My dear guests I thank you very much for these wonderful reviews about the cooking classes.
Partecipating to these cooking experiences, you gave me the possibility to express my love and passion for cooking, for my tuscan lifestyle, my families’ memories and my Tuscany, and it truly means so much to me. With your curiosity and joy you gave me extra force in keeping going The12Italy project and new ideas designed on you.
Dragana (Serbia)
2 maggio 2019
Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful! This experience was the perfect end to my family’s Tuscan holiday. Perfect was the setting, pale blue country kitchen with huge windows, big, perfectly set table and our host Francesca, who’s warm and open-hearted personality made us feel genuinely welcome to her home. Instead of 4 hours, we stayed with Francesca for almost 6 hours, cooking, chatting, exchanging recipes. No video can get anywhere close to personal contact with the local cook, who answers all your questions, shares stories about her life, giving you such an authentic view at Tuscan way of life. The dishes we prepared were simple, yet absolutely delicious! Both my daughters, my husband and me were delighted with the presents Francesca prepared for us. Such thoughtfulness, attention to detail. I feel I can’t praise Francesca enough 🙂 Our sincere and absolute recommendation! Bravo Francesca!
Benedict (Austria)
August 2019
We went into the experience with no expectations but had high hopes of this being a great experience. It turned out to be one of the best and most special moments of our trip. Francesca was just lovely, down to earth and full of love for food people and culture and did not shy back from opening up about her life, passions and values. Even before doing the cooking class Francesca was happy to help us with recommendations on wine tastings and restaurant suggestions local to our accommodation, something she did with joy and from the heart. It is so nice to be welcomed into someone’s home and learn tips and recipients passed down by generations. We left feeling we had gained not only new cooking skills but also learnt more about Italian culture and most importantly the importance of following your passion – like Francesaca did and we were able to be part of! I would do this over and over again!
Private feedback: Thanks for the fine 😂 (magical) time, it really made our holiday that bit more special. All the best for your future, your cooking book. Bis Bald!!!!!!!
Benni and Fathila baci
Zack (U.s.a)
25 giugno 2019
Wow. What an unbelievable experience and memory for us. We were a group of 8. Simply put, this was one of the highlights of our entire 3 week trip. This was thoroughly the most special and worthwhile experience I have ever done on Airbnb. Francesca made sure EVERYONE in our group felt special and had an amazing time. The food. Delicious. We came to learn how to make pasta and have delicious food. But it’s almost as if that was secondary, because we just had an incredible experience, chatted like old friends all night. However, food-wise, Francesca is determined to cook whatever you are interested in making, so don’t hesitate to ask her. We made pici and orrechiette pasta, with 3 different sauces. All were absolutely delicious. Upon arrival, we also were treated with wine and very delicious bruschettas. And something very special, upon departure, Francesca even gave us all individual goodie bags with some homemade biscotti, recipes, and handwritten letters. If you are thinking of doing a cooking class in Tuscany, this is the class. Don’t look anywhere else. Trust me. I will thoroughly remember this experience for a long time. And I cannot wait to make some of these recipes at home.
Private feedback:Words cannot express our gratitude for you. Everyone in my group was so happy and appreciative of the experience. Thank you for really making it a unique evening. I just told my mom about it and she was so jealous and wants to send you a thank you for teaching me how to cook! Hopefully we see each other again. You’re the best.
Cathrin (Germany)
23rd August 2019
We definitely enjoyed the cooking experience with Francesca. She is warm hearted and kind and the food we prepared was delicious. I am a vegetarian and she worked out the recipes for me without any meat. Highly recommend!
Tom (England)
August 2019
This was a wonderful experience from start to finish. Francesca is a fantastic host who made us feel more than welcome, like we were part of the family. When we messaged Francesca before the session to ask if we could bring our baby, she was incredibly accommodating and even provided a high chair and play cot – which were greatly appreciated. The food we made was excellent – the pappa al pomadoro was genuinely one of the best ‘comfort foods’ I’ve ever eaten – and it was special to know that the recipes were once belonged to Francesca’s great, great grandmother. We can’t wait to try and share the recipes when we get home. Everything was outstanding. I would definitely recommended it!
Private feedback: Dear Francesca, We would like to say thank you for a wonderful experience today. We all loved meeting you, learning how to cook the recipes and of course tasting the food. The pappa al pomadoro was one of the best things I’ve ever eaten and I will certainly share the recipe when we get home. It was so kind of you to make Ernie welcome and for providing the high chair and play cot! You made us feel at home. We look forward to using the ingredients and recipes in the goody bag too. The whole experience was fantastic, thank you again.
Tom, Lucy and Ernie
Pierre (Canada)
14th July 2019
The experience at Francesca’s cucina was absolutely incredible! She hosted us like family members would. The menu was typical to what you would expect as a Tuscan food experience. These recipes are family tradition for Francesca and it is awesome to bring back to Canada this tradition and to cook it again… hopefully as good as with Francesca! We made this cooking class a part of my wife’s birthday vacation in Italy and all the members of the family were touched by the greetings, the generosity and culinary experience in Francesca’s cucina. A-1+++ Feedback privato: We would like to thank you from the bottom of our hearts 💕 for the wonderful evening at your house. Nathalie was very touched by your generosity and your personal attention. The experience was fantastic and the food excellent. We are taking your recipe back to Canada and will now make Pici for all of our friends and family, telling the story that your shared with us. Thank you so much for your generosity.
Sincerely, Pierre, Nathalie and Danika.
