Cook Like a Local in Como: Hands-On Class 3 Traditional Recipes
Recommended by 95% of travelers
Badge of Excellence
Lake Como, Italy
- 3 hours (approx.)
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
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Overview
Learn to create classic dishes of the Lombardy region with a small-group cooking class in Lake Como. A member of the acclaimed Cesarine network of chefs will welcome you into their home for a lesson in Milanese-style cuisine as you help prepare a 3-course menu featuring northern Italian favorites such as a seasonal starter, various kinds of fresh pasta, and a local dessert such as a *torta miascia*, *cutizza* pancake, or tiramisu. When the cooking’s done, sit down with your host and small group to enjoy the homemade meal with wine.
- Savor a homemade meal with an interactive cooking class in Lake Como
- Learn secrets of the Italian kitchen you can take back home
- Enjoy a multi-course menu along with red and white Lombardy wines
- Small group ensures personal attention from your host and chef
Sample Menu
Starter
Prosecco and nibbles
Seasonal Lombard appetizer, such as bruschette with local ingredients and small bites paired with nibbles
Main
Fresh Pasta
Fresh handmade pasta prepared from scratch, served with a traditional regional sauce: creamy risotto, traditional ravioli, or butter and sage gnocchi
Dessert
Como dessert
Tiramisù, or other local specialties
What's Included
- Hands-on cooking class
- Learn and taste 3 Italian recipes (starter, fresh pasta and dessert)
- Alcoholic BeveragesWater, local wines and Espresso
Meeting and Pickup
Meeting point
- Como, Province of Como, Italy
This experience will be held in a local's home. For privacy reasons, you will receive the full address of your Cesarina host after you have booked. We will contact you by e-mail after you've booked to match you up with your ideal host based on what you are looking for.
End point
This activity ends back at the meeting point.What To Expect
1
Lake Como
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Service animals allowed
- Near public transportation
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 15 travelers
Supplied by
Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Featured review
The cooking course was authentic and warm-spirited. The instructor had a great sense of humor and was friendly. The guidance was clear and well-prepared. The food we made was delicious. I warmly recommend it.
Reviews
4.8
based on 213 reviews
Sort by: Most insightful
This was the most amazing experience! Veronica was an outstanding teacher and cook! She was incredibly patient and answered all of our questions! It was so much fun making the pasta and using the cooking tools! The tiramisu was delicious and made me realize I could possibly make it on my own! The red sauce and pesto sauce was made ahead of time and was fabulous! My daughter and I thoroughly enjoyed our evening. Veronica even picked us up which made it an easy and seamless experience. I’d give it 10 stars if I could! Can’t recommend this enough!
Super fun! Met Margherita is her boyfriends apartment and had a fun, informative cooking class which included appetizer, entree and dessert with prosecco.
Great cooking lesson and great recommendations for activities in the area. Morena was a wonderful host.
We had a wonderful time with Sara and the food was really delicious. Learned a lot. Everything was fresh (she grows all of her own herbs!) and she took all of our food allergies into account. It was one of the highlights of our trip. We highly recommend this to anyone going to Lake Como.
This is a 100% private experience, so this was for 2 of us. Husband and wife team, very nice home, beautiful drive to the property. They graciously picked us up and we had a nice time. BUT… for the price of this experience we expected things to be quite different. We made very basic tortellini and tiramisu and then ate together. For us- we would have preferred a few more people, more wine than offered or at least a choice of white or red, especially upon arrival and a much more sophisticated menu and maybe a little protein and bread. This is crazy expensive for this experience, we expected so much more.
Response from Host, Aug 2026
Dear Kimberly,
Thank you for sharing your feedback. We’re glad to hear that you enjoyed the warm welcome from your hosts, their beautiful home, the scenic drive to the property and the time spent together.
We would, however, like to clarify that this experience is designed as a private, hands-on cooking class for the participants, rather than as a traditional dinner or a restaurant-style meal. The menu and format are intentionally focused on learning how to prepare authentic Italian recipes together, in this case fresh tortellini and tiramisu, followed by enjoying the dishes prepared during the class.
As the experience was booked privately for two people, the intimate setting and the opportunity to spend time directly with the hosts are an important part of what makes the experience special. Regarding the wine, the selection is made by the host based on the menu being prepared, in order to offer a pairing that complements the dishes.
