My friend and i wanted to take an authentic cooking class while in Italy and this was the absolute best. Lorna was trained here and she made everything so simple and fun and hands on. The class was private and she arranged a wine tasting for us while at the vineyard. We had full control over the meal and menu. Everything turned out delicious and it was an absolutely lovely experience from beginning to end! Highly recommend! read more

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Lorna was incredible. First of all, she was super accommodating to our group and came to us at our Airbnb in Lucca. She gave us a bunch of options of things to learn. We have small children 2.5 years old, 9 and 10 and she worked with them in such a caring way. She brought all the things we needed for an incredible dinner. We made pasta, panzanella, artichoke bake, and meatballs as well as mascarpone snow with chocolate sauce. We laughed and had a blast. Would 1000% reccomend! read more

Lorna Wheatley - Mascarpone snow dessert - Cooking Classes Near Me - Capannori, LU

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Cooking with Lorna was an amazing experience. It is my first time in Tuscany, and I wanted to taste as many Tuscan dishes/ flavors as possible. So she came up with awesome tasting menu. Everything she instructed me to make came out absolutely delicious . I'm so happy to have met her and learned from her. Thank you. read more

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Not only did Lorna have a strong grasp of Italian cooking techniques, she made sure I was able to get hands-on with the cooking and she had wonderful anecdotes to share as to how she'd learned some of the dishes we made. All in all I was able to prepare a lovely lunch for my friends with her guidance, enjoyed great conversation, and will have handy techniques to take home so I can prepare delicious Italian food for friends and family. Grazie mille Lorna! If you're looking for nonna-quality Tuscan culinary flair with a fluent English speaker, you've found your teacher! read more

Lorna Wheatley - Ham and cheese hand pies - Cooking Classes Near Me - Capannori, LU

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If you are spending the day in Lucca, please, please, please (!) contact Lorna to do a personalized cooking class!!! She can be reached via email at jswheatley82@aol.com My husband and two teenage daughters spent four hours with Lorna making fresh bruschetta, homemade pasta for Tordelli Luccese, artichokes parmesan, and she prepared amazing mascarpone cream cups for dessert. She was incredibly patient, very informative and the food was delicious! We left feeling like old friends. One of the best experiences in our 10-day trip to Tuscany! read more

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Another family and ours arranged a cooking class with Lorna and it was one of our favorite experiences during our 3 week stay in Italy. She came to our villa and brought all of the ingredients and cooking utensils to make a fabulous 4 course meal. We have kids ages 9 and 12 and she was very patient with them and helped them learn her techniques. We had a blast chatting with Lorna and learning cooking tips as well as tips for visiting the local area. She is a true gem and would highly recommend her! read more

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We were planning a vacation to Lucca and looking for interesting activities to participate in. My mom loves to cook so we tried searching for a cooking class. Someone recommended Lorna, a private chef. She was fantastic! She was very easy going, spoke English and she's Fun! We made a white bean bruschetta, an eggplant confonato, pork tenderloin and a chocolate nemesis cake! We cooked everything in a private kitchen located on a Tuscan hillside. The view was unbelievable, it was straight out of the movies! (Watch my video to see the location) Cooking class with Lorna was one of the highlights of our 3 week Tuscan retreat. Thank you Lorna! You can reach her through her husband's email address at: jswheatley82@aol.com Ciao! read more

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While on a grandparent/grandchild tour in Tuscany, one of the other grandparents and I along with our two granddaughters had the great good fortune of spending an afternoon and early evening learning from Lorna and then eating the wonderful four course meal that she had talked us through preparing from scratch. The combination of her friendliness and enthusiasm and the beautiful hillside location would be hard to match and impossible to beat. Hank Harrell read more

Lorna is AMAZING! My friends and I were on a vacation and wanted a authentic Italy cooking class and we found Lorna through yelp and it was one of my favorite activities of the vacation. We opted to cook at Lorna's place and it was a beautiful hillside kitchen with a breathtaking patio and view of the country side. Upon arrival Lorna made us feel at home and we made: white bean bruschetta, peasant soup, fresh pasta with shrimp zucchini sauce, marinated chicken and a awesome desert. The meal was amazing and so fun + educational. We also had local wine which was delicious. I highly recommend Lorna and her cooking class as it was easy to set up and a unforgettable experience! read more

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Lorna provided a once in a lifetime experience for a true Tuscan cooking class. All of her ingredients were top notch, she came prepared and ready to teach, and guided us through a full afternoon of cooking! If you're in the area and wanting to do a cooking class, can't recommend this experience enough. Also, the location of the class is at a winery that provides amazing views and oppurtunity for a tasting and to grab a couple of bottles of wine for during the class and later! read more

Cooking class with Lorna was the highlight of our stay in Petrognano. The entire experience was delightful starting with grocery shopping. Her energy, enthusiasm and expertise got even our non-cooks engaged and involved in the experience. Plus, the food was amazing. Highly recommend her for the novice or experienced cook. Bon appetit! read more

Booked as a birthday gift for a friend, from my initial contact by email to saying goodbye after a delightful day with Lorna, the experience could not have been more wonderful. Given free reign to develop our day with her ... the only stipulation being seasonal ingredients ...we quickly found ourselves fully immersed in the preparation of the menu Lorna designed for us. A menu we shall not, soon, forget. From White Bean Bruschetta through to a Marscapone mixture draped in Chocolate Sauce, and everything in between ... Fresh Pasta with Zucchini Sauce, Risotto Primavera, Baked Artichokes, Rosemary Potatoes, and Rabbit ... Lorna took into consideration our small group's range of kitchen experience walking us through each dish step-by-step with patience and a great sense of humor. Unlike many classes offered, this is 100% hands on with Chef intervention only when needed. Given courage by the jolt of coffee offered upon arrival and braced by the locally produced cellar wine purchased at the local tavern, our confidence grew by leaps and bounds as one dish after another came to a successful, and very tasteful, end. Never rushed. Never pretentious. It was all about real food prepared and shared with friends. In the end, three friends from Canada and the US left knowing we had made a new friend Thank you, Lorna, for making time spent with you a highlight of our time in Italy. Until we meet again. read more

Our 7/19/19 cooking class with Lorna was the highlight of our time in Tuscany. Afternoon winding our way uphill to Petrognano, not at all sure we were arriving at the right place, we met Lorna in front of "the big yellow church." From there, it was a short stroll to her compact but very efficient kitchen where we had a delightful day. Lorna made us a coffee, gave a tour of the premises and then we launched into making bruschetta, both the tomato and white bean varieties, shrimp risotto, roast potatoes, mixed roast (chicken, sausage, pork ribs and rabbit) and a desert of mascarpone cheese and meringue covered with chocolate sauce. The four of us did nearly all the chopping, stirring, etc under Lorna's expert direction. While we are all experienced cooks, each of us learned some new things and the finished products were delicious. We will treasure the recipes that we got to take home with us and they will be repeated. Lorna is a delightful person to spend the day with, a great raconteur with sly British humor. We highly recommend a day with Lorna as an addition to your Tuscany itinerary. read more