Chefs of the Orient-Express group in the kitchen of the Villa San Michele hotel
In a greenhouse surrounded by aromatic herbs on the Fiesole hill, hides a glass kitchen where, while kneading the day's pasta, one can lose one's gaze to the horizon and stumble upon eternally beautiful Florence. A sunny day for winter, the Hotel Villa San Michele, hands in the dough discovering Italy through its emblematic dishes: so is this trip.
Every year, this hotel, classified as an Italian national monument, organizes cooking courses open to the curious and cooks who dare in a face to face with some of the best chefs of the Orient-Express chain . The offer is tempting and the way of traveling much more: how can one resist a Florence that escapes the tourist walks through its historical-artistic center? There are ways to travel and this is to get your hands on Florentine gastronomy.
Cooking classes start early, after enjoying breakfast on the hotel's terrace; then you get to the greenhouse-kitchen, you put on your apron, you face the kitchen and… you start to knead. Today it's time to make tortellini with ricotta; pomodoro sauce allarabiata and for dessert, tiramisu.
Then you learn that not all pasta is the same: not all pasta can be seasoned with the same sauces or cooked for the same time, for example.
Between dough and dough it crosses your mind that you are in a 15th century Franciscan monastery and that the kitchen where you are is where the monks' greenhouse used to be. The garden that surrounds the kitchen, in its time was the monastic garden and the reception, the chapel; but also, the facade of the now luxury hotel is attributed to Michelangelo.
After the course, it's time for lunch: it's your dishes that arrive at the restaurant to analyze the day's work with your palate. Of course, all washed down with Tuscan land wines.
The cooking workshops at the Hotel Villa San Michele are offered at specific times, take a look at the website to discover the next courses, it has limited places.
The facade of the Hotel Villa San Michele