I was at the Organic Tuscany Cooking Class September 2024. It was an amazing experience from the Villa we all stayed in to the fantastic meals we prepared. The supporting staff was wonderful. The experience was more than cooking-we experienced olive oil tasting, cheese tasting, wine tasting and tours of the beautiful country! The host went over and above the call of duty- my rental car broke down enroute to the Villa (8:30 pm on a dark narrow winding road), Riccardo came to my rescue, assisted with the tow truck and translated my frustration to the rental company! I have been bragging about my experiences since my return and recommending this class to all my friends. P.s., I attended the class solo and met new friends! Debra W.

Organic Tuscany exceeded our wildest dreams. The week we spent there was spectacular . The cooking classes were amazing l, the accommodations were lovely and the staff were delightful. It truly was a dream come true.

Our Organic Tuscany cooking class was an amazing experience! The TOTAL package! Beautiful accommodations at the villa, Il Pino. Breathtaking scenery....a clear view of San Gimigiano. Fun and interesting field trips. And then there are the actual classes! Patient and caring instructors who taught us to make beautiful and delicious food such as tagliatelle, risotto, gnocchi, Tuscan meatloaf, bruchetta, guinea fowl, etc. etc. My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed our time with the staff, our sweet fellow students, and at the lovely villa. We would heartily recommend this experience to anyone who loves Tuscany and cooking.

What a great week! Shelpa and Riccardo are amazing hosts. Don’t walk, run to do this week long experience.

My communication with shilpa and riccardo was always fast and helpful before my arrival during the planning process. They obviously have been perfecting these cooking weeks for years. Its highly currated with all the details worked out. The villa is spacious and comfortable with tuscan hillside views that take in sunrise to sunset. If youre lucky you can watch a thunderstorm wander through from the covered patio. There was a good balance between cooking time in the kitchen and sightseeing to local venues. The food we learned to cook was the kind a home cook will love preparing at home for the family - delicious and approachable.

A beautiful location and a lovely week in Tuscany on a well run course .

I had such an amazing week with everyone cooking with Organic Tuscany. The time spent in the kitchen allowed me to learn some amazing recipes and new techniques. Everything we made was fresh from the Farmers Market. The week was sprinkled with trips to Siena, Florence, as well as wine and olive oil tasting. Our last night we had a delicious meal prepared for us and enjoyed some music and wine. Richard, Shilpa, Serenella and Arturo were amazing! New friends were made. What a week! Thank you so much. To anyone thinking of booking, don’t hesitate! You will not have any regrets!

A cooking class in Tuscany had been on the top of my bucket list for a long time. This fall it was checked off. We chose Organic Tuscany and it could not have been a more perfect choice! Shilpa and Ricardo are outstanding host and teachers. They have brought together a wonderful group of people to enhance the experience in the classes and excursions. We shared this amazing experience with a group of fun and interesting guests that enhanced the experience even further. If I could give more than 5 stars I would!!!

We had an outstanding and thoroughly enjoyable time. It was a perfectly balanced week and Shilpa, Riccardo and the rest of the team made us all very welcome and gave us a wonderful, hands on cooking experience set in the magnificent Tuscan countryside. What rounded off the week was the fantastic mix of fellow cooks enjoying cooking and socialising together.

Where do we start? Prior to our week, communication between Riccardo and us regarding trip details was superb. The week was magical! We learned so much and enjoyed every moment! Shilpa and Riccardo are terrific hosts. Sere, and Arturo were so helpful in our understanding of Tuscan food, cooking, all things olive oil and wine of the region. Our hearts are full and we are forever grateful

We loved it!I I was a little worried that my daughter (21) might feel out of place due to her age, but we both loved our week at Organic Tuscany. Riccardo, Shilpa and all the staff were wonderful, as were the other guests during our week there. The week is a nice balance of cooking and sight seeing, with opportunities to relax poolside if you wanted to. I would highly recommend this experience to others. It was the highlight for me during our 5 weeks in Europe. - Cathy Shilpa and Riccardo were very welcoming and accommodating hosts, they even helped us to print our voting papers so that we could vote from overseas! The food was exceptional and I probably ate twice as much as I normally do because of this. I throughly enjoyed the cooking classes and the staff were friendly and helpful. We visited Florence and Siena and the tour guides (who were organised by Organic Tuscany) were very passionate about their cities and gave engaging tours. I particularly liked the tour that our guide gave of Florence where we saw a local market and she got us some samples of cheese and truffle dishes. The other guests were friendly and we all got along really well. The villa has a spectacular view and it was nice to call Il Pino home for a week! Overall it was a wonderful vacation and my only regret is that we didn’t manage to get a photo of everyone. - Emma

