Culinary Institute of Bologna

I came with a friend and we did a 2-​day cooking class. The cost was € 550 per person. The class is held in the catering kitchen of the Trattoria Del Rosso restaurant, and taught by the catering staff.
Total cost for 2: € 550×2 = € 1,100
Reserving online was easy; however, you must keep the confirmation email because there are no other follow-​up emails or notifications. If you have a group (of up to 6), this would be a fun activity! Just take heed of the last part of my review.
MONDAY MORNING (DAY 1)
We arrived on a Monday morning, and met up with Stefano, who took us to the markets and then brought us back and handed us over to one of his employees, who started us off making stock and preparing the ragu.
While the ragu was simmering, we went to the pasta room and made tagliatelle and tortelloni. For the tagliatelle, it was served with the ragu. For the tortelloni, it was served with butter and sage. This is what we had for lunch. The ragu was fantastic!
MONDAY AFTERNOON (DAY 1)
For the afternoon portion of the day (and cooking dinner), we came back and helped mass-​produce meatballs for a function that the restaurant was hosting — they were hosting people from some sort of conference and one of their stops on the tour was the restaurant. We didn’t care for the meatballs (they used too much breadcrumbs).
We had purchased some beef tripe (stomach) and we simmered it… it was so good! For dessert, we made an apple thing on top of custard inside something like a pie crust. For dinner, we ended up eating more of the ragu bolognese from lunch and the tripe.
We then stayed into the evening helping the staff prepare the demonstrations for the evening (we demonstrated pasta rolling, cutting tagliatele and making and stuffing tortelloni.
TUESDAY MORNING (DAY 2)
We arrived a little earlier and helped the staff prepare soup and pork steaks for an event they were catering for at lunch. This was mass producing food, and though it sounds fun, we were disappointed. We did not get much attention in the morning as we had the day prior, and much of the morning we felt like we were in the way. Things were so hectic that we didn’t get a chance to go to the markets until the afternoon, and we really didn’t get to cook anything we wanted (like we did the previous day). At this point, I wasn’t feeling too positive, and had wished that I had only signed up for 1 day of cooking classes.
TUESDAY AFTERNOON (DAY 2)
After a short break, we came back and were able to cook a couple things we had been wanting to try, namely rabbit! We made rabbit two-​ways, and I did enjoy learning how to debone one. We also made panna cotta; something I had wanted to try.
In summary, I thought the class was okay; however, I would not have booked the class had I known that the catering side would be so busy. I would have preferred that the focus be on the cooking students and not catering events for other groups. Next time, I would like to try another cooking class that takes place in someone’s home; this way, you are assured that the students are the focus.

«I will never forget my two days at CIBO.»
A friend and I were treated to two full days at CIBO at the beginning of a two week holiday in Italy. First of all, Bologna is a beautiful city. The miles and miles of porticos over all of the sidewalks are charming and elegant, and there is so much to see in such a small area.
Sue and I really appreciated starting both days with a trip to the market with Stefano to check out what had just come into season — MUSHROOMS — YAY!!! — and to form our menu for the day based on what we wanted to learn how to make. What a treat, to look at rabbit, Guinea fowl, artichokes, and discover what to look for in the raw ingredients we were choosing.
A quick espresso at Stefano’s favorite café to talk about our menus for lunch and dinner, and then back to the school, trundle buggy full of goodness.
Lucia and Stefano were accommodating, very instructive not only about the food we were preparing but about the city itself. The cooking space is bright, airy, and state of the art. I especially enjoyed learning how to make pasta, deboning the meat, making the sauces, and most of all, of course, SHARING the meals we had made with our husbands who joined us both evenings for dinner.
This is a wonderful, wonderful experience, even if you’re not a dedicated cook. Run, don’t walk, to Bologna, and get signed up for some quality time in the kitchen at CIBO.

Amazing class! Did the full day class and Stefano was amazing. You get to cook out of the professional kitchen at his restaurant (the spare kitchen in the back!) and learn a ton of recipes. It was awesome, I will definitely come back again!

Wonderful experience! We did the full day cooking class and I would recommend it to anyone who loves to cook. Chef stefano was a joy and so much fun. Wish I could do it again! 5 stars

Highly recommended! It was definitely the best experience in Italy. Stefano’s sense of humor made this class even better. 3 hours went by really quick and I could have all of the delicious foods that we made plus desserts & wine. It was a very unique experience for me to make fresh pasta and the ragu bolognese was the best that I’ve ever tasted!

We have been to many cooking schools all over Italy. CIBO was the best because we got real «hands-​on» experience. The teachers are restaurant chefs and we learned so much that it will be difficult for us to eat out ITALIAN food when we get home. The prices are very reasonable and we loved the food and the unlimited wine with every meal!

10÷5÷2012
I returned from Italy about 2 weeks ago and Stefano and his staff made my experience wonderful.
I have been to Italy many times. I am Italian– American and was raised with a strong background in making Italian food so I can distinguish authentic Italian food. I wanted to take the class to expand my knowledge into making tortellini and other regional Italian Food. My family is from southern Italy so the sauces differ but the passion for food is the same.
Before I arrived I was skeptical of the course because it had no reviews being a new course. I am so glad I took that leap of faith. Marcello was the first person I contacted for information. He answered my questions so quickly and his English is great. THat put me at ease to even book the class. The cost was about the same cost as other cooking classes around.
Stefano was our instructor and I believe the owner of the restaurant at CIBO– which by the way is fantastic. His English is wonderful and he understood all my questions and answered them. He is very friendly and fun. He had passion about the art of cooking and it shows.
My husband and I took the half day course. It was hands on and took place in a real restaurant kitchen which was even better. My husband doesn’t cook often and I cook everyday. It was nice for both levels. We made tortelloni, a variety or pastas, and of course ragu.
They have a website which you get the password to once the class is completed that have the recipes classes offered at CIBO. It is really nice because I have the recipes that I made as well as other new recipes to try. Thanks Stefano!
All of the food was by my standards very authentic and the final product was fun to taste. Wonderful! So glad we went.

We have been to cooking schools all over Italy, this place is the best by far. It was truly a hands on cooking experience. The chefs who taught us were fantastic; they were restaurant chefs who all spoke English and as they taught us each recipe they explained culinary techniques that we could use on other dishes, so we just weren’t following a recipe we were learning cookery techniques that could generalize to many dishes.
We were there way beyond the time the course was supposed to run because people in the group asked about certain dishes and the chef said «oh, you want to know why your biscotti never come out right, let’s make some now!» .so we even made things beyond what was listed in the course! It was so much fun, our chef was so funny and informative and enthusiastic. We took the full day course with market visit. We had breakfast at market, all kinds of tastes, snacks and a 5 course dinner and I think we probably drank close to a bottle apiece of great local wines. We are going to come back next year with our friends and do either the 3 or 4 day cooking tour or maybe even the week tour that would include the foodie towns of Parma, Modena and Ravenna.
I’d say going to CIBO was the highlight of our two week trip to Italy.