Hi,
We are looking for recommendations on a pasta making class, or, if there are strong opinions on an Italian cooking class, we are open to that as well.
We plan on arriving in Como, but staying in Bellagio so we need to be mindful of the ferry times if class is in Como.
Thank you all!
Definitely the cooking class with Chef Moreno at ristorante Il Caminetto! It was the highlight of our trip in 2011. We wished we could have gotten reservations for dinner, but sadly they were all booked up. It was so much fun!
I do have strong feelings about the excellence of several classes I’ve taken in Italy, but all farther south. For pasta, if you’re planning on making it at home after your trip, expect to invest in a pasta rolling machine - or an attachment for you mixer, if you haven’t already. Also, you’ll want sometimes hard-to-find Semoilina flour, and ultra-fine 0-0 (zero-zero), with different properties for different results. Then there’s flour gnocchi and potato-and-flour gnocchi.
an old webpage for Chef Moreno at ristorante Il Caminetto's classes is http://www.ilcaminettoonline.com/dovesiamo_e.html
You'll see that it is in a hamlet in the hills above Varenna. If you are in Bellagio you will ferry to Varenna (watch the time of the last one back) and then a hike or try for a taxi. You'll need to pre-arrange the taxi - I don't think there is a taxi rank in Varenna, or at least I never noticed one, unless they hang out by the VTL near the church. But if you are going to walk all that way you may as well hike up to the restaurant.
When we took the cooking class at Il Caminetto, they sent a shuttle to Varenna to pick us up and then dropped us back off in Varenna when done.
Pasta is not common in the north; you will find more risotto. On our four trips to Lake Como, I never heard of a pasta class or have eaten much pasta there. We ate a lot of “lake fish”, ravioli stuffed with red cabbage( you are near Switzerland and German influences.) Will you also be in Tuscany or farther south? Those would be better places to find pasta making classes.
You can take a high speed ferry from Bellagio to Como but won’t be able to see much from it. Take the regular ferry one way to see the villas along the lake including George and Amal Clooney’s.
We took the class at Il Caminetto and it is one of my most memorable travel days ever. We were picked up and returned to Varenna. Many people were transported from the ferry dock, but they picked us up at our B&B. Plan for it to take up your whole day, but it’s a day we’ll spent.
