$95 PER PERSON
	Pay now with PayPal

Judy Witts Francini – teaches Italian cooking in the quaint village of Colle Val d’ Elsa, in Tuscany, in her cheery second floor cooking school overlooking a narrow street which borders a bustling town square. Market tours to picturesque settings in the surrounding regions of Florence and Chianti are mandatory destinations for anyone who signs up for Judy’s classes with stops in neighboring villages to greet and meet famous butchers, cheesemakers, restaurant owners, and specialty vendors of wine, olive oil, truffles, and other products of the region. Everyone knows Judy!

Originally from Walnut Creek, California Judy initially worked as a pastry chef at the Stanford Court Hotel in San Francisco and one day in 1988 left the Bay Area to explore Florence, Italy and never looked back. Captivated by the culture and beauty of this old city (and her taxi driver), she began a whole new life of learning about Italian food, teaching cooking and embracing a new culture. She has resided and worked in Tuscany with her husband, Andrea (who was her taxi driver!) for over 25 years. She is a culinary expert in all respects and has a vast knowledge of local cuisine. She is a treasure trove of information, a delight to know, and is adored by her students for her contagious laugh, limitless generosity of spirit and local knowledge as well as her inspirational cooking skills.

Terry's culinary passion and profession spans several decades of education and work, but was propelled when she went to the French countryside of the Loire Valley and the Poitou-Charente to study with the late Chef Robert Reynolds of Le Trou Restaurant in San Francisco. After returning home to the Bay Area she received her degree in pastry and baking at the California Culinary Academy and returned to France again for an internship in pastry at Le Petit Prince in Sorgues, a small village near the famous wine region of Chateauneuf de Pape. Later she returned to Provence again to work at Chateau Routas for a summer as chef-manager of the sprawling vineyard and estate.

Terry became pastry chef for Postino Restaurant in Lafayette after training at Tra Vigne in the Napa Valley under Chefs Michael Chiarello and Cat Cora, both currently with the Food Network. She eventually parted from restaurant work to pursue her love of cooking in France and Italy as well as a career in culinary education, and recipe testing for chef-authors. She contributed to the celebrated Dean and Deluca Food and Wine Cookbook for author Jeff Morgan and worked with Chef Cat Cora on two cookbooks, Cat Cora’s Kitchen and Cooking from the Hip, among other projects.

At her spacious home-based cooking school, In Terry’s Kitchen, situated on a hilltop in Lafayette, California, Terry’s skillfully designed kitchen overlooks low lying hills studded with California Oak Trees, a large patio with an Italian forno, and a beautifully terraced seasonal “potager” (also home to six beautiful hens who provide fresh eggs), and is a destination for any cook at any level. Her cooking classes reveal a passion and devotion to cooking, traveling and teaching and inspire students to utilize the vast array of local and seasonal ingredients available to them in the Bay Area, and also echo the influences of the colorful cultures and cuisines of the places Terry has cooked-- Mediterranean France, Italy, Spain, Morocco and Mexico.

She is a long-time and active member of the International Association of Culinary Professionals and The San Francisco Professional Food Society.