Who is Paola

I am Paola Tassi. I am a sfoglina: in Bologna that is a job with a name of its own, the person who rolls out the sfoglia, the sheet of egg pasta made by hand with a rolling pin. More than 500 people, from over 30 countries, have cooked at this table.

You are probably reading this because you are about to pay in advance and walk into the house of someone you have never met. Wanting to know who I am first seems fair to me. So, here I am.

Paola teaching how to roll the sfoglia by hand with a rolling pin, in her own home kitchen in Bologna

What my hands do, and what yours will do

Flour and eggs on the wooden board, the well in the middle, the rolling pin. The sheet turned and turned again until the light comes through it. Then tagliatelle cut by hand, tortelloni folded one by one, and tiramisù. I work next to you, I do not do it for you: in two hours you make the pasta, you do not watch me make it. Then we sit down and eat what we made, with wine. Ten guests at most, never eleven, and the ten seats are booked one at a time: you may well be at the table with other guests you have not met.

Paola hands on the rolling pin as she rolls the sfoglia on the wooden board, wearing the Paola Kitchen apron

Where it happens

In my house in Bologna, in the kitchen I cook in every day. The exact address is in the email you get the moment you book, and the directions arrive a couple of days before the class. It is not on the website on purpose: this is where I live, and I would rather not have the street written on the internet. If there is something you need to know before you pay, write to me from the contact page.

This is the table where we sit down to eat what you made, and in summer we eat in the garden.

The dining room in Paola home laid for the class: round table, teal plates, wine glasses and orchids on the windowsill

The garden at Paola home with the table laid on the wooden deck, where the meal is served in summer

A home kitchen, and a certified one

My kitchen is HACCP certified: the food hygiene standard professional kitchens work to, applied here, in a private home. Home does not mean improvised. The pans are mine and the table is mine, but the certification is the one a professional kitchen is held to.

I teach in Italian, English and French

All three myself, with no interpreter in the room. You ask me, I answer you, while our hands keep working.

Guests have been writing about this for years

I have been a host on Cesarine since 2018: 212 reviews of my classes there, rated 5.0. On Traveling Spoon I have been hosting since 2017: 30 reviews of my classes there, rated 5.0. There are reviews of my classes on TripAdvisor too. On Google I have 12 reviews, 5.0. Every one of those reviews is from someone who cooked in this kitchen, whatever they booked.

Before you decide

  • €129 per person, everything included: the welcome aperitivo, the apron and the tools, the ingredients, the pasta you made served at the table, the wine, the tiramisù, and the recipe to take home.
  • Two hours, 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM Bologna time: that is the time of every date on the calendar.
  • Ten guests maximum.
  • Free cancellation up to 24 hours before, refunded in full. Inside 24 hours I cannot refund, but I can move you to another date that is still open.
  • Vegetarian, vegan, intolerances: tell me when you book, or reply to your confirmation email, and I change the menu for you. If you have a serious allergy, write to me before you book: I will tell you honestly what I can do in a kitchen where the flour is in the air, and what I cannot.

The dates are here: See the dates and book →. Ten places on each afternoon, and ten they stay.

Paola