Surprise food and wine pairing dinner
Cooking ClassesDuration: 3,5 hours for the preparation + time for dinner or lunch
Rates
FANCY TO HAVE A CHEF PREPARING A SURPRISE DINNER FOR YOU?
Would you like to enjoy a special dinner at your villa? Let our chef decide the menu for you! We will prepare for you and your family the best surprise dinner ever!
The best Tuscan recipes
Do all our menu options look delicious and you are not able to decide? Let our chef select the best dinner for you. You only have to inform us about any possible food restrictions or intolerances and we will pick to best recipes for you. Vegetarian or Vegan options available on request.
A 6-course tasting menu with wine paring
During our surprise dinner our chef will prepare for you a delicious tasting menu composed by 6 courses. Each course will be matched with a glass of wine. We will personally decide the best glass of wine to be matched to the course. You’ll enjoy a total of 6 wines from our territory, among white, rosé, red and dessert wines.
Our chef and assistant will be at your villa in time to prepare your dinner according to your preferred dinner time. They will serve you the dinner and after that they will clean the kitchen.
Join us and enjoy our surpise!
IMPORTANT: THIS IS WHAT WE KINDLY ASK YOU TO DO
- Please, make sure the owners/managers of the villa allow us to access the villa and the kitchen. Sometimes they do not welcome external cooks in their villa.
- Please, make sure that we can access the villa at the time agreed, and/or at the time expressed in the confirmation voucher. Extra time spent waiting for someone to open the villa will be charged as extra fee.
- Please, leave the kitchen clean and free from your personal belongings such as phones, sunglasses etc. So that the cooks can immediately start cooking, without losing precious time in cleaning or tidying up the kitchen. Extra time spent to clean the kitchen before the service starts, will be charged as extra
- Please, make sure the kitchen is equipped with a suitable number of tableware for the number of people in your party.
- Please, be in time at the table sticking to the starting time indicated at the moment of booking and/or in the confirmation voucher. Delay will be charged as extra.
- Please, be informed that no long breaks among the dishes served are foreseen. For a regular service e consider a 5-8 minute time from the end of one course to the serving of the next one. Delay will be charged as extra.
- If you have young kids and you want them to eat before you, this will delay the service of about 1 hour (service, cleaning, etc), so this extra hour will be charged as extra
- If there are any food restrictions or allergies in your party, please share them with us at the moment of booking. It is important to know it in advance to assure everybody can eat without any risks or problems. Last minute changes are not possible
- If you are interested in having a long dinner with speeches, singing and dancing, please inform us from the beginning and we will personalize the offer with a suitable quotation, as the service hours for the staff will be longer.
- The extra charge for the delays as described above is 15 Euro/half an hour (30 Euro/hour) for each member of the staff present at the service
This is a list of specialties that you are likely to sample as part of the program of this class. Please, note that the specialties of the menu prepared at the class may vary according to the season and the availability of the products in the day of the class.
You will have one of our chef and an assistant in case of group more than 5 people.
Please, see below which cooks you are likely to encounter.
Ciao, I'm Ester, one of the cooks of Arianna & Friends'. I've been working with them since the beginning of their adventure in 2007.
I love cooking together with people from all over the world, especailly with young kids.
What I prefer to cook is pasta dishes, pizza and desserts, like for example the stunning cake I made to celebrate my 50th wedding anniversary.
I live, like Davide (my nephew), in the little village of Lajatico, birthplace of Andrea Bocelli and from my home I can hear his voice and see something when Teatro del Silenzio takes place in July.
I live on a farm and I have chickens, rabbits, a large vegetable garden. I make my own olive oil and wine together with my family.
I hope to be able to cook with many of you in the years to come and teach you a lot of our typical Tuscan food. 
Ciao, I'm Silvia, one of the youngest cooks at Arianna & Friends'. Cooking is my real passion and I like to prepare any traditional dish both for visitors and for my family. I also love baking pizza as well as trying innovative food and special contemporary techniques, especially in my kitchen at home. When I started working for this company in 2018, I met an incredible team of collaborators and with them I finally feel joy and serenity in what I do. Any time I work as a cook I can breath freedom and this makes me happy.
