Noblewoman Violante Guerrieri Gonzaga offers exclusive rooftop cooking class experiences in a historic family palazzo in the center of Rome with incredible views of the city. She has a luxury Italian tableware line (designed and painted by Violante) and a recipe and lifestyle book now in its second printing, full of great recipes and photographs. Not to mention the wonderful northern Italian family wines that are served during her cooking classes – also available for purchase. In this episode Violante and I talked all about her classes, her cookbook, the wine and her extremely successful line of tableware.
About Violante
Violante comes from an Italian noble family that dates back centuries. The family owns homes and palazzi throughout Italy, but Violante considers her mother’s family palazzo, Palazzo Taverna in Rome, to be her home. Violante has two young adult children and her daughter, now in her early 20s, works alongside Violante helping with her culinary and online business. Since the outbreak of COVID-19 both children live at home in the exquisite Palazzo Taverna.
The Palazzo Taverna is located right in the very heart of Rome and each of its numerous terraces has a spectacular view of the city and its many tiled rooftops and cupole including Saint Peter’s Dome. When you’re with Violante you can enjoy all of these magnificent views.
Exclusive Rome rooftop cooking experience with Vios Cooking
A cooking class with Violante is much more than a cooking class. It’s a unique cooking class experience that starts with a market visit to buy ingredients for the class. Violante then takes her clients back to the exquisite Palazzo Taverna where not only do you learn some unique recipes that stem from Violante’s rich culinary heritage, but you can also marvel at the breathtaking and unparalleled views of the city of Rome from her various terraces.
When you sit down to enjoy the food you’ve prepared in the cooking class it’s served on Violante’s unique tableware that she has designed and painted. The meal is accompanied by family wines from the Guerrieri Gonzaga northern Italian wine estate, San Leonardo.
The San Leonardo Winery
The San Leonardo Estate has been in the family for centuries.
The San Leonardo estate has been the residence of the Marchesi Guerrieri Gonzaga family for three centuries, but the estate dates back 1000 years to when it was a monastery. It’s located in the north of Italy nearby Lake Garda and not far from the Alps in the Trentino-Alto Adige region. Violante’s father, Carlo, was the first top level wine maker on the estate and now his passion and dedication for winemaking has passed to his son, Violante’s brother, Anselmo.
The estate is made up of 25 hectares and since 2015 the estate’s winemaking is organic. San Leonardo produces over 300,000 bottles annually. Their wines include Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. When you participate in Violante’s cooking class plan on tasting some of the San Leonardo wonderful wines.
Luxury Italian tableware created by Violante
About a year ago Violante launched her online shop so now her beautifully designed tableware and table accessories are available to everyone. This side of the business exploded during the coronavirus lockdown as it afforded Violante more time to dedicate to painting and executing her lovely tableware designs. The online store ships worldwide and in the coming days her line of holiday tableware designs will be available.
Vios Cooking an Italian Lifestyle
Violante’s book was published two years ago and it’s now in its second printing. It’s available through Violante’s online shop and features not just her recipes but also delves into Violante’s lifestyle along with gorgeous photographs of her tableware and table settings.
Find Violante on Instagram and her website, and of course through her online shop.
The historic Palazzo Taverna in the center of Rome
The Palazzo Taverna is one of a group of magnificent palazzi that participates each year in the “Open Courtyards” – Dimore Storiche – program for several days in the spring. For these few days the doors to some of Rome’s most gorgeous courtyards open up to the public so they can look inside and enjoy the beauty of these historic palazzi, their fountains and magnificent architecture.
The Palazzo Taverna, originally known as Monte Giordano, is made up of five separate, but joined, architectural structures. The corinthian capitals in the courtyard are lovely and are decorated with floral motifs and emblems that include the Orsini family rose. In the courtyard gardens there’s a central fountain designed by Antonio Casoni, a 16th century architect and sculptor.
Enjoy some of these other special cooking class experiences throughout Italy.
Leonardo da Vinci had his own winery which has recently been restored. You can now visit this historic winery and purchase the wine.
Here’s a virtual tour of another wonderful Roman palazzo, the Palazzo Caetani.
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