Lucca: Cook with an Italian Mamma – Pasta & Tiramisu by Cesarine
Recommended by 94% of travelers
Badge of Excellence
Lucca, Italy
- 3 hours (approx.)
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
Why travelers loved this
·
Explore our promoted experiences
Overview
Discover the secrets to turning out fresh pasta and classic tiramisù like a real Italian 'mamma' with this home cooking class. Join a local cook in her kitchen and learn how to make two different types of pasta from scratch, then try your hand as assembling a creamy tiramisù under her careful guidance. Top off your class with a family-style lunch or dinner featuring the dishes you've created together.
- Connect with a local cook to experience the authentic side of Lucca
- Prepare two types of pasta and traditional tiramisù in a single class
- Lunch or dinner including three courses plus wine and coffee included
- A small-group experience suitable for all ages and skill levels
Sample Menu
Main
Ravioli and Tagliatelle
Learn how to prepare 2 pasta recipes from scratch with tasty sauces. Pasta shapes can vary according to your preferences.
Dessert
Tiramisu
Learn how to prepare the most iconic Italian dessert and taste your creation at the end.
What's Included
- 3 recipes hands-on cooking class
- 3-course lunch or dinner
- Local wines
- Water and soft drinks for kids
- Italian Espresso
- Ingredients, kitchen equipments and apron for the class
Meeting and Pickup
Meeting point
- 55100 Lucca, Province of Lucca, Italy
This experience will be held in a local family's home located in Lucca or in the nearby based on the availability. For privacy reason, you will receive the full address of your host after you've booked.
End point
This activity ends back at the meeting point.What To Expect
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Near public transportation
- Not wheelchair accessible
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 12 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
Melissa_H
This was a wonderful experience! One of the true highlights of our trip. Silvia was warm and welcoming and encouraging as she guided us through making ravioli, tagliatelle, and tiramisu. Such a pleasure to learn how to make pasta by hand, and my daughter and I are looking forward to making pasta and tiramisu again when we get home. Highly recommend this experience!
Reviews
4.8
based on 207 reviews
Sort by: Most insightful
Rebecca_B, Jul 2026
This was a great experience in a real Italian home. Most authentic cooking class I’ve ever taken. Highly recommend.
Rosa_S, Jun 2026
Our time with Sylvia was very special. She put us at ease, taught us how to make some excellent Italian cuisine without it being complicated. It was a pleasure spending time with her.
Meghan_S, Jun 2026
Monica is the best! We cooked in her home our last night in Lucca and it was the perfect way to end our trip. Monica is knowledgeable, a great teacher, and a kind soul. I would 100% do this again.
kendall_s, Jun 2026
Amazing food but even better people! Made us feel very comfortable and easy conversations in English. Shares their love of
food and culture.
Alison_H, Jun 2026
My mom and I did this cooking class with Sylvia in Lucca and it was fantastic! She was so welcoming and a fantastic instructor. We made two different pastas and tiramisu and then had a wonderful meal with wine. I would definitely recommend this to everyone. We are looking forward to making an Italian meal when we are back in Canada!
Geoff_B, May 2026
Of all the things we did on our two week trip to Italy, this ranks as the best. Silvia cared for every detail and was ready for us at arrival. Her knowledge of the Italian cuisine was great and she shared so much information with us, not to mention wine 😊. While we weren’t exactly sure what to expect, all 10 of us left fulfilled and grateful. We are going to mimic this experience with our family back home and make a day of it. If you are considering a cooking class on your visit to Italy, look no further…book this one. Awesome experience.
Jennifer_M, May 2026
Monica taught us how to make an authentic lasagna from an Italian Mamma. Monica was warm, friendly, kind, with amazing generosity. Monica is a true Italian. We had a party of five and there was an additional couple from the Netherlands. We laughed, Monica told stories. She has a beautiful home. Monica provided an interpreter who did an amazing job translating from Italian to English. We highly recommend this experience.
Lawrence_P, May 2026
This was an absolutely beautiful and authentic experience to spend the evening with Silvia in her home. She was so gracious, patient and fun to cook and dine with. I would strongly recommend this event!
Patricia_S, May 2026
Silvia welcomed us into her home like we were old friends she hadn't seen in years ... and honestly, that's exactly what the whole experience felt like.
We made two kinds of pasta from scratch ... a simple hand-cut tagliatelle with a fresh tomato basil sauce and the most gorgeous spinach and ricotta ravioli ... plus focaccia and mortadella to start, great Italian wine throughout, and finished with what might genuinely be one of the best tiramisus I have ever tasted in my life. And the wild part? It was shockingly easy.
That's the magic of Silvia. Her instruction is warm, clear and genuinely confidence-building ... you leave feeling like you could actually pull this off at home. Her English is excellent, her energy is bright and charismatic, and her home is absolutely beautiful.
If you are in Lucca and you do not book this class, you are making a mistake. Highest possible recommendation.
Elizabeth_P, Apr 2026
Today’s cooking experience was amazing. The hospitality given by our beautiful hosts was next level. The lasagne that we made was exceptional and I hope we can do it justice when we return to Australia. Highly recommend this to anybody visiting Lucca.
