Hands-On Pasta Making Class in Central Florence

"My husband and I had our honeymoon in Italy this past spring and were lucky enough to book Patrizia's Tuscan cooking class. The class began by meeting her at her local farmer's market and picking out the food we would use for our recipes. The produce was the freshest produce we had ever come across, everything fruit and vegetable was vibrantly colored and smelled amazing. We ended up making three different courses and she had appetizers for us to munch on while we cooked and wine to pair with our meal. Patrizia was such a gem to learn from, she was friendly, inviting, and so knowledgeable of everything culinary. My husband and I agree that this was one of our favorite things we did while in Italy and would absolutely dine with Patrizia again. Upon leaving she sent us an email that included recipes for each of the dishes we made and even included recommendations for some of the olive oils and cooking utensils we used with cooking with her. We loved Patrizia and will forever remember this cooking experience."

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"My husband, parents and I very much enjoyed this cooking experience. Patrizia was wonderful and we had so much fun learning from her and cooking in her apartment. Dinner was delicious and it was really nice to have this opportunity to interact with a local resident of Florence and to have a break from museums and restaurants. This was a highlight of our trip and I would absolutely recommend adding this to your Florence itinerary."

"Patrizia Cantini is an absolute Tuscan treasure and Traveling Spoon is one of the coolest destination activity companies to come along in a long time. We met Patrizia in her apartment (built in the 1750s but not "architecturally significant" as she explained it... lol) in central Florence just blocks from the Duomo. Patrizia had been to the market that morning and after introductions we moved to her kitchen and took part in an amazing food and cultural experience. Everyone chipped in and helped to prepare a wonderful Tuscan lunch of homemade tagliatelle and pomodoro sauce, an herbed pork tenderloin wrapped in fresh pancetta, fried zucchini blossoms (our new favorite thing and what Patrizia calls the ultimate Italian finger food) and tiramisu. She selected a perfect local red wine and prosecco to toast my wife's recent birthday to tie everything together.Patrizia is a noted food and wine journalist, so her perspective and stories about Tuscan food, cooking and Tuscan life in general were fantastic. From tips about selecting the correct flour for homemade pasta (tipo "00" cut in with Semola) to navigating us through an olive oil tasting, our time with Patrizia was the highlight of our time in Florence.As you can probably tell, I can't recommend the experience highly enough.Insider notes: (1) Booking was very easy through the Traveling Spoon site and pre-event communications were timely and thorough. (2) If you are traveling by hired car, make sure they have an NCC license - it's required to be able to drive into central Florence's smaller residential areas. Our car had one and dropped us off at the front door."

"Patrizia is AMAZING!! Great food, conversation, authentic experience! Patrizia is amazing. We are in love! She was so charming, smart, well spoken, opinionated (in a good way!), well educated on food / Italian culture / everything, and an absolute joy to be with. The meal was amazing and we really had a wonderful time. Also, her apartment is perfectly located in Florence."

"Patrizia was lovely and, like any true Italian, very easy to talk to. We covered a wide variety of topics beyond just cooking during our morning together. I have been to the markets in Florence many times – I even give tours to students – and I learned SO much from her. She really REALLY knows her stuff. The market people knew her and let us try some of the items and it felt very authentic to basically decide what we were going to eat on the spot, based on what looked good, and then head home with our bounty… I LOVED making the pasta. I really so enjoyed that. I have seen it done so many times and realized I never really got to do it myself. The whole process is so satisfying and as Patrizia said, which I now completely agree with, there’s cooking and then there’s making pasta. They really are two different things. Making pasta is like knitting. It is therapeutic and relaxing. We talked about cooking but in the way you do with your favorite aunt, mixed with life lessons and little Italian sayings and tid-bits – one of my favorite things Patrizia told me is that when you make pasta there is a certain flour/egg ratio and you almost always make an amount that uses 4 eggs. That is just a good standard size, not too little and not too much. So people used to say instead of “Oh I am making fresh pasta tonight for dinner” they would say, “I am making 4 eggs of pasta!” Patrizia was just lovely. I am now fully invested in getting a pasta maker at home!"