Italian Villa Offers Culinary Classes and Chef's Table

Good news for foodies: Guests who visit Italy’s Borgo Santo Pietro can now get hands-on experience in an authentic Tuscan kitchen. The 11-room, 800-year-old Borgo recently added a windowed Chef’s Table, overlooking the kitchen, with daily pasta and bread making classes for guests. 

The Chef’s table seats two to eight people and can be booked by guests on a nightly basis. Working with the chef, guests design their own menu for the evening.

The private cooking classes, held in the kitchen, are under the direction of Executive Chef Richard Gynn and Sous Chef Nicole Ianesi. Guests can work alongside the Chef to produce traditional Italian pastas including linguini with lobster, ravioli with pigeon and tortellini with ricotta and spinach.  

Guests can also choose an Italian bread making course inspired by the original 800-year old bakery which still stands with oven intact. Although now used as a spa, the original bakery fed thousands of pilgrims traveling on the spice route to Jerusalem. The neighboring church (Ecclesia di Santo Pietro) and San Galgano Abbey also attracted early travelers.

The cost of the cooking classes is $215 per person for a two-hour session.  The cost of the Chef’s Table, with its own serving staff, starts at $220, plus wine.

For more details visit www.borgosantopietro.com.