Destinations / JOURNEY
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Francisco, Francini worked as a pastry chef in one of the
city’s five-star hotels. In 1984, she decided she needed to
travel and booked a flight to Florence. Italian food’s heady
flavors and aromas can be intoxicating, making a diner
nearly swoon. And swoon Francini did, canceling her
return ticket to continue immersing herself in Italy’s food
scene. Turns out, it was her calling.
Unable to afford pricey weeklong cooking classes,
Francini chose a one-day market-to-table program,
focused on the Florence farmers’ market. “To me the
market is the heart of the city,” she notes, “and an insider’s
glimpse of everyday life as well,” Since 1988, Francini, now
known as the Divina Cucina, has invited visitors along for
the ride in culinary classes and tours; the program has
evolved into a three-hour market tour with lunch. “We
charge our batteries by hitting one of my favorite baker-
ies for Torta Fedora, a long-lost dessert I adore,” Francini
says, “or we stop across the street at Casa del Vino for
Prosecco and a truffle sandwich.”
The main event occurs at the historic Mercato Centrale
in San Lorenzo. On the itinerary are wine and truffle tast-
ings, plus plenty of stories from local merchants. As her
Florence Market Tour no longer includes a cooking compo-
nent, lunch is upstairs in the market’s gourmet food court.
Attendees renting a villa with a good kitchen, though, can
book onsite lessons with Francini.
Students inspired by the Florence Market Tour can
keep exploring Italian cooking by partaking in Francini’s
Divine Days, a custom one-day or one-week program,
or her weeklong Kitchens of Chianti or Secrets of My
Sicilian Kitchen. In the Chianti wine region, three days
are set aside for cooking, with the rest of the week devoted
to activities like truffle hunting, exploring the Certaldo
Market and savoring meals in restaurants in Greve,
Panzano and Castellina.
Secrets of My Sicilian Kitchen transports attendees to a
seaside locale replete with sleepy romance and tantalizing
fare. “In Sicily,” Francini says, “you can find some of the best
Greek ruins, Spanish-style chocolate and the noble cuisine
of the Monzu, inspired by the French chefs, and Tunisian
couscous.” With Sicily’s southwest coast as a springboard,
the tour includes visits to Castelvetrano, Porto Palo, Sciacca,
Selinunte, Trapani and Palermo, with four days spent cooking meals inspired by the region. divinacucina.com
Spicy in Thailand
At sunrise, monks bestow blessings on the Four Seasons
Resort Chiang Mai. This sacred act seems apropos, as the
resort’s cuisine is widely considered a spiritual experi-
ence. Enter the Rim Thai Kitchen Cooking Studio and its
range of classes. “The school’s reputation precedes it,”
Melanie Terrell, a Daly City resident, says. “I based my
first visit to Thailand on getting behind Four Seasons
Chiang Mai’s stove.”
Rim Thai’s morning classes, whether for groups
or one on one, begin at the local food market. A two-
hour ingredient treasure hunt commences, along with
taste-testing new discoveries, like thousand-year duck
eggs, which reveal tasty black orbs when peeled. Then,
their baskets brimming with organic bounty, chefs-in-
training head back to the school for signature programs
like Thai Street Food Delights, Mastering Thai Curries,
Thailand Lanna Cooking, Culinary Tour of Thailand and
Healthy Siam Cuisine.
Enrollees tackle set menus that change according to the
day. On tap for Fridays is som tum, a spicy green papaya
salad, tom zaab moo, a northeastern-style spicy pork soup,
phad kaprow gai, a minced chicken stir-fry with hot basil,
and phad see ew goong, stir-fried rice ribbon noodles
with prawns and soy sauce. Knife skills are put to the test
This page: The main
event at Mercato
Centrale. Opposite
from top: Learning
to cook at the
Four Seasons; Rim Thai
Kitchen Cooking Studio.