Melissa_H, Apr 2026
This was a wonderful experience! One of the true highlights of our trip. Silvia was warm and welcoming and encouraging as she guided us through making ravioli, tagliatelle, and tiramisu. Such a pleasure to learn how to make pasta by hand, and my daughter and I are looking forward to making pasta and tiramisu again when we get home. Highly recommend this experience!
Beverly_J, Mar 2026
It was such a fun experience to make homemade pasta, including raviolis, pasta sauce plus tiramisu! I highly recommend the class! It was also fun to be in a local home and meet local Italian people! I highly recommend it!
Leanne_D, Mar 2026
We were in Lucca for part of our spring break in Italy trip with our granddaughter. She loves to cook so we booked a cooking event with Monica. We got much more than that! We had a wonderful evening preparing food, learning techniques, tastes, history and a whole lot of laughing. We ate at various points along the preparation and ended with a beautiful homemade pasta dinner and excellent tiramisu we'd made together.
Monica's home is about 10 minutes outside of the walled city but we enjoyed seeing other parts of Lucca getting there.
Unforgettable!
Catherine_M, Mar 2026
This was a great experience- I should have booked for a longer time. Had I known before I booked I would have.
Jamie_M, Dec 2025
This was the highlight of our trip! Rossana and Alberto were amazing hosts. The cooking was fun and the food was absolutely fantastic! I’d recommend this activity to anyone wanting to have an authentic Italian food experience.
Margaret_B, Oct 2025
This will be the best thing that you do in Lucca. Our chef’s were so gracious with their time and their home. I will totally be able to recreate this meal at home. We just loved our day with Novella and Marco.
Roberta_C, Oct 2025
We had a great experience with Rossana and Alberto. Not only did we learn about making pasta, we made friends and learned about Lucca. As a family we connected, laughed and are excited to try our new skills. Thank you for the honor of being in your home and hearing your stories and secrets for cooking.
Marti_Y, Oct 2025
Wonderful class with an amazing host Silvia. Her home was beautiful, English was great, and the wine, food, and cooking instruction were top notch. Highly recommend. She was even SO kind to drive us to our flat outside the walls after her class. Would do it again on my next visit for sure.
LEONARDO_L, Oct 2025
Andrea was very kind, class was very well prepared. He set up all in a great way. He was super generous and welcoming. Great vibe, we enjoyed the class a ton.
Lynn_M, Oct 2025
We really liked everything but we thought we were going to try ravioli or tortalini filled pastas as we make the tagliatelle and spaghetti style at home just a little disappointing. But please understand everything we made was fun our group was great the place was amazing and the ladies teaching were great the house is beautiful.
Loved the olive tasting too.
The wine was wonderful. I’m a little disabled now so they had an electric lift was perfect.
sean_o, Sep 2025
We had an amazing experience with our host Silivia! We learned how to make fettuccine, ravioli, and tiramisu all from scratch. Silva was a wealth of food knowledge, and we learned so much from her. Her attitude and worldview were impressive, we all agreed this was the highlight experience of our trip.
Saby_B, Sep 2025
Our class with Silvia was wonderful from beginning to end. We felt right at home with her as she shared her recipes and recommendations for wine, mascarapone cheese and was patient with us all. Her home is warm and inviting; I felt just like I was family. If Im ever in Lucca again I would most definitely book with her again!
Monica_F, Jul 2025
Our family of 6 loved this cooking class! Silvia was great! She opened up her home, gave us wine and a wonderful experience. We learned so much and had so much fun. Recommend highly!
Jolene_S, Jul 2025
Our cooking class in an apartment in Lucca with Ginevra was wonderful! She was extremely kind and accommodating to our 15 month old granddaughter. She even thought ahead to have toys and special food for her. The atmosphere was very comfortable, the cooking instructions were clear and doable for our family, and the meal that we shared was delicious. Ginevra was a wonderful host, and made us feel very welcome. We all very much enjoyed the evening, and it was the perfect activity to share with our family on the last evening of our Tuscan adventure!
Emily_F, Jun 2025
This was a fun and authentic small group cooking experience in someone’s home. It was wonderful! We made a ravioli and a fettuccine and drank lots of wine!
Grace_G, Jun 2025
Very fun, educational and delicious! We loved Silvia’s methods of teaching and her passion for cooking. She was absolutely fabulous and we can’t recommend enough.
LeighAnn_B, Jun 2025
Slow to respond with address we were to go to. Changed address at the last minute. Rushed to arrive at new address with a different person leading. That person did not have enough food to include us since the first person pushed us off onto her. I have filed a complaint with Viator and awaiting my refund for services not rendered.
Response from Host, Feb 2026
Dear LeighAnn,
thank you for your feedback. It is always important to listen to our customers.
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.
Please note that all our experiences are held in private homes, so for privacy reasons, we can't disclose the complete address before booking, and this important information is clearly stated also in the Viator's Voucher that each client receives after placing the reservation.
I genuinely regret any frustration this may have caused.
