Comments on: Pasta cooking class with lunch or dinner included – Montese Cooking Experience

By: Rose Valle

Rose Valle — Sun, 13 Sep 2026 17:46:52 +0000

We were a family of seven, including a four-year-old, and we all agreed this was the best day of our trip!

Chef Mauro and Filippo were so much fun. I don’t even particularly like to cook, and I was expecting a somewhat “pre-measured” and sterile cooking class. This was anything but!

Mauro used his skill and experience to teach us how to actually cook with the ingredients—not simply by dumping in pre-measured amounts, but by using our senses to know when a dish was ready. It was hands-on, relaxed, and incredibly fun.

We laughed, drank wine, learned about the grapes growing in the vineyard directly from the farmer, and could easily have spent the entire day there.

And the food! Honestly, it was the best food we had on our entire trip.

An absolutely wonderful experience that the whole family enjoyed.

By: Sophia Crivello

Sophia Crivello — Thu, 25 Jul 2024 16:19:10 +0000

We had the best time at this cooking class! Chef Mauro was so charismatic and excited to share his fantastic recipes and cooking tips with us. We had an amazing time getting to know him, the sou chefs, and the others in our group as well, it felt like we were sitting down for a fun family dinner at the end. The food was absolutely delicious (the sauce was one of our favorites we had in all of Italy!) and Mauro made cooking a ton of fun! We would love love to come back for another round and would highly recommend signing up for this class! Thank you Mauro!!!

By: Desiree

Desiree — Sat, 23 Sep 2023 18:41:24 +0000

Absolutely amazing! Mauro was a wonderful host and teacher. He welcomed us with a glass of wine and the words “our house is your house”. And it stayed like that all night. It didn’t feel like a cooking class but more cooking with family. The wine glasses were never empty and the laughs were constant. The food was amazing. I would do this every week!

By: Melanie

Melanie — Tue, 11 Oct 2022 19:20:39 +0000

This was one of the top experiences during our trip to the Tuscan region. We were a group of 9 and Mauro welcomed us as if we were old friends and his passion for cooking showed. We did the pasta making class where he taught us how to make various types of pasta where we used them in a ravioli with butter and sage, and also a bolognese. We made the best bread we had on our trip and an amazing tart. This was also one of our favorite meals on our trip. I highly recommend! Thank you Mauro for many laughs and such a great experience!

By: Felix

Felix — Sat, 10 Sep 2022 12:24:18 +0000

Amazing experience in the heart of nowhere in Tuscany! Mauro really opens his house and does everything so that you have an amazing time. The food was great, the cooking was fun and the wine tasty and the view stunning.

By: Sam

Sam — Mon, 18 Jul 2022 19:24:48 +0000

We had the most amazing day and couldn’t recommend this cooking experience more. The location was incredible and Mauro was so much fun. We had the best wine we’ve had through your 6 week trip in Italy. All the food was so delicious and we learnt so much!

By: Amy

Amy — Sat, 16 Jul 2022 19:22:21 +0000

During our two week trip in Italy, this is our favorite experience. Go!! It was so so lovely. Mauro is the nicest human, making you excited, relaxed and confident about cooking. His location is beautiful, working outside with the beautiful Tuscan scenery around you. And the food was some of our favorite from our whole trip (maybe we were biased since we made it). We made bread, tagliatelle ragu, ravioli, pork loin, and a tarte. We drank wine. We climbed up the side of his house. We met a great group of travelers and laughed a lot. I can’t say enough good things. The whole experience was so special. I’m already planning a dinner party for friends so we can recreate everything.

By: Gabe

Gabe — Sat, 09 Jul 2022 12:29:15 +0000

My fiancé and I spent 10 days in Italy (Bologna, Florence, Tuscany, Rome) and this was EASILY the highlight of the trip. A cooking class in Italy is already a special experience, layer on the fact that you’re tucked in the hills of Tuscany and have a breathtaking view from Chef Mauro’s house (where the entire class takes place). From the moment we arrived, Chef Mauro’s energy was infectious and he made everyone feel welcome and as though we had all been friends for years. Greeted with a glass of wine or beverage of your choice, the experience began before we knew it. His charisma is unmatched, and it sets the tone for a fun filled day learning to cook the authentic Italian way. The efficiency in which he runs the class by assigning tasks to the group (making fresh pasta dough, ravioli, prepping vegetables for ragu, or kneading the dough for freshly baked bread) makes for a fast paced never dull moment. From start to finish you are always learning and having fun. The pasta was by far the best we experienced on our trip, something about making it fresh with your own two hands makes it that much more special. Wish we had more cash so we could’ve tipped him more! Tomorrow night we are going to attempt to replicate the dishes we learned that day from Chef Mauro…wish us luck!

By: Charly

Charly — Sat, 25 Jun 2022 19:27:09 +0000

Fantastic cooking class, informal and instructive. We made (from scratch) pasta, ravioli, tortellini, gnocchi, with various sauces, two different types of bread and strawberry pie. These were the group’s choices but other options included pork loin and tiramisù. Mauro who is clearly passionate about his stuff also taught many local cooking techniques and tips. Well worth the very reasonable price.

By: JP

JP — Sun, 19 Jun 2022 12:40:51 +0000

Can we give 100 stars?

During our vaction, my wife, daughters and I have been to Rome, Cinque Terre, Pisa and Florence. Everyone agrees that this class was the highlight of the trip. Mauro has a great sense of humor and makes everyone feel like they are at a friends house. A group from Sweden were also in the class with us and everone worked, laughed and ate together as if we had know each other for years. We made bread, fresh pasta (tagliatelle, ravioli & tortalini), a bolognase sauce, butter/sage sauce (for the ravioli/tortalini) and an apricot tart for dessert. It was simply delicious.

Mauro has only one rule…your wine glass cannot remain empty.

Thanks to Maruo and Alberto for such a priceless memory!