Sucb a fun experience! This was my first trip to Italy (and my first solo trip). I had been wanting to do a destination cooking course and stumbled upon Organic Tuscany. Riccardo and Shilpa were very helpful in answering any questions I had prior to the trip. Upon arrival, Shilpa was extremely welcoming and friendly (even though I arrived a bit early). My stay throughout the week was so much more than I had anticipated. The cooking courses were fun, informative and delicious! The friendliness of all the staff and hosts made me feel at home. At the location..the view...was spectacular. And on top of all that they had great adventures planned for us throughout the week. If you want to explore Tuscany and explore Tuscan cuisine, I highly reccomend this ! I truly look back at this experience as the highlight of my trip to Italy. Thank you so much Riccardo, Shilpa, and the whole Organic Tuscany team!

Meal Times on the Expansive Terrazza Were an Endless Source of Delight If you are at all considering this experience, do not hesitate to treat yourself to a unique Tuscan cooking, cultural, and just plain fun week staying in a picturesque and comfortable villa in Il Pino/Certaldo. The food you will learn to make is simple, yet sumptuous and made in a non-fussy fundamental way that honors the locally sourced fresh ingredients and Italian techniques. Under the excellent and caring oversight and humor of your hosts, Richard and Shilpa, as well as a cadre of local family members and friends, you will make memories to last a lifetime while learning some serious food, olive oil, and wine chops along with your group, who will become your best friends for your week together. Meal times on the expansive terrazza overlooking the Tuscan countryside were an endless source of delight.

A Tuscany Culinary and Cultural Adventure Organic Tuscany Cooking School was a one of a kind experience. The setting of the rural Tucany landscapes are breathtaking. The villa Il Pino was a spacious and welcoming setting for the cooking school. The week of activities in addition to the cooking classes provide an expansive selection of historic and cultural information. The days are planned to include cooking, site seeing, socializing or just relaxing. The menu design used the best of the local organic products. The Organic Tuscany staff are patient with all the participants and the various levels of cooking skills of the group. Enjoyed the time and would recommend the Organic Tuscany Cooking School to anyone that loves the food and people of Italy.

Satisfying, Sumptuous, Serenity Shilpa, Ricardo, and their caring, enlightened Team were the catalyst to an endearing week of warm camaraderie, and serenity in the bucolic Tuscan hillside amongst olive groves and vineyards. Daily hands on authentic Tuscan cooking classes still left plenty of time to visit amazing medieval hilltop towns and villages. Sitting down outside with an international group of keen, enthusiastic classmates (who became fast friends), to raise a glass and dine on remarkable but simple well taught culinary creations was the highlight of our highly recommended time at Organic Tuscany. This is an experience you don’t want to miss!Dr Timothy and Victoria Bayley

Fabulous experience We waited 2 1/2 years for this trip and we weren’t disappointed! Our hosts were great. The villa and pool were fabulous and the food so delicious! It’s the perfect split between cooking, sight seeing, relaxing and just being totally spoilt! Would thoroughly recommend to anyone wanting to explore Tuscany and experience the amazing food and wine from the area. Can’t wait to go again!

We picked the perfect Cooking School Shilpa ,Riccardo and their staff were perfect hosts. The whole week was so well planned from Day one. The side trips were perfect for seeing more of Tuscany. The food we made together was delicious. We came home and have made several dishes. The villa was beautiful with amazing views. We can't rave enough about Organic Tuscany and plan to return. We just need more time in Italy. Two weeks is not enough.

Excellent trip This was on my bucket list. Best trip ever! We will be back. Everyone working at Organic Tuscany were incredible. Food, fun and friends!

