Intense Weekly Culinary Program, for the Budget Conscious
Duration
6 Days & 6 Nights
Fees
€ 1500 (Shared Accommodation)
€ 1800 (Single Accommodation)
What to expect?
Our Intense Weekly Culinary Program is designed to give you a traditional experience of Italian love for cooking and for genuine food. Along the six days of our cooking classes, in preparing a five-course meal, the traditional Italian dishes you will learn are at least 30!
You will also explore the delightful aspects of Tuscan Cuisine and culture, with cooking tips from our Italian chefs and clues from your hosts, whilst learning how to cook in the Italian way and having fun doing it.
It is an intense course but there are not only cookery classes: in our less expensive culinary program, you can spend your free time at a real Tuscan Estate which is a working vineyard and olive grove.
The forest surrounding the Estate has wild life such as Tuscan wild boars, pheasants, squirrels, hares and much more. But on the Pandolfini Estate, you will also be able to see where the excellent extra virgin olive oil and the famous Chianti Wine have been made for centuries. All of this, for a perfect “Taste of Tuscany” cooking holiday.
You will not only see the places where traditional olive oil and wine are produced, but also enjoy wine, extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar tasting.
On one of the days, your cooking classes will be enriched by a visit to the bustling central food markets of Florence. Once there, the Chef or our guide will share with you information on an abundance of products, keeping the focus on how this genuine ingredients have inspired traditional Tuscan dishes for generations.
We wonder what you will be thinking of the magnificent 14th century Villa Pandolfini, the center of this Tuscan Estate since the Renaissance: its wine cellars and ancient rooms, or the impressive ballroom where once upon a time Counts and Countesses alike would dance and socialize with the Florentine Elite.
Why don’t be enticed by this authentic way of life in Tuscany, expressed in its traditional Cuisine? Countryside, Florence, the Pandolfini Estate and, of course, our cooking classes where your love for Italian food along with ours, will take place to explore the Good Tastes of Tuscany
The Villa Pandolfini Estate
The 150 hectare estate comprises of a private forest, vineyards and olive groves. Antiques, frescoes, beautiful loggia looking onto a breathtaking renaissance garden. Outdoor dining, walks, very quiet and private. This is the perfect place to discover Florence and enjoy the real Tuscan countryside this elegant castle that has accommodated guests such as Napoleon Bonaparte and King Charles VIII of France. Famous architecture design. Shared Swimming Pool. Wonderful dining experiences at the many local restaurants, some noted as being the best in Italy. Relax at the villa and enjoy its grounds, wine and forest, or discover the many local attractions such as horse riding, trekking, antique markets, Caruso’s villa and gardens, medieval villages and Etruscan ruins.
Accommodations are in the villa or one of the farmhouses, the rooms and villa are chosen by us based on the size of the group and composition, supplements paid etc.
The culinary vacation is designed to have you experience and live like a Tuscan in a home.
Located 12 km from the Florence center. Trains, buses and all shops within walking distance and close to all major highways. Stroll down and buy your fresh bread or morning cappuccino and feel like a local! The area is full of great restaurants, weekly open air small markets, straw museum and horse riding. Throughout the year the little villages and towns scattered through Tuscany celebrate ‘sagre’ which give visitors a perfect opportunity to share in this unique experience. We will happily give you advice on events taking place in the area. You are 20mins to Montecatini, famous for the thermal spas and fancy shops and cafes, 40 mins to Pisa, Lucca or Siena 60 mins to Bologna, Forte Dei Marmi, Volterra, San Gimignano.
