Cesarine: Market Tour & Typical Dining at a Local's Home in Rome

The most special day of my trip! 🇮🇹 Spending my birthday with Maria and her lovely family was unforgettable ❤️. From the moment I arrived, I was welcomed like one of their own — full of warmth, laughter, and amazing homemade food 🍝🍷. Maria taught me how to make fresh pasta and tiramisu 🍰, sharing stories and family traditions along the way. We celebrated together, singing happy birthday in Italian and English 🎂 — such a beautiful and personal touch! If you want to experience real Italian family life and authentic cooking, I can’t recommend this enough. Thank you, Maria, for making me feel so loved and at home 🥹✨

I had the most magical evening with Gianluca and his family, Georgia, Kayla, and Benedita (please excuse the misspelled names!)! First of all, I have rarely met such a gracious and welcoming family. They made me feel welcome from even before I arrived! They welcomed me with the most delicious coffee and cookie I have ever had! Then we went to the market to get some fresh ingredients for the meal. Then back to their house to cook! Gianluca made incredible appetizers, handmade pasta, a chicken dish, and his secret recipe tiramisu. I even got to help! There was so much delicious food that I couldn't eat it all! I highly recommend the Cesarine experience and Gianluca in particular. Definitely a must do! When I'm back in Italy, I plan to do this again with Gianluca!

This was the highlight of our trip to Rome! We requested being matched with an experience that took us a bit further away from where we were staying, and so we were able to see a part of Rome we would not have otherwise seen. The market was very cool- this was a place where locals shopped and was not geared towards tourism. I wish we had something like this back home- so many choices for fresh, in season foods! The best part was going to Anna's home and eating lunch with the family. Yes, the food was delicious, but spending time with interesting and friendly people from another part of the world is a heartwarming and growth experience that for us, is what traveling is about. Anna and her family were wonderful hosts and we would be very lucky to share another meal with them one day in the future!

I wanted an authentic cooking experience while in Rome which included a market tour & cooking class. I spent quite some time researching online. I came across Cesarine and was impressed with their class offerings and reviews. I initially booked my market tour and class experience for Monday 15/8/2022 and was told by Cesarine that there were no markets in Rome that day due to the Public Holiday. They offered for me to do a class and learn an additional recipe to compensate for not being able to do a market tour. I asked if I could reschedule my booking to the Tuesday. Cesarine staff were accommodating of this and organised the reschedule. Cooking with Cristiana was my favourite thing I did in Rome. From the moment I walked through her front gate, Cristiana and her husband Luca welcomed me into their house and their hospitality was amazing. We drove to the shops with Cristiana pointing out places of interest along the way. At the shops, she explained all the food to me and included me in the conversations with the shop staff. She allowed me to choose food that I hadn’t seen before or that I wanted to cook with. We arrived back at their house and started cooking. Cristiana was a wonderful teacher. She explained the steps and the process very well. She would demonstrate then allow me to get hands on and cook myself. I am gluten intolerant and Cristiana was very accommodating of this. I also asked if we could make gnocchi as I wanted to learn the correct technique. We made gluten free gnocchi with Amatriciana sauce, eggplant parmigiana, tiramisu & bruschetta. We also had an amazing spread of appetizers including sun dried tomatoes, olives, pecorino cheese and focaccia. I highly recommend the Cesarine experience with Cristiana; it completely exceeded my expectations.

We had such a great time with Roberta and her daughter, Giorgia (not to mention their excellent assistant chef, Nemo the dog). They explained the different kinds of tomatoes and other ingredients we’d use, and we eventually made tagliatelle with two kinds of sauce, bruschetta, and a frittata. They also made us Bellinis! It was so great to get to know them and spend time in their home. Roberta was so kind and helpful, and the food was delicious. Highly recommend!