InTavola

We had a cooking class tonight. It was our second class at InTavola.org. It was part of the “Group Cooking Lessons”. We did the “Pasta fresca” class two weeks ago and that was fun because there was a lot to do and each cooking station (4 of them of several people apiece) did the same thing. In the “3 Risotti tipici” class tonight it was a bit confusing because each cooking station did something different, basically a different type of risotto. And, there were too many people. My advice is to attend a small class if possible. I talked to a lady who took the “Crespelle” class and she said only 8 people came which would be good. For the risotto class there were 24 people which was too much. If you only want to watch, wander around, occasionally stir something, and then eat afterwards you won’t have a problem with the class size. Overall, it is an interesting and fairly cheap evening, 22 Euro per person for several hours of fun and eating.

The instructors (usually two) are good and the class moves right along and you definitely learn something. The classes easily run to 10:00 pm. You can sign up directly with the school or through FlorenceForFun or through a school you are attending in Florence. The mix of people: 90% women, 40% American. So if you are looking for an “authentic” Italian cooking experience with the locals this is probably not the place. If you are looking for some practical recipes, a fun evening, a little smattering of Italian, and some eats, then this is the class for you.

If there are enough Italian speakers there one of the chefs will give instructions in Italian, otherwise it is English.