If you have one week in Italy, go here! My mum and I finally got to our Organic Tuscany week in May 2022 and it was the best part of our month long European holiday (Italy and Spain). And it was so much more than you even imagine reading the website and the schedule. We had an amazing and diverse group of 10, from Canada, US, UK and Australia - newlyweds, old friends, married couples, and two sets of mums and daughters! The cooking lessons were so much fun and the food was delicious. My biggest revelation - I never really "got" gnocchi, but it was sublime at Villa il Pino and once in Rome I purchased all the instruments to make them at home! Plus the exact same pasta machine that I ordered on Amazon. I also adored the risotto and the tagliolini con asparagus - divine! Shilpa and Riccardo were such wonderful hosts, caring, funny, organized, relaxed, just lovely lovely people, in their element. The side trips - olive oil tasting, ceramics, Siena and San Gimignano, old town Certaldo, dinners, all were super fun and interesting, and the guides were great. If I was to do another cooking week in Italy, I would go back again to Organic Tuscany without hesitation! I hope I get the chance! Mum too!

Amazing week! My wife and I had absolutely the BEST week at Organic Tuscany! After postponing for 2 years due to Covid, we went the end of May 2022 (great weather at that time of year). We arrived a day early, spending the evening in Florence to help get over the jet lag. The next day we took the train to Certaldo, where our rented (automatic, as I don't drive a stick shift) car was waiting for us. We had excellent instructions to drive to the Villa, and were put into a beautiful room with an AMAZING view of the pool and the rolling Tuscan hills (in the distance we could see San Gimignano!).There is too much to describe, so I will just go over the highlights. Riccardo and Shilpa were excellent hosts, and helped with the cooking. We were a group of six lovely people, and the main cook Saranella was an excellent teacher. There was another woman who didn't speak english but aptly demonstrated what we had to do. There were 4 intense cooking sessions, and in each we learned how to make an appetizer, first and second course with sides, and dessert. If you already cook, there are good tips and recipes (as a dessert guy, I especially enjoyed the Tiramisu and Cantuccini), and even if you don't cook as much, it was a lot of fun! They even made allowances for my wife who doesn't eat pork, so that she would still be able to participate in cooking without touching the two pork things we prepared (she made the same dishes, just without adding the sausage). Of course we ate the delicious meals we prepared (and we already bought a Gnocchi board and potato masher, so we can make these at home!).But the week wasn't all about cooking. It was also about learning about the land, the people, and the culture. We went to a gorgeous winery in the hills near Certaldo, and learned about making wine from Cesare, the son of the owner. We sampled some of his products, had a wonderful lunch, and even got to tour his family villa, which is a treasure and looks like a museum.On another day, also had a nice guided tour of an olive oil production grove, and additionally a private wine and olive oil tasting back at the Organic Tuscany villa by Christina, who had previously taken us to the olive grove. While on one day the rest of the group took a tour of a local ceramics studio, my wife and I took the opportunity to rest for the afternoon at the villa (every day was so busy!). During the time we had to ourselves, I took a nice walk into the countryside on my own, while my wife hung out at the pool and caught some rays (the weather was perfect, and fyi there is air conditioning in the rooms when it gets too hot).Trips included a guided tour of Certaldo and Siena, and a trip on our own to San Gimignano (easy driving instructions). Instead of taking the included guided tour of Florence on the last day (we had already been there on a past trip), my wife and I drove to Volterra, yet another gorgeous medieval city located only an hour away and surrounded by the amazing Tuscan hills. Surprisingly, driving was pretty easy in Italy, all on local roads with beautiful views at every turn.On our last night at the Villa, Saranella prepared a special meal for us. After dinner, as we did all week, we hung out around the table drinking wine and enjoying the conversation and evening breeze. As a special treat, on the last night we were treated to a special concert of Italian folk music from a local guitarist and his son. We left the next day for Rome, and stayed over so we could get our flight home without rushing to catch our flight.In addition to all the meals we prepared (which may vary from group to group) there is a link they give for other recipes that they teach, so you can make so much more once you get home!One thing about Covid. It wasn't an issue anywhere we went. You need to wear a good mask on the buses and trains. We ate outside at every restaurant, and I put on my mask when I went inside a store/church.To summarize, this was one of the best trips we have ever taken! Thank you Riccardo and Shilpa for helping to make this such a memorable trip!