We’re sorry that the experience did not correspond to the type of menu and dining experience you personally had in mind. We nevertheless appreciate your feedback and hope you can understand that the class is intended to offer an authentic and personal Italian cooking experience, rather than a sophisticated multi-course meal.
Thank you again for joining us and for taking the time to share your thoughts.
Highly recommend to anyone looking at doing a pasta making class while traveling in Italy. We had an amazing experience with the “Cook Like a Local in Como” Pasta Making Class! Our hosts and expert chefs Christine and Eliza did a fabulous job taking us through three simple recipes that turned into delicious dishes. We had a group of eight people and it was so much fun to learn about and make the recipes while enjoying an unforgettable beautiful view. Eating everything we made at the end of the experience made for truly memorable experience. Thank you for the wonderful time and for welcoming us into your home.
Great intro cooking class. Good communication given that we signed up with short notice. Walked away with an appreciation for fresh hand made pasta and original recipe tiramisu.
What a wonderful experience! Francesca and Luca made you feel like they were your friends forever! The food we made was delicious and easy to make . I would highly recommend this to others!
What a gracious, detail-oriented, fun and delicious experience. We truly enjoyed being welcome to Marharita’s home and learning from her family’s legacy of authentic Italian cooking. We made pasta, meatballs and tiramisu from scratch and had wonderful time getting to know each other! Multa Benne! Thank you!
Margherita was very helpful in providing transportation options from Bellagio to Como. She and Mateo were warm, welcoming, and were excellent hosts in their lovely home. With her guidance, we prepared family recipes for meatballs, ravioli, and tiramisu. All were delicious (she did all of the cooking). I especially enjoyed the ravioli cooked in butter and sage which allowed the ricotta and spinach filling to shine. She also provided some recommendations on highlights to see while on the lake. I highly recommend this experience and Margherita to anyone looking for a unique experience while visiting Lake Como! Unforgettable experience.
Don’t skip out on the opportunity to learn from a talented cook! It is well worth the time and money invested! We had a fantastic experience with Lidia as she hosted us in her beautiful home and taught us genuine, simple Italian cooking! We would rebook with her in a heartbeat and would have done so had we had more time!!!
Amazing experience to share with my wife. Met other travelers while learning authentic recipes and sharing an amazing culture.
We had a wonderful time! The hosts were kind, thoughtful, and helpful. We really felt like we were part of a family.
The pastries were delicious, and the tiramisu was heavenly. They paid close attention to us and showed us everything step by step. I recommend it to everyone visiting Como.
Simone and her mother were amazing hosts. We learned a lot from their lesson and the food was delicious. They picked us up from the train station and brought us back to their home and couldn't have been nicer to have dinner with. Simone was very knowledgeable and gave us all sorts of recommendations for the rest of our trip in Italy.
Cesarina and Vincenzo were wonderful hosts. Their hospitality was exceptional and it really felt like we shared a meal with friends. My family and I had a wonderful time and learned so much about Italian cooking and pasta making. We returned home with a renewed passion for Italian food and making our own fresh pasta. I highly recommend this experience.
Anna is passionate about food and people. She created a night of magic. If you’re looking for something out of the ordinary, this is it.
I had a wonderful experience learning to cook authentic Italian dishes. The instructor was very personable and it’s obvious she loves what she does. The best part was making tiramisu. I can’t wait to make it at home! I wish I had remembered to ask for the recipe. :(
This was so fun and special! Anna and Katia were lovely! The food was amazing and the wine flowed. We also loved the location and ambiance. Thank you for an amazing experience 🙏🏼
Absolutely unprofessional and uncomfortable.
I arrived with my 2 daughters as foreigners wanting an authentic Italian cooking class experience. We arrived at a private home which was fine, but the husband answered the door alone and no other guests were signed up for the class so it was just my 2 daughters and I walking into an apartment with a man alone and their was a hot tub in the middle of the living room and their was no prepping of place setting or cooking or ingredients prepared anywhere and we immediately felt uncomfortable. I asked him if anyone else was coming and that we didn’t feel safe, and then his wife comes out of a bedroom totally unprofessional and trying to tell us not to worry and to relax. We left immediately and asked for a refund and they refused and Viator took their side. I even said I would pay for food even though I didn’t see anything on a table anywhere and they still refused. Took $630 and the guy was arrogant and thought we were crazy. I needed to protect my girls and felt I did the right thing and they completely had no empathy and took my money
Response from Host, Apr 2026
Dear Jay Lee.
