In Tavola
4.5
About
Association In Tavola aims to spread the Italian food and wine-rich regional culinary traditions, such as those of Tuscany, with its incredible variety of dishes and recipes. With the intent to promote this knowledge, the association organizes cooking classes with professional groups or individual lessons
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4.5
230 reviews
Excellent
176
Very good
30
Average
12
Poor
5
Terrible
7
Celtic Ulysses
Boston, MA34 contributions
Apr 2023 • Business
Took my group of over 30 teenagers here for an evening cooking class and dinner. It was one of the top highlights of out trip to Tuscany! Our hosts did an incredible job getting everyone involved, excited, and also focused on their assigned responsibilities. The instruction was masterful! The food, of course, was delicious, too. If I ever bring another group to Florence, I will make a point to come back here!
Written 4 August 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
DrEmanuele1
Tel Aviv, Israel38 contributions
May 2011 • Couples
Guided by Chef Alessendro, 4 courses were made. The wine flowed, the dishes were excellent! Easy to make at home. Molto buona Chef Alessendro, Grazie mille mille !!!
Dr. Emanuelle O. Edelstein
Israel
Dr. Emanuelle O. Edelstein
Israel
Written 19 June 2011
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Dale P
Hilliard, OH54 contributions
Sept 2015 • Solo
I hope everyone tries this cooking class at least once. I don't even cook when I'm home, but this is such an amazing experience, I've done it two years in a row. Alesandro is personable, a great chef, and makes the experience a highlight of any trip to Florence. The dinner we made and then consumed was the best I had during a 2 week visit to Italy. It's a great activity for someone traveling solo, as you get fun and dinner companions as well as a great dinner!
Written 15 October 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Wally G
Boston, MA99 contributions
Apr 2016 • Family
WARNING: be very careful when making arrangements with this school. Wish I could add to the wonderful reviews but sadly we didn't even have the opportunity to take the class we signed up for and our credit card company will now be disputing the charges made in March for services 'not rendered'.
Here is our story....
My three daughters and I just returned home from a wonderful trip to Italy. One of the highlights of our trip was to be our visit to Florence and market tour of the Central Market/cooking lessons with In Tavola. We all love fresh food and the art of cooking. As well, my middle daughter has an organic mushroom farm in Vermont and sells at a farmer's market so we thought a tour of the market with a guide would be enlightening and fun!
I made reservations on the school site for the 4 of us and then sent the school a note informing them that two of us were vegetarians, and expressed how excited we were to take the class on April 28, 2016.
Got a confirm email back that they had accepted our money and felt all was good.
When in Florence, I tried to get in touch via email with no success. I ended up calling on my cell phone and was told all was set and to meet Walter at the gate 7R at the Mercato Centrale near Via Panicale at 9:50 am.
When we arrived there, Walter was beginning the tour with 3 participants. We approached and expected to be welcomed. He was not aware we were coming so I showed him our confirmation email and he called the office to find out what was up. They had put us down for the prior week. We were told since we had not shown up the prior Thursday, our money could not be refunded and we would have to pay an additional 273 euro to join the tour!
Really! I explained we were still in the USA the prior week and asked why it wasn't possible to join the tour since the class is open to 15 people and they only had three signed up? Even with a mix up on dates, that would seem to be a reasonable thing to do, especially since the guide said he would be fine with us joining.
The woman at the office refused. Walter, the market tour guide was very kind, and I imagine this could have been a delightful experience.
We did have an excellent market tour on our own and absolutely loved Italy, but for this experience.
I must give them a very poor rating. I can't recommend not to try to take these classes since I imagine they would be great - but just be careful if you do choose to do business with them and know what kind of business you are dealing with!
Here is our story....
My three daughters and I just returned home from a wonderful trip to Italy. One of the highlights of our trip was to be our visit to Florence and market tour of the Central Market/cooking lessons with In Tavola. We all love fresh food and the art of cooking. As well, my middle daughter has an organic mushroom farm in Vermont and sells at a farmer's market so we thought a tour of the market with a guide would be enlightening and fun!
I made reservations on the school site for the 4 of us and then sent the school a note informing them that two of us were vegetarians, and expressed how excited we were to take the class on April 28, 2016.
