Via Traveling Spoon, my husband and I went to Roustika, Crete, Greece for a four hour cooking class with Ozlem. Our focus was on Turkish and Creten foods. Ozlem and her husband, Demitris, were both charming and funny. We had a great, and beautiful, drive through the mountains to their home, and then back to our hotel in Chora Sfakia.

This was a fabulous experience, such fun and such a wonderful couple. The food we made was fabulous, Tzatziki, Eggplant salad, Baked Feta, Lamb kebab, prawns with sweet chili sauce, Swiss chard, and creamy Greek yoghurt with apricots….also a cocktail with Martina, made with resin…. I am traveling by my self and they did not act like this was at all unusual…so if you are a solo traveler you’ll be made to feel so welcome. And it is so nice to actually visits someone’s home.

we went to the home of a lifelong Athenian resident and her partner where they prepared, quite possibly the best meal we have enjoyed together during our holiday … and we have eaten very well. Maria is a “home cooker” not a “chef” but one of the most well-traveled persons I have met - funny, hospitable, unassuming and so gracious welcoming us into her home. She is sharing recipes, but I gotta tell you … without the local ingredients - not sure we can recreate any of them in FL or MD. After our meal, they sat down and shared stories and laughs with us! If you have never booked with Traveling Spoon before, I would highly recommend you check them out! As for our menu … 😱 … delectable! The entree came from the butcher - an ordered delicacy from the island of Naxos … Naxos is famous for its high-quality meat from free-roaming animals … yes, we ate goat! 🐐 And it was good! Accommodations were made for our friend who enjoyed a vegetarian meal - all sourced from the neighborhood farmer’s market. The olive oil comes from a friend’s local farm where Maria helps to pick the olives and is paid in oil to use at home.

On the island of Corfu is a place about 20 minutes from the port that'll knock your socks off with delicious Corfiot food served under a grape arbor. Vasiliki, educated in the US and employed there for 25 years, returned home to Corfu to re-discover the best of its culinary history and make it available to us travelers. Absolutely scrumptious! She offers cooking classes or just a meal. Hard for eight of us to make our minds up, she offered tastings of most of her menu which we shared. Beautiful day, awesome hospitality. Did I mention the great wine yet? Our ship docked on Corfu on a Saturday, a day she normally takes off, but she graciously agreed to open for us when asked through Traveling Spoon. Probably wouldn't have happened without them.

Our afternoon with Mary was far beyond anything we expected — truly one of the highlights of our entire trip. Mary is a very special person: kind, genuine, and a wonderful host. From the moment she contacted us before the class, she made sure we had all the details we needed to find her home and feel comfortable. Her house itself is beautiful — perched on a scenic cliffside with amazing views — and immediately felt warm and welcoming. She greeted us outside with a big smile, and as my mother said later, “it couldn’t have been a better day.” We started with tea and conversation on her patio, followed by preparing local appetizers (with a little raki, of course!) before moving on to the main meal. The dishes were simple, traditional, and deeply flavorful — but what made it so special was Mary’s passion for Cretan cooking and her deep knowledge of its history and traditions. This isn’t a “restaurant-style” experience. It’s much more personal and real — an afternoon in the home of someone who opens her life to complete strangers and treats them like family. It’s rare to find something this honest and heartfelt anywhere, and we left feeling incredibly grateful. If you’re looking for a genuine local experience — not commercial, not polished for tourists, but warm, intimate, and full of meaning — you won’t find anything better than spending an afternoon with Mary.

Ionna was so welcoming when we arrived. She offered us a delicious herbal tea and engaged us in conversation to get to know us. She was very accommodating for our Gluten free companion. She showed us how to cook the dishes as well as explaining the ingredients we were using. We had a delicious 3 course meal with 3 appetizers, a main dish and dessert. She had wine to go with the dinner. We felt like friends by the end of the meal. She even told us which islands to find some of the ingredients that she used and we searched for them on our cruise so we can recreate the recipes. We highly recommend booking with her.

This was the highlight of our trip to Greece! Katerina welcomed us into her home like we were family. She showed us how to prepare several traditional Grecian dishes that were just amazing. As a travel advisor, I have had many incredible experiences throughout our beautiful world and this private cooking class is among the most memorable.

Oh my God! This was by far the most fun I have had in Athens. Christina taught my husband and I (and 3 others in our group) how to prepare authentic Greek phyllo dough from scratch in her kitchen. She will teach you to make the ubiquitous flaky Greek dough - starting with flour and water! - and together you will prepare a traditional pie. She will teach you, step by step, how to make the pie filling using seasonal ingredients like wild spinach and other greens and a variety of fresh cheeses (you might mix the filling in the sink since it is her biggest receptacle!). You mix the dough, learn to roll it into paper-thin sheets on her dining table, and layer the pie with the filling. She will show you how to carefully lay the delicate sheets of phyllo in the pan, which results in a light, crispy pie.