Tentacles!

A hands-on cooking class culminating in dinner served with wine.

When cooked correctly, tentacled sea creatures make food lovers swoon with joy. Luckily, we have Viola Buitoni to show us the unique and skillful ways Italians approach (and eat!) octopus and calamari.

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Polpo alla Luciana - Slow braised clay pot octopus
Pasta all’uovo con sugo di calamari e pistacchi - Egg noodles with calamari and pistachio sugo
Calamari fritti - Fried calamari
Calamari in insalata - Calamari salad
Calamari al forno - Baked calamari
Seppie ripiene - Stuffed squid 

Viola Buitoni, a direct descendant of the famed pasta and chocolate family, hails from Perugia, in the heart of Umbria. She came to the US in 1985 for a business degree, but soon after graduation found herself drawn back into the genetic passion for food. In New York City she started Buitoni & Garretti, a catering kitchen and Italian fine foods shop. Here in San Francisco Viola can be found giving lectures on Italian food traditions and trends and cooking classes in collaboration with the SF Italian Cultural Institute and Italian Consulate. She also teaches "The Italian Kitchen", a monthly workshop at the Cavallo Point Lodge Cooking School; and an ongoing series of food articles and cooking videos for MissionLocal.org, a UC Berkeley's School of Journalism blog based in San Francisco's Mission District where Viola lives.