In the heart of Taormina, an extraordinary cooking experience is waiting for you to add flavour to your holiday.
Join the Traditional Sicilian Cooking Class, Arancino Making Class, Cannolo Making Class or Pizza Making Class.
Tourism, entertainment and food are two cornerstones of our country and we have put them together to offer you a unique and unforgettable experience.
Knead, get your hands dirty, cook something you have never cooked before, learn how to prepare the most typical dishes of our tradition, all their secrets, and e joy them in our in our beautiful location in the heart of Taormina.
Ours are not cooking courses, but travel experiences, emotions, fun and sensational tastes.
Learn a few typical Sicilian recipes, meat, fish and fresh pasta dishes starting with a visit to the local fish market with our chef.
Learn how to cook real Italian pizza, from dough to baking and… eat it!
Learn how to make the Sicilian cannolo, from the crispy shell to the sweet cream filling.
Learn how to cook Sicilian arancini, from the filling to the right cooking and the secrets of getting the perfect shape.
Our certified classes are suitable for both beginners and experts.
We can provide gluten-free and lactose intolerant, vegetarian, vegan, and other food restriction.
Our cooking courses are also suitable for children who will enjoy cooking together.
At the end of the course you will receive a free branded apron, certificate and a fantastic Sicilian recipe book.
Our cooking courses are a unique experience brought to you by thanks to experts in Sicilian cuisine who will be able to immerse you in the Sicilian culinary tradition with passion, expertise and enjoyment
Annette P2024-05-31100% Recommend this great experience! My partner and I took this class with Paolo as the instructor and we had a fantastic time! Paolo is very personable, knowledgeable, humorous and an overall fun person to be around. The whole restaurant staff were friendly as well and you can tell they are really a family in the way they interact. The ingredients we used were very fresh, set out neatly and Paolo was able to accommodate my partner’s vegan diet as well. The instruction was clear and simple and when I made a few errors, Paolo quickly and kindly helped me problem-solve. Once the food was done, we were given a generous pitcher of wine (included in the cost) and sat to eat our food in the beautiful setting of their restaurant Pirandello 2.0 (this class can take place at either Porta Messina Ristorante or down the street at Pirandello if the former is too busy.) There is a beautiful view of the sea at Pirandello 2.0 and while there, another customer came by to say their lunch was excellent as well. The final product—delicious!! I had arancini at another place earlier in the day that was good but these were VERY good. We were also given delicious and beautiful desserts (also included in the cost) so make sure to leave room for those! We also got to keep the aprons we used as a gift and received cute cerificates as well. To top it off, the recipe including photos was emailed to us afterwards and I actually feel like I can replicate this at home. I would 100% recommend this and would even come back for other classes if time allowed. Thank you to Paulo and all of his colleagues for a memorable experience!PAV2024-05-25Fantastic cooking class at Porta Messina! Thank you so much for a wonderful cooking class today! You were an excellent host and we had a great time. Thanks also for the recipes, and we also tried the ice cream you recommended, it was VERY good!!Brittany P2024-05-2110/10 pizza making class, thanks to Luca! This was an amazing experience! The resturant it was hosted in was beautiful, and our instructor Luca was so informative & patient. We did get stuck with a group that was very rude & made the experience a bit uncomfy, but that didn't ruin our fun! I would definitely do this again :)Alison R2024-05-15Cooking Sicilian What a fun time! We cooked, ate, cooked some more, and then ate some more. Frederick, our chef, was wonderful and patient with us as we learned to make pasta and pizza. The food was delicious and all the waiters were lovely. I highly recommend this activity. Just be sure to go hungry because there is lots of food to eat besides the pasta and pizza.Melissa S2024-04-3010/10 experience We did this as an activity during our honeymoon... we LOVED it. We met so many amazing people and the class was SO FUN. A must do for sure!laura_runs2622024-04-28Great private lesson to make arancini! I had an excellent arancino making class with Chef Luca! I was the only one who signed up for the particular evening, and I appreciate that they still held the class for me and didn't cancel it. I really enjoyed the 1:1 time with Chef Luca - he is knowledgeable, engaging and funny. The arancini he helped me make were terrific! My family is eagerly awaiting my trial runs when I get home. I got to eat the fruits of my labor, and it also came with wine, an apron, a diploma (LOVE IT!) and an apperatif and dessert. HIGHLY RECOMMEND!MissaNYC2024-04-11AMAZING! AMAZING! We went for a pizza-making class but also learned how to make pasta. We started with coffee, made pasta, had some wine and appetizers, and then made pizza. After we were done with cooking we sat to eat what we had made with some more wine. Paolo and Francesca were incredible chefs and made our experience so much fun. We would highly recommend it, as this was a highlight of our week in Sicily.carol b2024-04-07Wonderful cooking class experience We had a marvelous time doing the cooking with Lucca. He made the experience so much fun. We had great food and learned so much. I wish I could take lucca home with me to do it every night. Great fun was had by all.pamela y2024-04-03This is a must, loved it. From start to finish, this was incredible fun. All ages all abilities all appetites. This cookery course really catered to the customer and with a big heart. We were amazed at how much we learnt and how full we were when we ate what we had made (and it’s plentiful), plenty to drink and endless laughs. This is something you don’t want to miss. I would definitely recommend this to anyone and would definitely do this again. Our Chef Paolo you are the best, Thank you for a great day. XxMiku&Mussu2024-04-01Highlight of our trip to Taormina It was such an enjoyable and authentic experience to learn to make real Sicilian food in Sicily. Our instructor Luca was very kind and funny. He gave us very good and specific instructions on how to make Arancini. Then we had a dinner eating of our own self-made arancinis and riso al forno. It was such a great and fun evening. Don’t miss out on this experience when you visit Taormina!
Our courses take place in the heart of Taormina, in a place of extraordinary beauty where tradition and passion will enliven your holiday.
Find out more about our Restaurant Pizzeria Porta Messina.