We would like to clarify that our cooking classes are shared experiences, which means that other guests may join; however, this is not always guaranteed, and occasionally a booking may result in a private or semi-private session.
The hosts assigned to your class are a kind and well-regarded couple, consistently appreciated by all our guests. They contacted us immediately after your departure, surprised and mortified by the situation and concerned about what had happened.
They also expressed their availability to reschedule your experience to another day when other guests were already booked, so that you and your daughters would not be alone. We would like to highlight that this was an exceptional gesture on their part, as leaving a scheduled class is normally considered a no-show according to our policy.
Unfortunately, we did not receive any response to this proposal. As a result, and in line with the terms of the booking, we are unable to issue a refund.
We regret that this situation led to a negative impression.
Kind regards,
The cooking course was authentic and warm-spirited. The instructor had a great sense of humor and was friendly. The guidance was clear and well-prepared. The food we made was delicious. I warmly recommend it.
This was an amazing class in a perfect location! Anna was so knowledgeable about the palace and the pasta she taught me how to make! I am allergic to perfumes and fragrances and she went out of her way to help me, including buying a separate soap for me. The food was divine! I don't drink alcohol or coffee and she put together a fabulous tiramisu with a berry sauce instead of coffee. I'm still dreaming about how fun the class was and the delicious food! Thank you!
We had a wonderful experience with Cesarine and Morena as our host! She was so welcoming and made us feel right at home. We enjoyed talking with her while making and enjoying our meal. We had several appetizers and made ravioli and tortellini with pesto and tiramisu. Each course was paired with an apertif or wine with some coffee at the end. This was one of the best experiences we had in Como, and we would recommend it to anyone visiting the area.
Intimate, instructional & entertaining. Felt easily at home and engaged in the experience of learning local dishes. Attentive, kind and communicative host; Margherita was great at explaining the creative process and very personable. Warm and welcoming from the beginning. This was just the most amazing experience and really immerses you in the local traditions and culture.
We had a fabulous time. Anna was delightful. She makea cooking so much fun! Pasta was delicious. Wine was great.
This was a very nice pasta making class. Nice setting in saras house. Nice wine atmosphere.
Enjoyable evening in como
We had a wonderful evening and meal with Sara. We received an email the day of the dinner and it was easy to find. We did have to use the messaging service to have her come down to meet us.
Anna was warm and welcoming! The location was super central also very special. We made two pastas and a tiramisu
Veronica and her husband Luca were absolutely wonderful. Veronica was such a great teacher, her English was great. She is extremely knowledgeable and is her husband. We not only learned how to make the most amazing pasta and tiramisu she also showed us how to make 3 appetizers. The food, the wine the lemon cello and the company was phenomenal.
No way to get home. Not organized. Sadly we have enjoyed these but this one wasn’t as good. Not helpful. Money not returned knowing no way to get transportation due to ferry schedule. Zero guidance..
Response from Host, Feb 2026
Dear Colleen,
Thank you for sharing your feedback. We’re really sorry it caused frustration. We do want to clarify that arranging return transportation is the responsibility of guests, and unfortunately it’s not something we can organize. Your comments are very helpful, and we’ll make sure to communicate this more clearly in the future.
Best wishes,
This is the worst experience we've ever had. I left messages prior to arrival asking about parking and we never got information until we drove up to the address, apparently through many non driving zones. Now the trip operator will NOT give us a refund and we will be facing many large traffic fines.
How horrible that no one gave us parking information well in advance, even though we asked for the information WELL before arriving.
Because of this, we missed our tour even though we arrived 20 minutes early and the operator will not give us a refund even though it was their fault for not giving clear directions (nor did they answer messages beforehand).
DO NOT BOOK WOTH THIS OPERATOR!!!!!
Response from Host, Jul 2025
Dear Donna,
We are very sorry to read these lines since we always try to do our best in order to provide the greatest experience possible for our guests.
We are sorry you could not find parking.
Please note that your host Anna gave you instructions on how to reach a parking very close to her place, but unfortunately you never went back to her place to do the cooking class. She waited for you for more than a hour.
We hope this inconvenience did not spoil your overall memory of Italy!
We remain at your disposal
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per personWas $103.12(-5%)
up to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)
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