Valeria (Australia)
29th May 2019
It’s hard to describe just how amazing this experience was for me and my partner. From the moment we stepped into Francesca’s beautiful kitchen, we felt at home. She treated us like old friends. When we got to her place she already had yummy appetisers and wine prepared for us, the kitchen was tastefully set with all the ingredients and little cooking stations. But this was so much more than a cooking class – we got to hear about the history and her personal connections to the dishes we were making, we chatted for hours . Francesca was SO generous in every possible way – with the food, drinks, goodie box at the end of the experience and her time (we ended up staying at her home till 10 pm). If you are contemplating getting this experience, trust us go ahead and book! This was an absolute highlight of our trip. You will never get this type of treatment in a commercial cooking class. It was filled with love, generosity and passion for cooking. We will never forget this experience. Feedback privato: Hi Francesca! Thank you SO MUCH for the incredible experience – it’s a highlight of our trip! We are still buzzing with excitement from last night’s class. We just know that your class is going to be the most sought-after experience in Tuscany in no time!! We are so so so grateful for your generosity, kindness and willingness to share your family recipes with us. Thank you again and hopefully will see you soon ☺️ I will email you with some pictures we took in the coming days – feel free to use them for any marketing or promotional materials!
Nili (U.s.a)
21st August 2019
Francesca’s cooking class was wonderful! We made hand made pasta and tiramisu. She was warm, friendly, knowledgeable, and made us feel very welcomed. And we ate very well. Definitely the highlight of my trip to Italy! Thank you, Francesca.
Rich (U.s.a)
21st August 2019
Francesca welcomed us into her home for an amazing experience of preparing traditional Tuscan pici pasta and tiramisu. She knows how to turn basic ingredients into a fabulous meal and the whole experience felt like visiting a friends home. Hand rolling the pasta was a lot of work but it tasted amazing. Highly recommend this experience! Feedback privato: Thank you so much!
Vartika (India)
21st August 2019
This was a lovely experience in Francesca’s house. She guided us smoothly through pasta and Tiramisu. Highly recommend it if you are nearby in the region. Also got to learn a lot about the Tuscany lifestyle from our host
Private feedback: Thanks a lot for the lovely experience. We will always cherish it as a highlight of our time in Tuscany.
David (England)
July 2019
Had a wonderful evening with Francesca in her home, cooking pasta and Tuscan sausage with beans. Francesca was so welcoming and respectful of our food likes and dislikes, sending us a list a few days before the event so to enable us to pick what we wanted to make. We really felt immersed in her family and way of life, picked up tips and recipes along that way and made delicious food. At the end Francesca produced a bag of ingredients for us to take away and recreate what we’d made at home. A wonderful evening.
Yvo (The Netherlands)
August 2019
A fantastic experience at a beautiful location. Not only Francesca is a great cook but also a great host. The contact already started right after the booking. We immediately felt very welcome. Also directions were made easy by Francesca so her beautiful home was easy to find. We had chosen 3 options and it was well worth the extra price. We started with making Tiramisu. We still can’t believe we were the first to make this dish at this experience. After this we made the Tuscany chicken stew and the fresh pici pasta and sauce. After cooking we started eating the beautiful dishes. They were really good. Unbelievable that we were the first Dutch people to visit this experience. This experience can be recommended to every one who likes to cook together with a great Tuscany host. Thank you very much for the great experience, Francesca.
Private feedback: Thanks again for the great experience. All the love for you and your cooking, from Gaby and Yvo.
Nadia (Canada)
July 2019
We had a wonderful experience with Francesca’s cooking class. It was easy to find and it turned out we were the only guests. Francesca prepared pizza and cake for snack, which was very helpful after our drive. She invited us to her spacious kitchen, which gave us the sense of what kitchens look like in Italian houses, especially the houses of such skillful and passionate people like Francesca. She has her own blog and she shares her wonderful recipes and experiences with people from all over the world. She shared her stories wit us. Her English is very good. We prepared two delicious meals: pasta and chicken. It was fun to make pasta from scratch and then eat what we’d made. We spent more time in Francesca’s house than what was advertised, because she truly cares about quality time. In the ned, after we thoroughly enjoyed our food, Francesca gave us a present: a bag filled with goodies, a personal thank-you card, and her recipes. This was an amazing experience!
Private feedback: I would like to thank you for such a wonderful experience you gave us! We truly enjoyed our time together and can’t wait to try your delicious recipes!
Nadia and Constantine
Hei Yin (U.s.a)
11th June 2019
This has been one of our best experience in Italy thus far! Francesca is so nice and welcoming. The cooking class feels more like friends having a dinner party and we learned some Italian dishes that we will definitely be making again back at home!! Making homemade pasta sounded so intimidating to us, as we have never done that before, but Francesca made it so simple and fun! We talked like great friends by the end of the night, which honestly made us feel like home. We’ve been in Italy for a couple weeks and while we love Italy so much, we missed our friends and family. Francesca made us feel like we are old friends hanging out, and by the end of the night, we weren’t as homesick anymore. Highly recommend this experience!!!!!
Gyungmin (South Corea)
15th May 2019
This cooking class is……….. just wonderful. We feel like walking in to the heart of Tuscany. I wanted something warm as well as professional class, and this was it. You really should meet Francesca-lovely Tuscan lady…. She was very energetic, and bright person. At first look, I already feel that I known her for a long time. She welcomed us, and let us know how to make Tuscan Brochette & pasta until we satisfy. On broad table, she prepared everything for us. We never expected that we learn so much! We had really good time in her lovely kitchen at the day. My mum & aunt can’t speak English well, so I had to translate, but finally they found that the language doesn’t matter at all since we can feel her warm energy, and enthusiasm :) After the class, she gave presents for us which prepared by her very carefully. We took them to our country, and remind that lovely day we had with Francesca always. Thank you so much!
