Chef per Caso

On our family vacation to Liguria, we attended a cooking class with Donatella while on a day trip to Genoa. This cooking class — and spending time with bubbly Donatella and her charming English speaking helper, Simona — was an absolute highlight of our trip.
I emailed Donatella after seeing the listing on tripadvisor, and checking out her website and Unilocal.I emailed her and she responded within hours. She let me know availability and was absolutely accommodating to our request for vegetarian dishes only.
I had a good feeling about the class even before we got to Genoa as Donatella 1. didn’t request payment up front (always a question when booking internationally) and 2. emailed the day before to reconfirm. The price was also fair and comparable per person to cooking classes in the U.S.
Her well established and equipped facility is a fifteen minute walk along mainroads from Genoa Principe station. Google walking directions were accurate — it looks confusing because of the many overpassing roads, but basically just keep walking one street up from the harbor opposite the cruise ships and you will get there just fine.
We were greeted by Donatella and her friend Simona, who we understand gives excellent tours of Genoa and is a delight. Donatella had asked her to help to ensure we understood all the instructions.
Six of us attended the class, each taking turns working on one of the five courses we would later be eating others observing or working on prepping for the next round. Donatella was great at demonstrating and explaining the procedure and reasoning for the various methods and ingredients — we made two variations on most dishes to contrast and compare. It was therefore fun but also truly educational. She even answered our questions about the many wonderful gadgets in her well equipped kitchen and we each left with a mental shopping list of kitchen gadgets to buy at home.
The lesson moved along at a brisk pace, and soon there were delicious aromas emanating from the ovens. We wrapped up the cooking and sat down to eat all the courses we had prepared at Donatella’s excellent direction. It was all delicious and a wonderful way to spend a few hours. We took home the leftovers and are excited to incorporate her recipes and techniques into our cooking at home.
Molto bene!!!