led by a professional chef
Prepare classic lasagna from scratch, including fresh pasta, slow-cooked Bolognese
Learn to make authentic tiramisu
Receive a digital recipe booklet to recreate the dishes at home
Vegetarian options available upon request

Extras

Meeting and Pickup

Meeting point

Via Panicale, 43r, 50123 Firenze FI, Italy
Meet our staff in Via Panicale, 43/r, 50123 Firenze, close to Florence Central Market

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

Operating hours
.9:00 am

What To Expect

Make your own way to the meeting point in central Florence.

After introductions, your chef-instructor takes you on a visit to the Central Market. Hear about the cuisine of Florence as you shop for your cooking class and meal.

After shopping, head to the chef's teaching kitchen, which is located in the heart of Florence. Learn to make fresh pasta from scratch, kneading the dough by hand and cooking a fresh sauce (either tomato, ragù Bolognese, or pesto). Next, put together ‘bruschetta’ for your appetizer, create a main course (seafood or meat) accompanied by a side dish, and top it off with a dessert.

Your chef leads you through the steps of making this multicourse meal, including instruction on how to decorate the plates. Finally, sit down for a lunch feast that features the dishes you made. Local wine, water, or a soft drink is included with your lunch.

At the end of your class, your instructor provides the recipes and a graduation certificate to take home with you.

Mercato Centrale

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Not wheelchair accessible
Pushchair accessible
Near public transportation
Infants must sit on laps
Infant seats available
Please inform us of any food intolerance or allergy in advance - We regret to inform you that this class is not suitable for Celiacs.

Please let us know in advance any special needs or impaired mobility of the clients and we will do our best to accommodate them.
Children / teens under 18 y.o. must always be accompanied by at least one adult. If this requirement is not met, we reserve the right to exclude the under age partecipant and no refund will be due
Guests are required to be at the meeting point 15 minutes prior to the scheduled departure time as tours will start at the exact scheduled time. No delays are tolerated and will not entitle any refund, not even a partial one
Vegetarians and/or those suffering from intolerance and/or allergies are more than welcome: vegetarian and other alternative recipes are available and included (advance notice is appreciated )
This activity is not recommended for people with gluten intolerance
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 20 travellers

Supplied by

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

Traveller Photos

Gallery picture 1 (from a traveller's review)

Gallery picture 2 (from a traveller's review)

Gallery picture 3 (from a traveller's review)

Gallery picture 4 (from a traveller's review)

Gallery picture 5 (from a traveller's review)

Featured review

Christine_C

This class was such fun!!! Alice was a wonderful teacher and taught us how to make ravioli, fettuccine, bolognese sauce and tiramisu. We ate everything that we made and it was fantastic! Absolutely loved the trip to the market to buy the beef and sausage for the sauce. Incredible array of products with a cheese tasting! A+++++++ tour!

Reviews

4.5

based on 106 reviews

Total reviews and rating from Viator & Tripadvisor

We perform checks on reviews

Fun, informative and delicious!

Steven_L, July 2023

Great time learning to make pasta and tiramisu from scratch. Chef Vic was fantastic and very knowledgeable. Small class (14) made for easy conversation and laughs! Finished off with our delicious creations.

Response from Host, July 2023

Dear Customer, Thank you for sharing your feedback with us. Happy to know that you enjoyed yourselves in the cooking class and that you have liked our chef. Hope to see you again. Best regards, My Tour in Italy team.

Alice was amazing and...

LINDA_L, June 2023

Alice was amazing and helpful learnt new skills to take back to Australia. We use these skills to wow friends when they come to dinner.

Response from Host, June 2023

Dear Linda, Thank you for sharing your experience with us. We're very happy to hear that you enjoyed our cooking class! Alice will be really glad to hear that you had fun with her! We hope to see you back also in the future. Best regards, myTour in Italy

Great experience!

Christine_C, June 2023

Response from Host, June 2023

Dear Christine, Thank you for sharing your experience with us! Alice will surely be very happy to hear that enjoyed her class and that you were satisfied with the fruit of your labor! It would be a pleasure for us to see you back again also in the future, with other interesting and fun cooking classes. Best regards, myTour in Italy

Cooking was such fun!

