Am hoping to fit in a one-day cooking class whilst in the Chianti region of Toscana, Oct 4-7, or Florence Oct 8-12. A friend recommended Badia A Coltibuono (sp?). Any other recommedations?

I will be taking a cooking class the week after next at Fagiolari. I had e-mailed the owner Giulietta and found her to be very nice and helpful. What I like about her class is that is starts at 5:00 PM so you have the day to sightsee and end your evening with a great dinner you cook and a glass of wine. I will let you know how it goes when I come back........I expect only good things to say.

http://www.fagiolari.it/eng_corsi.htm

You might look into

www.divinacucina.com

It's run by an American in Florence; she frequently posts on the slowtrav Web site.

I suspect that at Badia a Coltibuono you are paying in part for the owner's name; she calls herself Lorenza de Medici, but if she's even vaguely related to the Medicis, who died out in the 18th century, I will eat a hat cooked in one of her classes.

I took the cooking class at Fagiolari last week while we were staying in Chianti and it was a fun experience. If I had to do it all over again I would have taken the class with less people as there was less "hands-on" for me. There were 4 people in the class and we basically watched Giulietta's assistant cook. But overall, it was fun and the meal was incredible!! Giulietta and her assistant (forgot her name) were very gracious and very warm and welcoming to us. Let me know if you have any more questions. We just got back from Lake Cuomo, Tuscany and Venice.

Thx Latenighter; I did read about Fagiolari several months ago but forgot about it. The 5pm start time IS better so I'll contact them! Also, Beaches71 I will await your critique!

laternighter: Where did you stay in Chianti? We have reservations at Tenuata Ricavo in Castellina. Are you familiar with it? (They have strict reservation cancellation policies-one night's stay, period) I found 2 other places less $$ that I liked since. Oh well...

Katerbug, we stayed at Collelungo in Castalina. It was incredible. It is an agriturismo and a 14th century farm/winery and they rehabbed the 14th century buildings!! They just have a 3 night minimum. Their website is www.collelungo.com. We stayed in the Girrafe room and the Torre room. The Torre room was our favorite with a nice private porch, kitchen, 2 levels, large bedroom and bathroom and a sitting room with incredible views of the hills! Let me know if you have anymore questions.

Katerbug, oops, forgot to tell you that we were really not familliar with any other places around that area except for Fagiolari B&B since we had to drive there for the cooking class. We still loved Collelungo better. Castellina in Chianti is such a great location to stay as it is so close to so many other little destinations: San Gimignano, Siena, Varenna, Montepulciano, Florence etc..You are going to love anywhere you stay in that area, as I hear they are all so nice! Tuscany was one of my favorite places we visited. We loved Siena more then Florence. Well, have fun and keep us updated!

Katerbug, did you ever hear back from Beaches71? My wife and I will also be in Tuscany from 10/1 to 10/8 and we are looking for a cooking class. I have read too many posts on various sites about crowded classes or classes that end up being nothing more than expensive dinners so I am trying to find the "right" one. I'd love to hear what you have found!

Eloise,
You are so funny! I loved your post.

Now to be serious for a change, we will be staying at Cetona for several days - and I would love to take a one-day cooking class. I have to admit I don't know which of these places would be close to Cetona. Does anyone know?

Carol

We will be styaing at Fagiolari and taking their cooking class on 10/14 if someone wants to join, there's still room.
Further south http://www.ankhura.com has classes as well.

Getting out my map & checking mappy to see where Fagiolari is in relatiion to Cetona.

Is the class still at 5:00? And followed with dinner?

Carol

Brahmama, I never did hear back from Beaches71! She went in June! I signed up for one evening cooking class w/ Fagiolari Thu Oct 6, 5-9; hoping for the best! Sorry it took so long to revisit my posting! But I have no new news.

Infoman & Brahmama:
Almost forgot. Just got the info from my DH; a gal he works with goes to Italy every year for a week-long cooking class near Lucca at Villa Lucia: www.wvtt.com/groups.htm. She'll be there Oct 11. Check out the website, you'll be impressed.

Carol
I've emailed the owner, Giulietta, to verify the time.However, you'll probably be a bit too far away.
Still look forward to meeting in Rome.

Check out Auberge de la Fontaine in Venasque.
http://www.auberge-lafontaine.com

Oops, sorry, I thought you were in Provence.

Brahmana, Infoman: Type in Fagiolari Cooking Class and you'll see recent posts (9/9/05) from a poster who just attended her class and stayed the night at her B&B! She/they loved it.

We've been back one week from our FABULOUS trip to Italy and thought I'd quickly add my 2 cents about our cooking class at Guiletta's Fagiolari B&B on Oct 6. We had a blast! There were 4 American couples in all; we were the only West Coasters (The O.C.), 2 were from NYC/Connecticut and 1 from Kansas City. One couple was on their honeymoon. Two of the couples were staying at the B&B-one of them for 4 nights of cooking. We all were given aprons and cookbooks. After a slow start of just chopping veggies and apples, we all jumped in and toook turns making the pasta-using a machine as we are in the 21st Century! Even my hubby who only BBQs, filled and folded his own raviolis! The wine flowed freely tho we don't drink. The meat was a pork roast that after braising it, milk was poured over it and it simmered for an hour. It was delicious! So I recommend Giulietta's cooking class; it was $90 per person. It was just a bit difficult finding her compound, way down a dirt road along vineyards and a fenced-in yard with some beautiful Golden Retrievers! But that's half the fun of being in Tuscany, driving around on your own, stumbling upon neat places and people.