The Awaiting Table - Italian cooking school
Register for classes here!
The Awaiting Table Class calendar
Contact Us

Aside from custom courses, we offer three course lengths, each designed to maximize your time in the Salento. Each has a different focus.

•Day Courses:
Day Courses are for those that are already in Lecce or regione Puglia for other reasons. Tuition covers coffee, trips to multiple markets, both lunch and dinner and all wines and hand-made liquers. What it does not cover is transportation of any kind, or lodging of any kind.
We’ll meet under the statue of Sant’ Oranzo at 10.a.m. and then start the day with coffee (and/or Granite) at Gracious Antonio’s. We’ll do an overview of the day, answering any questions you may have. We’ll head on to the market to meet our vendors, Simone our green grocer, Sandro our butcher, and on. We’ll head back to the school and make fresh pasta together in the stable kitchen, for both lunch and dinner. We’ll prepare lunch together, and depending on the season, either eat in the stable, the wine cellar or the garden. We’ll give you a break, for a nap back at your room and then meet in the main piazza for a talk about the duomo, Santa Croce and the city’s main square. We’ll head back to the school and prepare dinner, the excellent local wine flowing the entire time. We’ll decorate the wine cellar with a hundred brass candle sticks and really do up dinner, sitting down at around nine, but going late, probably after midnight. And then we’ll walk you back to your room.

•Weekend courses:
Begins on Friday afternoon and run until Monday morning. For those students arriving from Rome, we’ll meet you at the Lecce train station under the clock on Platform One at 2:08, the arrival time from Rome. We’ll check you into your apartment, give you a chance to freshen up and then collect you for a late lunch at the school, prepared by us. We’ll give you some down time in the late afternoon and then come together to prepare dinner together.

"Specializing in small, intimate hands-on classes based on personalised instruction and individual attention."


'The Awaiting Table Italian Cooking School offers cookery courses in Lecce, Italy.
Learn about our Italian cooking holidays which include market, winery and cultural visits as well as small group cooking classes in Italy'.

How to reserve a place
Intro to Puglia and Lecce
Locals you’ll meet
Overview of Awaiting Table
cooking classes in Italy

Housing for our Italian cooking classes
Frequently Asked Questions
Instructor Biographies
Comments from previous students
Discount flights from London
and other helpful travel info

Photo gallery

On Saturday we’ll meet you under the statue of Sant’Oranzo and have coffee together at Gracious Antonio’s. We’ll head for the market to meet the vendors, students and staff engaging in discussions on the local produce, products and cooking methods. We’ll head back to the school to make fresh pasta, both for lunch and dinner. We’ll prepare lunch together, the students cooking, guided by the staff. We’ll have lunch in the garden, weather permitting, then break for a siesta, coming back together in the late afternoon. We’ll meet under the statue again, taking a walk around town, taking in the architecture that has made Lecce so famous. We’ll return to the stable kitchen and prepare a great dinner together, going late into the evening.

Sunday we’ll start late, giving you some of the morning to customize to fit your individual needs. We’ll have one of those famous Italian Sunday Lunches, with all the courses, just as it is consumed all up and down the peninsula. We’ll give you a break, then come back together to create a great send up dinner. We’ll open some special wine, decorate the school with a hundred candles and do our best to see that your head hurts on Monday morning. We’ll drop you at the station on Monday, ready to head to your next destination.

•Weeklong course: Full details are on our cooking class vacation page.

•For students flying into Brindisi. What with the VERY cheap flights into the area from London or other destinations throughout continental Europe (link to FAQ description), we also have many of our students arrive via nearby Brindisi. If you are flying into Brindisi, please contact us and we will make arrangements with you.The shuttle (13 Euro) or a cab (around 60) into Lecce is popular.

Previous Page

Reserve a place now Mail List
The Awaiting Table Italian Cooking School offers cookery courses in Lecce, Italy. In our Italian cooking classes, learn regional pasta, wine, and savory and succulent dishes. Come be a local: holidays include visits to vineyards and wineries, markets and olive groves in season. The perfect vacation for people who want to be immersed in Italian culture and food.
Learn about our cooking school programs, our founder, the locals you’ll meet and our accommodations.

© 2011 The Awaiting Table - All Rights Reserved