Adventurous dinner, only for brave palates

AN EXPERIENCE FOR REAL BRAVE
Step into the world of authentic Italian cuisine, where tradition meets bravery. On request, we offer a unique dining experience designed for adventurous palates. Our menu celebrates the lesser-known yet deeply rooted dishes of Italy, treasured by locals but rarely explored by visitors.
Choose three or four dishes from our curated selection, paired with fine Italian wine to complete your journey into Italy’s hidden culinary treasures.
This is more than a dinner — it’s an exploration of authentic flavors that most visitors never encounter. Dare to experience Italy like a true local!

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The cook, an authentic Tuscan Mamma or Granny with a big passion for cooking, will create for you the same dishes she prepares for her family, making you feel like home.
The service is available for lunch or dinner, any time. The cook will bring all ingredients into your kitchen and prepare the whole meal following family recipes and recipes of the Tuscan tradition.
All is made on site using the equipment provided by the villa and bringing any extra tool, if necessary.

Booking a private chef service with us you’ll experience authentic Tuscan cuisine, enjoy meals that reflect the delicious, genuine flavors of the region, nothing luxurious or extravagant, but rather warm, honest, and lovingly prepared food.
We are happy to share with you a friendly and down-to-earth food experience that gives to you a true taste of Tuscany.

Here the menu options to choose from, please choose the same menu for the whole party.

Antipasti

• Crostino with chicken liver pâté (Crostino Fegatini)
• Fried blood sausage (Mallegato)

Primi

• Rabbit risotto (Risotto coniglio)
• Duck ragù pasta (Pasta alla nana)

Secondi/Main courses

• Snails in herb sauce (Chiocciole)
• Grilled pork liver with herbs (Fegatello) + salad
• Tripe in tomato sauce (Trippa) + salad
• Rabbit stew with black olives (Coniglio in umido) + salad
• Fried rabbit (Coniglio fritto) + salad
• Liver and onions (Fegato e cipolle)
• Fried brains (Cervello fritto) + salad

Dessert

• Chestnut flour cake (Castagnaccio)

1 bottle of wine from our selection every 4 people is included. We guarantee also 1 bottle for 2 or 3 people of course!

Join us for an unforgettable experience!

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR ALL MEAL SERVICES

WHAT TO EXPECT FROM US

At Arianna & Friends, our cooks are not just culinary experts; they are friendly local individuals who bring the warmth of family cooking to your table. Rather than serving elaborate dishes, they craft meals using cherished traditional recipes, creating an experience reminiscent of home.
Our cooks arrive equipped with fresh ingredients, prepare the meal on-site, serve, and conduct a thorough cleanup, leaving your kitchen and dining space as they found it. Bread is always included, as well as a salad along with the second main courses when they don’t include vegetables already.

We provide in-home chef/cooking services and bring our own utensils and tools. However, we utilize the villa’s resources to set the table and serve the food. Tables, chairs, cutlery, glasses, or plates are not included. Additional arrangements can be made at an extra cost with an external provider.

WHAT WE ASK OF YOU

• Access and Timing: Please, ensure permission for our cooks to access the villa and kitchen. Please, ask the villa manager/owner BEFORE booking the service. Confirm that the villa is accessible at the agreed-upon time to avoid additional fees for waiting time. You find this information in the confirmation voucher.
• Preparation: Please, Leave the kitchen clean and free from personal items for prompt service. Additional cleaning time will incur an extra fee.
• Table Settings: Provide the correct number of table settings for your party size (chairs, cutlery, glasses, tableware). We will utilize only what is available.
• Punctuality: Please, be at the table on time; delays will result in extra charges.
• Service Gaps: if you book a full formula service, where the staff serves the food at the table, we plan for a 10-15 minute gap between the serving of one course and the serving of the next one. Delays from your side will be charged extra.
• Extended Services: Please, inform us in advance if you plan to have a long dinner with additional activities such as speeches, singing and dancing. We’ll provide a personalized quotation for extended service hours.
• Children’s Meals: If serving children first, expect an extra hour of service, charged accordingly.
• Menu choice: You are asked to choose a single menu for the entire group. Each course counts as one dish. For example, a three-course meal means choosing three dishes.
• Different menu choice: If you’d like to have different menus for different guests, this is possible at an additional cost. Please note that all food is prepared on-site, and a rental villa kitchen is not a restaurant kitchen, so additional preparation time will be required.
• Allergies and Restrictions: Communicate any food restrictions or allergies at the time of booking. Last-minute changes are not possible.

Extra Charges:
Delays result in a €15/half-hour (€30/hour) charge per staff member

If your party consists of 1 to 4 people, there will be 1 or 2 staff members, depending on the chosen menu. For parties of 5 to 15 people, 2 to 3 staff members will assist you. For groups of 16 to 30 people, the team will include 3 to 5 staff members.

DOWNLOAD BOOKING FORM

This is a list of specialties that you are likely to sample as part of the program of this experience. Please, note that the specialties of the menu prepared during the experience may vary according to the season and the availability of the products in the day of the event.

Trippa alla Pisana

Trippa alla Pisana

A dish for strong palates, and yet so good! A typical recipe of the lower classes who could ony afford interiors and less expensive kinds of meat, this dish of tripe is considered the best delicacy in most Tuscan families. Stewed in a base of olive oil and veggies, and seasoned by tomatoes, the tripe […]

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Cacciucco di Chiocciole

Cacciucco di Chiocciole

A food from the past, commonly prepared by poor people just after rainy days: Cacciucco di Chiocciole is a dense and juicy soup made with wild snails, which people normally gathered after wa few days of rain and purged through flour before cooking them. Today consider a very rare and delicious specialty!

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Spezzatino di manzo con patate

Spezzatino di manzo con patate

Beef stewed in vegetables, extra virgin olive oil and wine and finally dressed with potatoes. One of the most typical secondi for your Tuscan dinner. A bestseller in our cooking classes and chef services.

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Zuppa alla frantoiana

Zuppa alla frantoiana

Zuppa alla frantoiana means vegetable soup of the olive oil maker. It is a delicious soup made of sauted vegetables like carrots, potatoes, beans, kale and cabbage on which the final touch is freshly squeezed extra virgin olive oil. It was traditionally the soup that authentic oil mills in Tuscany were preparing for their guests […]

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Crostini ai Fegatini

Crostini ai Fegatini

The most typical crostini from Tuscany. A chicken liver pate served on thinly sliced grilled bread. The recipe makes use of very unexpected ingredients like anchovy filets and capers seasoned in vinegar. It is considered one of the best delicacies and it is commonly served with other appetizers as the first course.

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Tuscan red wine

Tuscan red wine

The Tuscan soil provides a wide variety of red wines, from easy-to-drink young table wines to full-body and robust riservas. Tuscan red wines are often based on Sangiovese, Canaiolo, Ciliegiolo or Colorino grapes and sometimes on international grapes like Merlot, Cabernet or Syrah. The most curious experiements are recently involving Alicante and Tempranillo!

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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.

Ester

friend

Ester

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.

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Elisabetta

friend

Elisabetta

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!

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Silvia

friend

Silvia

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!

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Carlo

friend

Carlo

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!

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Lorena

friend

Lorena

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!

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Paola

friend

Paola

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!

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Margherita

friend

Margherita

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!

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Mariagrazia

friend

Mariagrazia

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.

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Anna

friend

Anna

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.

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