Laurie_D, Nov 2022

The food was fabulous. The chef was so knowledgeable about history oh food and the market was an added bonus

Great way to fall more in love with Florence

Ashley_T, Oct 2022

Excellent experience! We cook a lot, but we really enjoyed the market tour, watching the demonstration, making pasta and tiramisu. Tommaso was fantastic!

Good activity but force Viator to double confirm meeting point

David_J, July 2022

Good activity and experience but Viator sent the wrong meeting point address so we missed the start.

Watching knead the pasta dough

Fergus_S, Aug 2020

If you ever have an opening for me to be your hobbit helper. I’m there. Thank you. Best experience EVERRRRR

Hands on Cooking experience - learn real Tuscan technique

John, Feb 2020

The 6 hours went by very quickly. First a quick stop at the market to learn not just about the purchases for the meal but also a tasting of olive oil, balsamic etc. Then back to the "lab" to start to cook - and this is a hands on class not a tourist class where you watch the chef. We learned many things ...... of what we were doing wrong back home. Entertaining local chef where we learned so much about Italian food but also about local Italian life and Tuscany tradition and history. One of the highlights of our trip.

Fun cooking 1/2 day

DeeAnne_T, Oct 2019

Had a fun morning preparing fresh pasta, ragu, bruschetta & tiramisu. The visit to the Market was great, only wish we had been with the chef as he selected ingredients. Facility was very modern and clean. Our food turned out delicious. My biggest suggestion to make this tour better would be to make the meeting point the market. We met up at a spot about 1/2 mile away on the side of the road, only to walk to the market, then to walk again to the kitchen facility. This made no sense to me.

Great Instruction

Lorraine M, Sept 2019

Hands-on lesson. Small group, 10 people. Thomas was charming and very informative. Enjoyed our class very much. Recipes were received so I can cook at home.

Great Cooking Class

Mike_D, Aug 2019

We had a fantastic time with Manuel visiting the Central Market, the Olive Oil store and learning to cook pasta, tiramisu and other delights. Manuel shared his sometimes comical opinion of cooking and table etiquette, Italian history, politics, and anything else we brought up. Our only complaint is that while we enjoyed the meals, we are not able to enjoy them at home. The meal recipes were not provided while we were there, and although they were promised to be emailed, they were never sent. Make sure you receive the recipes before you leave! We would have rated this experience higher if the recipes were provided so we could recreate the meal at home.

Fantastic

Camper44067, July 2019

Everything I wanted it to be. I would have liked though when we went to the market (since I don’t cook) for the chef to show me how he picks out produce, flour etc. I did like the oil presentation, the lady was awesome! Everything was great! The best meal I had in Italy 🥰

Made one of the best dishes I have had in all of Italy

Oscar_B, July 2019

The class is a very casual, low key cooking class. Starting with a quick visit to the local Mercato for supplies, and a cool education on local balsamic vinegar, the course is a complete lesson in properly making one of the best local dishes. Chef Emanuele has a fun casual, lighthearted style. Take good note, take photos or take video, because a ton of what he teaches is not included in the recipes he provides. Everyone gets to participate. The dishes we made were Ragu with fresh pasta and Tiramisu. They turned out amazing! The day went by quickly and the dishes were delicious. Plenty of wine was also included. I would say it is good for all ages over 16 +/-. Enjoy

Chef Emmanuel 👌🏾

Andrew M, July 2019

Learned so much. Drank tasty Chianti. The tour through the market was very informative. It was fun picking out what we needed to cook with. And never a dull moment with our chef for the day-Emmanuel!

Fun experience

Dave M, June 2019

Although our guide was late for pickup and the instructions for meeting him were not very great, once we got to the kitchen, it was a fun experience. Our chef was very engaging and talkative, and we enjoyed learning how to make all the items on the menu. We did the class with kids and it was probably borderline for them, but worth the time.

Amazing

Rob_K, June 2019

We had Thomas as our Chef and he was incredible. Patient, energetic and took the time to explain everything he was doing. Such a treat

Family vacation

Wilma_L, Sept 2018

Highly recommend this cooking class. Thomas explained in detail the ingredients and was very interactive with the groups.

Fabulous cooking class, was the...

