What is a cooking class in Rome, and what makes it different from others?
The cooking class in Rome It can mean everything or nothing. There are courses held in fully equipped kitchens with no history, featuring chefs who explain things in front of a camera.
There are experiences designed for tourists, where you chop some vegetables and eat a meal prepared by someone else.
Mani in Pasta is something else entirely.
It’s a Roman cooking workshop held in a real osteria—the very kitchen where the dishes on the menu are prepared every day. You’ll work with the same ingredients and techniques, alongside the people who actually run the kitchen.
Pasta-making class in Rome: what you'll learn with Mani in Pasta
The Pasta-making class in Rome “Mani in Pasta” has a specific goal: to learn how to make fresh Roman pasta from start to finish.
You don’t watch videos. You don’t follow a printed recipe. You knead, roll out, and cut. You make mistakes, try again, and figure out why.
What you'll learn:
- The dough — flour, eggs, proportions. How to tell when it’s ready without weighing it
- Rest — Why does dough need to rest, and what happens if it doesn't?
- The pastry — how to roll it out, how thin, and when it’s even enough
- Formats — Tonnarello for cacio e pepe, fettuccine for meat sauce, ravioli for stuffed pasta
- The dressing — Cacio e pepe, Grandma’s meat sauce, butter and sage. How to make smooth pecorino cream
If you want to better understand the difference between fresh pasta and store-bought pasta before you come, read the our article on handmade pasta in Rome.
Roman Cooking Classes: From Theory to Hands-On Experience
The Roman cooking classes At Mani in Pasta, we don't start with theory. We start with action.
The moment you first get your hands into the dough, you realize something that no explanation could have told you: fresh pasta has a distinct texture, a recognizable firmness, and a way of responding to your hands that you can only learn by doing it.
Roman cuisine is a hands-on tradition—passed down orally, learned by watching, and perfected with your hands. Mani in Pasta operates on this principle: we explain little, do a lot, and eat what we’ve made.
Learning Italian cuisine in Rome: why context matters
Learn Italian cooking in Rome. It’s not the same as learning it somewhere else, even if the recipe is the same.
Context makes all the difference. When you make cacio e pepe in the same kitchen where it’s prepared daily for the tavern’s customers, using the same “SEPI” Pecorino Romano DOP and the same homemade egg tonnarello, you’re learning the original version.
Not a version tailored for tourists.
Rome is the birthplace of carbonara, cacio e pepe, gricia, and amatriciana. Learning how to make them here, from the people who cook them every day, is a whole different experience.
Mani in Pasta Rome: How It Works and What's Included
Mani in Pasta is the cooking workshop of theAntica Osteria of Rome.
It takes place in the restaurant kitchen, in a small group, with personalized attention.
What's included:
- Preparing the dough for fresh egg pasta
- Rolling out the dough and cutting it into shapes
- Preparation of one or more traditional Roman condiments
- Tasting of the food that was prepared
- Castelli wine included
The experience lasts about two and a half hours. You actually get to work—you don’t just watch.
All the details, available dates, and booking instructions can be found on the page Mani in Pasta
Where we are: Rome’s historic center, just a short walk from Campo de’ Fiori
The Antica Osteria di Roma is located at Corso Vittorio Emanuele II, 258, in Piazza della Chiesa Nuova, in the Parione district.
We're in the historic center—two minutes from Campo de' Fiori, five from Piazza Navona, and ten from the Pantheon. Easily accessible from anywhere in the city center.
Open daily from 11:00 to 22:00.