Got a confirm email back that they had accepted our money and felt all was good.
When in Florence, I tried to get in touch via email with no success. I ended up calling on my cell phone and was told all was set and to meet Walter at the gate 7R at the Mercato Centrale near Via Panicale at 9:50 am.
When we arrived there, Walter was beginning the tour with 3 participants. We approached and expected to be welcomed. He was not aware we were coming so I showed him our confirmation email and he called the office to find out what was up. They had put us down for the prior week. We were told since we had not shown up the prior Thursday, our money could not be refunded and we would have to pay an additional 273 euro to join the tour!
Really! I explained we were still in the USA the prior week and asked why it wasn't possible to join the tour since the class is open to 15 people and they only had three signed up? Even with a mix up on dates, that would seem to be a reasonable thing to do, especially since the guide said he would be fine with us joining.
The woman at the office refused. Walter, the market tour guide was very kind, and I imagine this could have been a delightful experience.
We did have an excellent market tour on our own and absolutely loved Italy, but for this experience.
I must give them a very poor rating. I can't recommend not to try to take these classes since I imagine they would be great - but just be careful if you do choose to do business with them and know what kind of business you are dealing with!
Written 2 May 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
mitchell R
Charlottesville, VA46 contributions
Jun 2017 • Family
We had previously enjoyed a family cooking class in Madrid which was fantastic and had high hopes to learn some Italian cooking techniques and have a family experience. Unfortunately, this experience fell far short of these expectations. Here are some things to understand about this "cooking school"
1. It is crowded and full of tour groups and the experience is rushed, cramped and noisy.
2. There is little to no cooking instruction- you are simply told what to do and the "instructors" take over at times to make sure that things keep on schedule. This is a "tourist factory" that aims to move as many people through the evening as possible.
3. The food that is served is mixed with as many as 2-4 other groups and assumes that everyone is sanitary- not a good idea.
4. While the appetizer (a ricotta and spinach dish) was good, the rest of the food was mediocre and when time comes to eat then the service to serve your food is painfully slow (we were there over an hour before desert was served and in fact, left before desert because it was so slow).
5. The servers actually cleaned plates in front of us into a trash can.
6. The table wine was terrible- it was perhaps the worst wine we have tasted since college years.
On the good side, the cooks were nice and earnest but they could never make up for this model of a cooking school that is simply focused on moving you through the place as fast as possible.
All in all, this is not something I would recommend. It is expensive and for the price you can eat a wonderful top-notch florentine meal. Please save your money and time or go to a grocery store and buy some cheese, meats and bread--you will be much happier.
1. It is crowded and full of tour groups and the experience is rushed, cramped and noisy.
2. There is little to no cooking instruction- you are simply told what to do and the "instructors" take over at times to make sure that things keep on schedule. This is a "tourist factory" that aims to move as many people through the evening as possible.
3. The food that is served is mixed with as many as 2-4 other groups and assumes that everyone is sanitary- not a good idea.
4. While the appetizer (a ricotta and spinach dish) was good, the rest of the food was mediocre and when time comes to eat then the service to serve your food is painfully slow (we were there over an hour before desert was served and in fact, left before desert because it was so slow).
5. The servers actually cleaned plates in front of us into a trash can.
6. The table wine was terrible- it was perhaps the worst wine we have tasted since college years.
On the good side, the cooks were nice and earnest but they could never make up for this model of a cooking school that is simply focused on moving you through the place as fast as possible.
All in all, this is not something I would recommend. It is expensive and for the price you can eat a wonderful top-notch florentine meal. Please save your money and time or go to a grocery store and buy some cheese, meats and bread--you will be much happier.
Written 20 June 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Buongiorno,
We are so sad that you and your family did not enjoy the lesson with us. In response to your review, the lesson you took was a group lesson no a private lesson, this kind of lessons are aimed to tourist that want to learn some Italian dishes and expend a relaxing time with us. We also offer Professional/ Beginners or Private Cooking and Pastry Lesson, but the one you choose is one of our groups lessons (like the agencies offer then), even if there are given in groups we have plenty space for everyone, there are different stations with all the equipment for the lesson.
