Cooking Class - Italian Desserts in East Bay

Spending time with Chef Donna is like cooking with a relative, in the best possible way. She's kind, cheerful, sweet and has a life-time of experience cooking! From teaching classes, to working in restaurants to living in Italy-- "Nonna Donna" has a wealth of knowledge under her chef's belt. Especially when it comes to pasta! I was amazed at how she showed me how to transform flour, eggs and a little olive oil into delicious Fettuccine with Alfredo Sauce and rolled out Raviolis stuffed with Butternut Squash and Brown Sage Butter. AMAZING! The pasta itself was so good, it almost doesn't need any sauce! Don't miss some of her desserts too! Torta Caprese or Apple Crostata-- both of these sweet delights are spectacular! If you've always wanted to learn Italian cooking from a "nonna," look no further than Chef Donna!

Me and my girlfriend showed up to Chef Noona home on July 6th at noon. She greeted us with the biggest smile, it was very welcoming. The menu was fettuccine Pasta with Alfredo sauce and a mixed green salad with vinaigrette. The dessert was a Apple Crostata Once in the home we were provided a recipe list of what we were going to cook. Chef Noona sat us down and carefully went over the whole recipe sheet detailing the reasons and science of the ingredients. This made me feel very comfortable and helped me understand more about certain ingredients. The hardest part about the meal to us was creating the dough, but Chef Noona helped us tremendously and showed genuine patience. I really enjoyed the experience and will recommend her to anyone! Thanks again Chef Noona, we will be back.

Great experience. Chef Gonna knows her pasta and shares wonderful techniques adaptable to cooks at different levels. We thoroughly enjoyed our leftovers!

Chef nonna was fantastic. We started with making the dough for the apple galette. She asked if we wanted to either use a manual pastry blender or food processor to mix the dough. After mixing the dough and assembling the apples we baked the galette. Next on the menu was making the pasta, she had us divide the ingredients so that we each would make our own dough. With just flour an egg and some water, we kneed our own personal ball of dough before using the pasta machine to roll out our dough to fettuccine. We asked for a lactose free alfredo sauce, she taught us a recipe using two types of nuts, soy milk and nutritional yeast. After assembling the salad, cooking the pasta and adding the ‘lactose free’ alfredo sauce we ate our yummy meal and finished with the apple galette. The pasta and galette took much longer then Chef Nonna anticipated, we never felt rushed and she still allowed time for us to enjoy our meal.

Every dessert I've tasted from Chef Donna's hands was absolutely perfect. She pays close attention to presentation and flavors, textures and all around goodness. Yum. My personal favorite so far is the chocolate almond tart.

Having experienced the wide ranging pallet of Chef Donna's creations over many years, I can attest to the the determined and thoughtful research that culminates in the most delightful pastries, cakes, chocolates. Her many sugar free and gluten free epicurean creations are the epitome of naturally delicious, health centric foods. Chef Donna studied in Florence for 5 years at several prestigious culinary arts academies and has prepared exclusive menu items for well known restaurants in northern California.

I have known Chef Donna for many years. She’s a fantastic cook, with a vast knowledge base. She has a relaxed style combined with precision, and is a kind and patient teacher. Do a Cozymeal with her, and you won’t regret it! It’ll be fun, and food will be delicious!