Paula D, Apr 2018

Fabulous cooking class, was the highlight of our trip. Great chef, Elio, met us on time in front of tour office. Took us to Central Market where we met Valentina, whom gave us bread with truffles, which Valentina and her dog find. Valentina also makes 12 year old balsamic vinegar, both delicious. Then a lovely driver took us to a Tuscany, where we met Simone Dominati and his family at a Castle, bed and breakfast called Il Mulino, a can't miss. Breathtaking! Simone and his family met us when we arrived with a warm welcome. In minutes we felt like part of the family. Had a fantastic cooking class of home made pasta with Bolognese sauce. Tomato bruschetta, and tiramisu for dessert. Delicious white wine while we were cooking, and lovely red wine with lunch. Total 4 and half hours of pure joy. I would higher recommend this cooking experience to everyone.

This was my favorite tour...

JosephJames_P, Apr 2018

This was my favorite tour! Everything was first class. The place was a total surprise out to an Tuscany Restaurant. The chef was welcoming and helped everyone. We had wine, learned how to make pasta, sauce, and Tiramisu. The restaurant was so pretty. My whole family felt special.

What a great way to combine lunch, a...

PATRICIA C, Jan 2018

What a great way to combine lunch, a market tour and a hands on learning experience. Julio is so very engaging and personable. He was on time, no glitches and we are ready to make our own pasta dinner. Plus, it was a great way to spend a rainy December day in Florence.

The experience was really fun, and...

Patrick H, Jan 2018

The experience was really fun, and the food turned out wonderfully. The tour ran very long though, and we had to leave before it ended in order to catch our train back to Rome. Our chef was very knowledgeable and entertaining!

Though this was the second cooking...

loobytap, Dec 2017

Though this was the second cooking class I took in as many days, I found that only enhanced the experience. I fully recommend trying classes throughout Italy, as the similarities help you hone your talents, and the differences make for interesting comparisons. Our teacher chef was extremely fun and friendly, and his explanations were almost scientific and fantastically thorough.

Julio made this experience the best...

Margaret_S, Oct 2017

Julio made this experience the best part of our vacation. Making tiramisu right now!

The Market was closed on Sunday...

Charlene_W, Oct 2017

The Market was closed on Sunday. The class was awesome! The chef was funny, patient and taught us a great deal. Would definitely do this one again!

Very fun experience. We made an...

Steve_A, Oct 2017

Very fun experience. We made an amazing meal, and brought the recipes back with us so we can recreate these delicious dishes!

So enjoyable to go to the market...

Frank_R, Sept 2017

So enjoyable to go to the market first in Florence and buy all the ingredients for the cooking lesson -- and also see such nice oils, balsamic, and cheeses. Chef Julio was very good and entertaining. The directions to get to the tour start were a bit confusing.

This is a great class for anyone who...

Carrian C, Sept 2017

This is a great class for anyone who has never cooked anything as it will give information on the differences in Italian recipes and why certain vegetables are added to cut acidity in a sauce, etc. There aren't really opportunities to do hands on cooking, more just watching and listening. The market tour was quite long and disconnected from what we actually cooked versus buying the ingredients we would need. We learned about truffles, were told there was a small discount if we bought must be an affiliate situation introduced to a leather store if we needed to buy leather, must be another affiliate and then taken back to the restaurant. The food turned out delicious, but it's quite long to sit and listen to someone talk. Definitely not the right situation for children since they wont be doing much. Julio was very kind and I'm sure doing as he's been instructed to do. Really, he was so kind, but I know I read reviews and expected something different, so I just wanted to be sure to leave a full picture.

We really enjoyed our cooking...

deanfitz2000, Sept 2017

We really enjoyed our cooking lesson. The chef did a great job explaining everything to us while taking us from stall to stall where we tasted truffles, and oils. We had a great time making the tiramisu, sauce, and the fresh noodles. When lunch was served it fantastic! The only reason I didn't give it 4 stars is that we were told we would get the recipes, but still haven't gotten them.

The chef, Antonio, was very nice and...

Vanessa H, July 2017

The chef, Antonio, was very nice and shared his insights. The souls chef was also enthusiastic, helpful and informative. Our entire family of 7 enjoyed the class.