The Food Studio – cooking school in Florence
We offering skills in traditional Tuscan Culinary Arts with a modern twist. The project is driven by a dedicated collaboration between the world renown Florentine D.O.C. Chef Benedetta Vitali and two young Florentine aficionados dedicated to preserving their Tuscan heritage: Paolo Dellafiore and Giorgio Pinto (chef himself).
Our focus is on transmitting Italian cooking skills and secrets but at the same time on health, nutrition and wellbeing – all innate elements of the traditional Italian diet. All cultures can be observed, learned and maintained through its food, wine and eno-gastronomic social practices. We aim to highlight and champion the true nature of the Mediterranean diet to make a deep impression and improve the quality of life of everyone who passes through our doors.
The knowledge coming from our tradition is well blended in our work with the most recent evolutions and other cultures influences in the gastronomical field. We are tradition lovers, but always chasing for refreshing our sight on it.
We take food and cooking very seriously. But, this doesn’t mean that our courses are bookish. On the contrary, they are fun, challenging and hands on. Offering participants of all levels not only to learn recipes but to really soak up Tuscany’s food culture. Eat and drink to delight your senses but just a little of EVERYTHING will keep you healthy wealthy and wise!
Please contact us for further information: Food Studio – best cooking classes in Florence
Florence is on everyone’s bucket list and can be crossed off many times as it is unquestionably one of the most alluring cities steeped in art, culture and just the most charming Italians on the boot!
The Food Studio is located in the Oltrarno, “on the other side of the Arno” which is the only side to be on if you want to be totally authentic. From Piazza Santo Spirito to San Frediano you’ll find the embodiment of the “true Florence” with not only the butcher, the baker and the candle-stick maker, but quaint cafe’s, artist studios, family run boutiques, artisan workshops and “botteghe”.
Right in the middle of it all, tucked into an almost secret lane you will find an old silversmith workshop that is now The Food Studio complete with a stunning terrace for summer dining and of course a state of the art kitchen.
The Food Studio is easily reachable from anywhere in the city center by foot. This also allows you to walk off the meal you created and feasted on, meaning any menu you have chosen can work with your diet by adding exercise as the final ingredient!
Chefs
Benedetta
Chef Benedetta Vitali has lived and worked all her life in Florence, Italy. In 1979, she co-founded the popular restaurant Cibrèo, offering their fellow Florentines a connection to a traditional Tuscan cooking style that had been all but forgotten in the postwar trend of convenience foods.
In 1999, Benedetta opened the trattoria Zibibbo, emphasizing fresh produce from nearby small farms and introducing her original interpretations of classic recipes.
She has travelled around the world, cooked in a variety of kitchens and now is leaving her legacy here with us at the FOOD STUDIO to share with you.
She is the author of “Soffritto: Tradition & Innovation in Tuscan Cooking” and of “La Cucina degli Affetti | Catering and Caring: 124 Recipes for Cooking with Love”.
Giorgio
Giorgio Pinto’s educational path ran along two parallel rails. On one side his studies: Master Degree in Philosophy and Post-Degree Specialisation in Innovation Economy gave him a theorically oriented and interdisciplinary approach to his work. On the other his “Boots on the ground” training in the hard world of Restaurants, from “pealing potatoes”as an apprenctice to run a kitchen as Head Chef and managing his own Restaurant for a few years.
The collaboration with Benedetta in the “Food Studio” project was the way to put those two “souls” together: cooking, studying and teaching on the same time.
His background is in the traditional Italian and Tuscan Cusine but he likes to be “contaminated” from different gastronomical cultures and to keep himself updated on the contemporary evolutions in cooking styles and techniques, with a particular interest on a sustainable approach to the food industry.
Meri
After a first part of his career succesfully spent in the world of fashion, Meri decided to switch off and dedicate herself to her greatest passion: cooking. She attended a professional school for chefs and experienced in several florentine restaurants and worked for catering and private events organisation companies.
Her idea of good food is strictly related with the one of healty food, to combine the two things into one is the first goal of Meri’s kitchen. She developed this concept also by taking part to a project of “Food laboratory”, managed by ISPRO, ASSOCUORE and LEGACOOP together with Benedetta. The aim of it is to raise awareness of people to the strict relationship between a correct diet and health through realizing recipes that combine taste and healthiness.
Despite her background in Italian Cusine, the chef’s heart of Meri beats for Middle Eastern gastronomical tradition, that she studied by travelling and reading and she likes to propose in her dishes. Meri is also specialized in vegetarian cusine, also for personal reasons, being vegetarian herself since many years ago.
Location
As we say, Florence is “a misura d’uomo” meaning both friendly and compact. Just to give you an idea of distances to and from The Food Studio.
- Train Station Santa Maria Novella. 15 minute walk
- Duomo & Piazza della Repubblica. 10 minute walk
- Santa Croce. 20 minute walk
- Ponte Vecchio. 7 minute walk
- Piazza Pitti. 5 minute walk
- Santo Spirito. 3 minute walk
If you prefer a vehicle transfer please let us know and we can set up a car service for you.
Feel free to call us anytime should you need help with directions.