As I really love the sea, in my free time I like being at the beach. I have a passion for travelling and being in the company of my friends. I could define myself as a "free spirit" with a big attraction to ... hats !!!
Looking forward to meet you all! 
Good morning everyone! I'm the cook Lorena. I started working with Arianna & Friends a few years ago when I retired, because someone set me up. You must know that Arianna is a good friend of my daughter Martina and they had this brilliant idea of asking me to cook for Arianna's tourists. Well, I coulnd't say no! Arianna tried my food for the first time when she was still at school with my daughter and she knows that I can cook very well!! ahahah
The food I prepare is purely Tuscan: I don't use and butter or lard, but just EV olive oil, from Tuscany of course. People say my meat ragu is excellent, but also my Cacciucco - Livornese style fish soup - is simply fantastic. I make preserves and the best lasagne ever!
I live in Pontedera, the town of the vespa. I'm in my early 70s and last year I got married for the second time! I like music from 40s 50s and 60s like Glenn Miller, King Cole, Frank Sinatra etc. etc.
I cannot speak English, even if I tried to attend some English classes in these last few years... I ended up chatting about food with the other students! But no problem, when I'm with some guests in their holiday home preparing a meal, I always have my little dictionary with me that helps a lot in the conversation.
I look forward meeting you all again soon! 
Eccomi! My name is Margherita, mother of 2, who lives in Santa Croce sull'Arno. I was born and raised in the fantastic wine region of Fiano, Greco and Taurasi, namely some the best wines from the South of Italy. I have been living in Tuscany for decades and I have always cooked both for my families and for several restaurants. My very mild and sweet personality is able to create a very relaxed working ambience and my guests really appreciate this atmosphere. I am a curious person who likes learning and I am ready to share my knowledge with all visitors who take on a cooking class or a chef service. Grazie a tutti! 
Hi everybody, ciao a tutti. I am Elisabetta and I am the youngest one among the chefs of Arianna & Friends. I have been working with the company for several years, initially just as a sous-chef and eventually as a proper chef. I have accumulated many years of experience while learning from all my other colleague chefs, but I also added my personal taste and knowledge to the whole. I am really happy to be part of this team and to be able to meet people from all over the world. In my free time I enjoy the company of my lovely puppy for long walks or just hanging around for shopping. Ciao a presto! 
Hi everybody! I am Paola, a talented cook who is never tired. I have been cooking all my life both privately and in the kitchens of a series of restaurants in the area I live in, near the central town of Empoli. I joined Arianna & Friends in early 2022 as the whole world was recovering from the difficult years of the pandemic and as the company was quickly restarting its operativity. I was very glad that I could join such a dynamic and friendly team and share with them all my knowledge and passion. I deal with cooking classes and chef services in all the region together with the various story-tellers and chef assistants who participate in the service. In my free time I enjoy cycling in the spectacular Tuscan hills that surround my home town. I can't wait to cook for you an unforgettable meal! 
Mi chiamo Carlo, the only "boy" among the chefs of Arianna & Friends. I am a cousin of Lorena, who has worked with the company for long now and who introduced me to them back in 2022. I live in Pontedera, home of Vespa, and I have been cooking all my life, since preparing delicious food has always been my great passion. In my working age I was an operator for an insurance company, so I know plenty of local people and I am very friendly and talkative. I then retired and decided to dedicate myself to the things I like the most: cooking and joining friends. I have limited Enlish but miraculously all our guests can easily understand me through my body language and face expressions. I will be waiting for you for great barbecue dinners and traditional dishes of all kinds! 
Buongiorno a tutti! My name is Anna from San Miniato, a historical town in Tuscany famous also for its delicious white truffles. I met Arianna and Massimo in the early 2000s, when we were all working at a local agriturismo: I was at the reception while they were starting their career as event organizers and food tour operators. As their company was expanding we had several occasions for cooperating until I finally joined the team more stably in 2022. I now deal with accountancy and coordination of all the chefs for the many services a day that we arrange. I spend most of my free time at sea as I now live in Livorno, a beautiful harbor town. 