The lessons are completely hands-on, so all the participants prepare the dishes settle in the menu, and the Chef explain and guide the group through the dishes preparation, in a different way it is not possible to learn. All the lessons are scheduled to last about 3.5 -4 hours (including lesson and tasting), like we explain it on our website, and like the agencies explain to their customers. The lessons are not rushed, the participants have enough time to do the dishes, obviously the times depend on the participants cooking skills.
The whole groups participate in the food preparation, we take in count all the sanitary conditions. All of the dishes prepared are optimum, and we use fresh ingredients, the participants wait while the Chef serve the plates.
The wine we offer, comes from a Tuscany Wine Factory, it is a Sangiovese wine. It all depends on each one preferences. We offer high quality and fresh products. Our school aimed to offer our maximum professionalism for each lesson. Again, we are so sorry that you did not liked the lesson.
The InTavola Staff
Written 21 June 2017
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
verticalchaos
New York City, NY60 contributions
Feb 2011
I signed up for a one night cookery course with dinner when I was booking my trip on expedia. I figured it would be fun - and also ensure that I ate dinner my last night just in case I'd spent all of my money. Ha!
Well, it was generally fun - I learned a lot (like how to make tirimisu), and overall the food was good.
But going in solo there were definite drawbacks. As it turns out, a group of 17 college students and their leader were taking the course and there was a group of 4 - 2 mothers and their seemingly pre-teen (or very young) daughters. So I ended up with people who knew each other well - AND since the mothers were originally form Russia, they spoke Russian almost the whole time WITH the girls, who are American. Add to that, the mothers kept insisting their girls do a little of everything in spite of our instructor giving us specific tasks, and it wasn't a terribly overall fun experience for me.
We did get recipe "booklets" on the way out - but the first course recipe in the booklet given to our tour group (the booking was through CAF) isn't what we fixed. I plan to email In Tavola when I get home and see if they can email me the correct one as it was really good.
So the food was good, and overall I'm not sorry I did it. But I wanted to caution solo travelers that there are some possible drawbacks to doing this course on your own. If you end up with a group of solo or even duo travelers it would probably be a lot more fun. But if you end up like I did, the only solo in the midst of a large group and an exclusive and pushy group, the socialization aspect of it may be VERY lacking.
I'm checking I'd recommend this...but I'd warn the friend about the experience I had so they're prepared.
Well, it was generally fun - I learned a lot (like how to make tirimisu), and overall the food was good.
But going in solo there were definite drawbacks. As it turns out, a group of 17 college students and their leader were taking the course and there was a group of 4 - 2 mothers and their seemingly pre-teen (or very young) daughters. So I ended up with people who knew each other well - AND since the mothers were originally form Russia, they spoke Russian almost the whole time WITH the girls, who are American. Add to that, the mothers kept insisting their girls do a little of everything in spite of our instructor giving us specific tasks, and it wasn't a terribly overall fun experience for me.
We did get recipe "booklets" on the way out - but the first course recipe in the booklet given to our tour group (the booking was through CAF) isn't what we fixed. I plan to email In Tavola when I get home and see if they can email me the correct one as it was really good.
So the food was good, and overall I'm not sorry I did it. But I wanted to caution solo travelers that there are some possible drawbacks to doing this course on your own. If you end up with a group of solo or even duo travelers it would probably be a lot more fun. But if you end up like I did, the only solo in the midst of a large group and an exclusive and pushy group, the socialization aspect of it may be VERY lacking.
I'm checking I'd recommend this...but I'd warn the friend about the experience I had so they're prepared.
Written 23 February 2011
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
S D
Chicago, IL75 contributions
Mar 2016 • Family
My daughter and I have done an array of cooking classes and this was the worst. It was an evening class making gnocchi with tomato sauce, chicken Madeira and chocolate pudding. The recipes were very simplistic and didn't taste very special once completed. Worse, you didn't eat your own food. There were 24 students the night we attended and the food was dished up family style. You could only hope that people were washing hands,etc. To add insult to injury, the wine they served with dinner was worst we had in Italy. Two-buck Chuck. Overall, really disappointing.
