Chef Paolo Monti

Come for the cooking, stay for the show! Chef Monti is not only a great teacher, he’s also hysterical. His jokes are terrible, politically incorrect and laugh-​out-​loud funny! The classroom is very intimate and from the first minute you are working hands-​on: measuring, weighing, slicing, chopping, kneading, etc. I took the pizza, focaccia and bread class, and although I’ve been making bread for 20 years, I learned many new tricks – including how to toss pizza dough and more importantly, how to catch it again! His approach is very easy to follow and his methods stress «how things should feel» rather than relying on slavish devotion to recipes. The school is attached to a working restaurant in the Carignano Hotel in the outskirts of Lucca. He offers six, four-​hour courses and many people stay in the hotel and make these cooking classes a destination vacation. I was very entertained.