Marco is a very fascinating middle-aged man with plenty of interests and a great knowledge on botanics and farming. He has been cooperating with Arianna & Friends as a sous-chef in cooking classes and chef services. A great professionalism and care for the quality of service make him one of the most beloved members of all the team. 
Maria Grazia, in our team called MG, is a very positive thinking lady who works as a sous-chefs at Arianna & Friends, when she is not busy helping children get born. In fact she is also a professional
obstetrician! A nice irony in her character, combined with an intrinsic calm when working, create
an incredible effect during the services provided. 
The rates for these activities vary according to the age of the participants.
Check rates in the table below.
SURPRISE FOOD AND WINE PAIRING DINNER
6 COURSE TASTING MENU WITH WINE PAIRING – RATES 2025 – |
|
|---|---|
NUMBER OF PEOPLE IN YOUR PARTY |
TOTAL RATE |
| Min. 4 persons | € 660 |
| 5 persons | € 730 |
| 6 persons | € 800 |
| 7 persons | € 870 |
| 8 persons | € 940 |
| Extra Adult | € 70 |
| Extra Teenager (12-17 yrs) | € 50 |
| Extra Child (4-11 yrs) | € 40 |
TRAVEL COSTS (per party, not per person):
No travel fee due if your villa is located within 25 minute-drive from our office in Terricciola, to locations such as Palaia, Lari, Peccioli, Terricciola, Chianni, Pontedera, Molino d’Era etc.
€ 60 for a 30-45-minute drive to locations such as Volterra, Montaione, San Miniato, Fucecchio, Gambassi, Castelfalfi, Pisa, Fauglia, Buti, Vicopisano
€ 110 for a 50-70-minute drive to locations such as Vinci, Lucca center, Livorno, Rosignano, San Casciano V Pesa, Viareggio, Montespertoli, San Gimignano, Colle V Elsa, Pomarance area
€ 160 for a 75-90-minute drive to locations such as Lucca northern area, some Chianti villages, Siena, Follonica, Fiesole, Florence, Sesto Fiorentino
For distances over 90-minute drive, such as remote Chianti villages, Arezzo area, southern part of the coast, please ask for an estimate. The staff will need to overnight there, so extra fee is required.
Rates include
– A chef and an assistant (from groups from 5 people) at your disposal
– Served full dinner with a 6-course tasting menu
– wine pairing – a glass of wine per person for each course
– final cleaning of the kitchen
– tax
Rates do NOT include
TRAVEL COSTS (per party, not per person):
No travel fee due if your villa is located within 25 minute-drive from our office in Terricciola, to locations such as Palaia, Lari, Peccioli, Terricciola, Chianni, Pontedera, Molino d’Era etc.
€ 60 for a 30-45-minute drive to locations such as Volterra, Montaione, San Miniato, Fucecchio, Gambassi, Castelfalfi, Pisa, Fauglia, Buti, Vicopisano
€ 110 for a 50-70-minute drive to locations such as Vinci, Lucca center, Livorno, Rosignano, San Casciano V Pesa, Viareggio, Montespertoli, San Gimignano, Colle V Elsa, Pomarance area
€ 160 for a 75-90-minute drive to locations such as Lucca northern area, some Chianti villages, Siena, Follonica, Fiesole, Florence, Sesto Fiorentino
For distances over 90-minute drive, such as remote Chianti villages, Arezzo area, southern part of the coast, please ask for an estimate. The staff will need to overnight there, so extra fee is required.
For parties of more than 20 people, travel fees may increase depending on the number of staff needed to provide the best service. The exact amount will be confirmed at the time of your booking request.
The location is your rented villa in Tuscany
DURATION:
This program takes 3,5 hours for the preparation + time for dinner or lunch
AVAILABILITY:
Available all the year through, from Mondays through Sundays. Timing is flexible
FOOD RESTRICTIONS:
The foods served during this cooking class might contain gluten, lactose, nuts and alcohol. If you have any food restriction, please inform our personnel during the enquiry process.
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