Written 3 April 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Rachele S
Florence, Italy21 contributions
Jul 2015 • Friends
First let me say that the ppl who work here for the most part were lovely and oh so nice. The chef was smart and friendly. The issue we had was with 1. the heat and 2. the finished food.
I live in Italy and understand that air conditioners are not like in the US, that wasn't the problem. But, when you have three people passing out from heat, maybe it's a bit too much. We were actually warned when we entered by another group that it was SO hot that two people in his group passed out in the (very cute) basement.
2. The finished product was not impressive. I am Italian-American, I have made pesto, gnocchi and the likes w family recipes straight from my family here in Italy. I have never made or heard of italians making pesto with chunks of basil still in it, or gnocchi with chunks of potato.
The finished food and presentation (plastic cups) just left a lot to be desired. If I had ordered the dishes we ate at the end (salt-less, bland and chunky) I would have probably asked for a different dish.
That said, the place is cute, the staff is super nice and helpful and they speak great English. I just wish the overall quality and lack of air circulation was better.
With all the other choices in Florence, I won't be taking my students back here.
I live in Italy and understand that air conditioners are not like in the US, that wasn't the problem. But, when you have three people passing out from heat, maybe it's a bit too much. We were actually warned when we entered by another group that it was SO hot that two people in his group passed out in the (very cute) basement.
2. The finished product was not impressive. I am Italian-American, I have made pesto, gnocchi and the likes w family recipes straight from my family here in Italy. I have never made or heard of italians making pesto with chunks of basil still in it, or gnocchi with chunks of potato.
The finished food and presentation (plastic cups) just left a lot to be desired. If I had ordered the dishes we ate at the end (salt-less, bland and chunky) I would have probably asked for a different dish.
That said, the place is cute, the staff is super nice and helpful and they speak great English. I just wish the overall quality and lack of air circulation was better.
With all the other choices in Florence, I won't be taking my students back here.
Written 16 July 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Laura P
Fairfax, CA23 contributions
Feb 2014 • Couples
What a fantastic night! My husband and I were looking for an evening cooking class, and we got that and so much more with In Tavola. Expert instruction, unbelievable food & setting, and we made some wonderful new friends. In our small group of 6 we prepared tiramisu, vegetable millefoglie (to die for eggplant appetizer), fresh egg pasta with white meat ragu, and chicken cacciatora - all in about 2 hours. Then we were ushered downstairs into the romantic "cave" dining room, where the wine started flowing. About a half hour later, the chefs brought down the finished dishes and we all ate the fruits of our labors. This will be a night we will never forget. Thank you for making such wonderful memories. We look forward to impressing our friends back home with our new cooking skills! We booked this through Viator, and they were a terrific "tour" company to work with. Would highly recommend In Tavola (and Viator).
Written 7 February 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
SPARK2010
Carp, Canada34 contributions
Mar 2011
We wanted an afternoon cooking lesson, and happily found In Tavola in Florence. Most courses I found on the Internet were very expensive, but at In Tavola, we did a 2.5 hr pasta class, for 50 Euro, and we got to eat the 3 different dishes, plus dessert, and wine. It was a very enjoyable afternoon. Chef Alessandro Raddato was a great teacher and his English was excellent. Our class of ten ranged in age from 12 to 70, and each of us participated in all aspects of the class. They also do much more extensive classes.
Very close to the Ponte Vecchio and easy walking from downtown Florence.
highly recommended
Very close to the Ponte Vecchio and easy walking from downtown Florence.
highly recommended
Written 24 March 2011
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Is the pizza and gelato class good for a family of four ( children 5 and 8 years old)?
Written 28 May 2023
Ceric402
Namur, Belgium
Bonjour, nous serons à Florence du 1er juillet au 16 juillet 2017. Je souhaiterais réserver un cours de cuisine chez vous. Pouvez-vous me dire comment je dois faire? Grazie
Written 4 June 2017
InTavola
Florence, Italy
Buonasera,
Thanks for your interest in In Tavola. In response to your request, unfortunately we do not offer private lessons at home.
Best regards,
Fabiola
Written 5 June 2017
Johanna F
Lake Country, Canada
What is the easiest way to arrive if you are coming from Greve in Chianti? My Mom and I have a car but are worried about driving in the city and finding parking.
Written 25 September 2015
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