We remain at your complete disposal,
Moyra_B, Jun 2025
We were looking forward to what we hoped would be a memorable and authentic cooking experience, and while I believe this type of event can be wonderful under the right circumstances, unfortunately, that was not the case for us.
tl/dr: Ginerva appears to be running a con operation, taking advantage of both enthusiastic tourists and her employees. She is giving both Cesarine and Lucca a bad reputation.
We booked a class that was to be hosted by Ginerva. However, upon arrival, we were greeted instead by two young women, Sophia and Angela, who informed us that Ginerva would not be present. Sophia, who typically serves in a support role, was unexpectedly placed in charge. She did her best to manage the situation with professionalism and grace under the circumstances.
The environment itself was not what we expected. The class was held in a living room instead of a kitchen. The home was cluttered and did not appear to be clean—there were visible stains on the carpet and dust on the surfaces of the living room. This was surprising and disappointing.
An especially uncomfortable moment occurred when we asked to wash our hands and were directed to the end of the hallway. We accidentally entered a bedroom, where we encountered an inappropriate situation involving two individuals in a state of undress. This was clearly not suitable for a family-friendly activity and made us consider leaving. However, we continued the class, largely out of consideration for Sophia and Angela, who were clearly doing their best.
As we began making tiramisu, a woman—presumably Ginerva—walked through the space briefly without acknowledging our family. Later, three other participants arrived late, reporting that they had been sent to the wrong location and were frustrated by the experience. Despite their requests, it appeared they were not offered a refund, which added to the awkwardness of the event.
The pasta-making portion of the class proceeded without major issues, though it lacked the charm or uniqueness we were hoping for. The ingredients appeared to be store-bought from Carrefour.
We excused ourselves before the “three course meal” - table settings had been placed on a low coffee table in another cluttered and unclean living room, which was unappealing.
In summary, while hired employees Sophia and Angela were kind, sincere, and made a real effort to salvage the evening, the overall experience was disappointing and not in line with the expectations set by the listing. It is our impression that Ginerva Midali may be misrepresenting the experience and possibly taking advantage of both guests and staff. We sincerely hope that Sophia and Angela are given the opportunity to work in a setting that reflects their dedication and potential.
This experience reflects poorly on both Cesarine and the town of Lucca.
Response from Host, Feb 2026
Dear Moyra,
We are truly sorry and deeply mortified to read about this experience and the discomfort it caused. We take feedback of this nature very seriously and are currently investigating internally to fully understand what happened and to verify all the points raised.
Our goal is always to offer authentic, well-organized, and respectful experiences, and what has been described does not reflect the standards we strive to uphold. We sincerely apologize and will use this feedback to address the situation and make the necessary improvements.
We remain at your disposal,
My very best wishes,
Robert_C, Jun 2025
We had such an incredible experience with Monica and her husband. We started by making the dough for our pasta and then sat down for wine along with cheeses and meats. She educated on us what they eat and drink in their region. She took great pride in it. The conversation, although sometimes choppy because we had to use google translator once in a while, was overall smooth and flowing. We then made our pasta which was such a fun experience and our sauces. My wife and I even flipped our own sauces and took pictures. We finished the night by eating the pasta we had made and giving hugs of appreciation. Such a fun experience!
Julie_E, Jun 2025
Sylvia made the cooking experience great fun and made us feel very comfortable in her lovely home. We made pasta and gnocchi for mains which she served to us accompanied by wine and tiramisu for dessert. It was beautiful.
Likely to Sell Out
From $98.70
per personup to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)
Compare Similar Experiences
Current
Likely to Sell Out
Lucca: Cook with an Italian Mamma – Pasta & Tiramisu by Cesarine
207
3 hours
Free Cancellation
From
$98.70
Customers Who Bought This Tour Also Bought
Explore Similar Things to Do
Attractions in Lucca, Italy
- Lucca Clock Tower (Torre delle Ore) Tours & Tickets
- Walls of Lucca (Mura di Lucca) Tours & Tickets
- Brolio Castle (Castello di Brolio) Tours & Tickets
- Lucca Cathedral (Duomo di Lucca) Tours & Tickets
- Piazza dell'Anfiteatro Tours & Tickets
- Via Fillungo Tours & Tickets
- Cathedral Museum Complex (Complesso Museale e Archeologico della Cattedrale di Lucca) Tours & Tickets
- Puccini Museum Tours & Tickets
- Devil's Bridge (Ponte del Diavolo or Ponte della Maddalena) Tours & Tickets
- Guinigi Tower (Torre Guinigi) Tours & Tickets
- Church of San Michele in Foro (Chiesa di San Michele in Foro) Tours & Tickets
More attractions near Lucca, Italy
- Piazza dell'Anfiteatro Tours & Tickets
- Lucca Cathedral (Duomo di Lucca) Tours & Tickets
- Brolio Castle (Castello di Brolio) Tours & Tickets
- Church of San Michele in Foro (Chiesa di San Michele in Foro) Tours & Tickets
- Via Fillungo Tours & Tickets
- Devil's Bridge (Ponte del Diavolo or Ponte della Maddalena) Tours & Tickets
- Walls of Lucca (Mura di Lucca) Tours & Tickets