Cooking Demo & 3-Course Dinner in La Spezia at Local Home

A cooking class, multiple courses, one host's kitchen in La Spezia

A cooking demonstration and three-course dinner at a local cook's home in La Spezia, where you prepare one traditional recipe alongside your host before sitting down to eat. The experience lasts about two and a half hours and includes a seasonal starter, fresh pasta, dessert, and a selection of red and white wines from Ligurian cellars, plus coffee. You choose between the full menu experience or an express option focused on ravioli making.

Step-by-step itinerary

Local dining and cooking demo in La Spezia

• Meet local host in La Spezia
• Join one-hour show cooking session
• Help prepare traditional La Spezia meal
• Enjoy three-course menu with drinks
• Taste Ligurian red and white wines
• End with classic Italian espresso

The Experience

You'll meet your host at their home in La Spezia—the exact address arrives after you book. Before the meal, you spend an hour in the kitchen learning how to make a traditional La Spezia recipe. Your host walks you through the technique while you handle the pasta, the filling, or whatever the day's dish demands. This is not a performance; you're working alongside someone who learned these recipes from family, often from a cookbook passed down through generations. The recipes themselves are the point—the kind of food that stays in a family for decades because it works.

Once the cooking is done, you sit down to a three-course meal: a seasonal starter, the fresh pasta you just made (or a sample of it), and a typical dessert like canestrelli biscuits, castagnaccio, or tiramisu. Drinks come with the meal—water, a selection of red and white wines sourced from Ligurian cellars for their connection to the region, and an espresso at the end, the way locals finish lunch or dinner. The whole experience runs about two and a half hours from arrival to the last coffee.

Cesarine, the network hosting this, has been connecting travelers with home cooks across Italy for years—over a thousand of them in more than five hundred cities. The hosts are people who cook at home regularly and open their doors to curious travelers. This is their kitchen, their table, their recipes.

What’s included

• One hour of hands-on cooking instruction with your host.
• a three-course meal featuring a seasonal starter, fresh pasta you helped prepare, and a typical dessert.
• water, a selection of red and white wines from Ligurian cellars, and espresso.
• local taxes.

Good to know

Easy physical levelPublic transport nearbyNot for heart conditions

Operated by Cesarine: Cooking Class

Is this one for you?You'll cook alongside a local home cook in their dining room, then sit down together to eat what you've made—an intimate evening with one host and a small group, not a restaurant kitchen or tour bus crowd.

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Top questions

Do I need cooking experience to join this class?

No cooking experience is necessary. Your host will guide you through the steps and handle anything that needs precision or timing. The point is learning the recipe and the technique, not arriving already skilled.

What if I have dietary restrictions or allergies?

Contact Cesarine after booking with any dietary needs or allergies. They will work with your host to adapt the menu where possible, though some flexibility may be limited since the recipes are traditional and set in advance.

Is this lunch or dinner, and what time does it start?

You can choose either a lunch or dinner slot depending on availability when you book. The exact time will be confirmed after your reservation is made.

How many people will be cooking and dining together?

This is a small group experience at a local's home, so the group size is intimate—typically just a few travelers with one host. The exact number depends on the host's home and availability.

What's the difference between the Full Menu and the Express Ravioli Making option?

The Full Menu Dining Experience includes the one-hour cooking demonstration, the three-course meal, and all drinks as described. The Express option focuses specifically on ravioli making and is a shorter format if you want to concentrate on that single skill.