Authentic Florentine Cooking Class and Garden Tour in a Tuscan Family Estate

Begin your Florentine culinary journey with Costanza in her lush garden filled with olive, fruit trees and seasonal vegetables, from leeks to eggplant and zucchini. Pick fresh seasonal vegetables that you might use in your cooking class together. With a basket of vegetables in hand, enter her family’s beautiful, spacious kitchen to learn to cook a seasonal Florentine meal from scratch. Your garden tour will last about 45 minutes. Start a cup of hot coffee or tea before rolling up your sleeves to begin your hands-on Florentine cooking class. Learn to cook a full menu of an appetizer, a salad, first course, meat, side dish and dessert from scratch. Your cooking lesson will last about three and half hours which includes a break for a glass of wine and a snack. Enjoy recreating her family’s recipes before you sit down at a formal dining table to share the meal you helped prepare over selected wine.

Your meal may include appetizers such as crostini Toscani, seasonal vegetable frittata and a garden salad with edible flowers, a first course of pasta such as pappardelle or gnocchi with wild boar ragu or lasagna and a main meat such as agnello arrosto (lamb in a red wine sauce) or roasted fish with beautifully prepared vegetable sides such as cavolo verza (sautéed cabbage in wild fennel) and carciofi fritti (fried artichokes). Your meal will conclude with a delicious dessert like tiramisu. 

If you’re interested, Costanza would be happy to take you on a 20-minute tour of a few of their historic rooms furnished with a collection of antiques from the end of the 1500s. 

Costanza is a warm and wonderful Italian host who makes you feel like family the moment you meet her. She owns a stunning estate right outside Florence that has been in her family since 1839. Costanza works with her family to maintain a gorgeous farm and two villas, one of which is converted into a bed and breakfast. Your experience will take place in her grandparent’s villa, a beautiful home filled with antiques from the 16th century. Unlike many villas in Italy, this villa has been in the same family for several centuries and has a magical charm to it.

Cooking has been Costanza’s passion since she was a child watching her parents cook wonderful meals for family and friends. They would host large food gatherings and she often relates being with her parents to cooking for other people. Her love for cooking grew because her grandmothers were amazing cooks and she always loved to eat! She says that hosting travelers has special meaning to her because it makes her feel like she is traveling the world! On days that Costanza is busy, her equally wonderful sister Serena will be your host.

Please note that because Costanza sometimes has guests staying in their B&B they may be present during your meal but your cooking experience will remain private.