Shilpa
Shilpa will infuse you with her love of great ingredients and tasty, simple dishes, and will open the doors to the beautiful organic farms in the area.
All her spare time when she was in her teens was spent working and learning to cook at Casa Nostra, a family-run gourmet Italian restaurant in Oxfordshire. After obtaining a degree in French and Italian language, literature and culture from the University of Cambridge, and living in Italy, in both Florence and Rome, she moved to Barcelona, Spain, where she worked as a chef at Sesamo, an Italian-owned vegetarian organic restaurant, and then set up her own successful restaurant, Mosquito.
When their daughter Luisa arrived, she and Riccardo moved back to Italy to start Organic Tuscany. She is a member of the Slow Food association.

Chiara
Your guide to Siena
Chiara is native Sienese and has a degree in foreign languages and literature. She loves to talk, and to infect the people listening to her with her enthusiasm for her city. She loves to make them laugh, make them curious about the things they see with her and to hear that irrepressible "ooooh" when they see Piazza del Campo for the first time.
She says "I love my city and I love people. What better job than to be a guide?!"

Michael
Your guide to Florence
Michael came to Florence many years ago and instantly fell in love with this enchanting city. He has been eagerly learning about its history and its culture ever since.
When you have him as your guide, he'll share his wide knowledge with you by pointing out hidden details and telling you the stories behind the stones - making for a richly informative and entertaining experience.
He thinks it is a privilege to walk the streets that Michelangelo walked and with just a little imagination, see them as Michelangelo saw them. He'll help you to do just that!

Riccardo
Riccardo was born in Florence and studied graphic design and history of art at the Istituto d'Arte and at the University of Florence. He works in graphic design, a job which took him to live ten years in New York, three more in Rome and one year in Barcelona, before returning to Italy with his family to help set up Organic Tuscany. He has always been an excellent cook and is passionate about Tuscan food and wine.


Manuela
Our Chef
Manuela is a Tuscan mother of two teenage girls, and is from Impruneta in the heart of the Chianti. She will teach you how to make her melt-in-the-mouth sformati (vegetable flan-like souffles), aubergine croquettes (to die for!), and her amazing Torta della Nonna. As well as having a solid base in traditional Tuscan cuisine, Manuela enjoys adding her own twists to classic dishes (such as adding a few coriander seeds to her fresh basil pesto sauce - try it and see!)

Tina
Cooking instructor
Tina has been teaching Italian Cinema for over 17 years in American Universities in Florence. For several years she worked in San Francisco as a Film Editor for Francis Ford Coppola. Now she lives in the countryside in Tuscany and loves it. Recently she has decided to share some of her family's Tuscan cooking secrets (such as her father Mario's amazing chicken cacciatora recipe...)

Cristina
Wine expert
Cristina is originally from Rome and has a background in journalism. She is a certified sommelier and olive oil expert, and will open up the world of Tuscan wines for you, from the basics to the complexities. People always comment on her warm manner and lighthearted, relaxed approach to a subject that is easy to find mystifying.