リヴォルノの伝統的な食事 : ショークッキングで地元体験

We had a truly delightful afternoon with Luciana and Francesco in Livorno during a cruise port stop. This was a highlight on our cruise and not your typical cruise port excursion. This experience invites you into someone’s home to learn, prepare, and enjoy a meal together. Our warm and friendly hosts made us feel welcome like long time friends. Luciana, an excellent pastry/pasta chef, led us through the creation of focaccia, ravioli, and desert pastry. Delicioso!! If you are curious about getting to know a bit more about life with someone local, the culture and cuisine, this is a great opportunity.

Cristiana is a perfect hostess. Her home is beautiful and her gardens are lush and very healthy. It is a lovely, well cared for Italian home and garden. She served an amazing bufalo mozzarella bruschetta to start with, then a delicious appetizer with eggplant (sotto pesto if I recall correctly) done in a way I have never had before. Delicious! She served a very nice Italian white wine, I had to stop at three glasses though 😂 The pasta was the best I have ever had, and I eat A LOT of Italian style food. My brother in law is a restaurateur and specializes in Italian cooking , but this was better. So much better (sorry Bro-hope you don’t read this LOL). She made a tiramisu that was also the best I have ever had. Cristiana was gracious and kind and funny and a very good cook. I really liked conversing with her and we shared many parts of our lives. This experience will be a highlight of my 2 month journey through Europe. I will return to Livorno again specifically to see her and experience her special home and kitchen again. I will have to learn to make that eggplant! I highly recommend this experience. It was intimate/personal and delicious. It will always be a highly treasured afternoon.

By far the best vacation experience ever! Joelle and Ricardo were amazing hosts! We were made to feel welcome right away. Lunch was fabulous and learning to make the ravioli was the best! Joelle gave us all the recipes too! But I must say tiramisu was my favorite part! It is not normally a favorite dessert of mine but this tiramisu was perfect! Of course the best part was all the wonderful conversation we had. The sharing of our life experiences and the realization that no matter where you live we are more alike than different. This is the reason we try to do these types of experiences when we travel! I cannot recommend this too highly.

Fantastic. Worth the money!! The food was absolutely delicious. Some courses were unique but none the less scrumptious. The team was very friendly and made us feel super welcome in their home as soon as we arrived.

Joëlle is a fantastic cook and an excellent teacher with a warm, engaging personality. She made the entire experience both educational and fun. Her husband, Ricardo, was equally lovely, together they are the perfect hosts. We were welcomed into their home like family and taught the art of making authentic Tuscan pasta, step by step, with plenty of hands-on practice. While our dough rested, we enjoyed delicious snacks and local wine, sharing stories and laughter despite the rainy weather outside. After the class, Ricardo graciously drove us back to the port shuttle so we could easily return to our ship — an unexpected kindness that truly went above and beyond. This experience was the highlight of our trip and one we will remember fondly. Highly recommend Joëlle’s class to anyone visiting the Livorno area!

It was fabulous. Food was a 10. Hosts went over and above. Joelle is a wonderful cook. The view of the Mediterranean from their terrace added so much to the experience

Fantastic experience with great food and company. Cristina, her son, and mother were so friendly and helpful. We hope to return.

We had the best afternoon! Our host’s were warm and welcoming. The food was delicious. We felt like we were spending the afternoon with friend’s. We enjoyed the day immensely. Highly recommend.

Feel very lucky to have experienced lunch with such nice people. We were a little nervous as we had never done an experience like this before. Joelle and Ricardo put us at ease and we enjoyed the next few hours chatting as if we were old friends. The food was wonderful. In truth, most of the preparation was done by professional cook Joelle, and we helped to finish it. Perfect. Joelle & Ricardo are such an interesting and engaging couple. As I mentioned, we feel fortunate to have enjoyed their company. Getting there from la Piazza Grande was easy and cheap (<€2 each by bus) and return to la Piazza easy with a stop outside the house. If you are unsure or nervous about booking, 'go for it', you will not be disappointed.

joelle and ricardo were the best hosts!! they listened to our dietary restrictions, taught us so many new food tricks and italian culture, and cooked the best food we’ve ever had. if you get joelle and ricardo then you are so lucky, this was the best part of our europe trip!