Sep 10, 2025
Perfect. - Yesterday we took a tour of the Ortigia market with tastings of all kinds and then a cooking class with Ettore. It was not our first and certainly not the last course with him! Ettore has an incredibly warm manner and makes walking around the market an experience in itself! The next cooking class takes place in special places. Groups are not large, which makes it very personal and relaxed. Between glasses of white wine, we sometimes even sang while cooking. Thank you Ettore!!! Nino and mart
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Aug 19, 2025
Super fun easy and delicious!! - We were a group of 8. This was a great way to spend our time in Sicily. We only have a short period to do something. We thought about just trying the local cuisine. But thought this would be fun too. The class was fun and informative With their help we made some very delicious traditional Italian cuisine.. it was so yet delicious. I would recommend this and do it again if we come back.
Review provided by Viator
Aug 18, 2025
Making great food at Hector’s - Had a lovely afternoon cooking with Hector. He is very pleasant and kind. There was a mixup with the meeting location—but that was the only hiccup (his new assistant put in an incorrect address to meet). Hector drove us to his home just outside of downtown Siracusa (near the Greek Theatre). He showed us how to make arancinos (rice balls the size of tennis balls stuffed with yumminess—ours had pistachio and mozzarella). Very good!! We made about 10 and ate a few, but could not take them all as we were on a cruise. Worth doing with Hector if you are in Siracusa, Sicily! Gratsi, Hector!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Mar 6, 2024
It was super delicious and relaxing. - Ettore was very nice and funny. We were first shown around the market and were able to choose what we wanted to use to make the arancini.
After a quick stop at a local restaurant, our hunger was already satisfied and we were able to get to work in the workshop.
Everything was super delicious!
Thank you
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jul 12, 2023
A lovely afternoon - Chef Ettore was kind, funny, and knowledgeable! We had a great time walking through the market place. The food we created was marvelous! The chef made sure to review the steps with us so that we would be able to recreate the dish at home. I would recommend this cooking experience.
Review provided by Viator
May 21, 2023
Cooking in rainy weather - We booked a cooking class through Empeeria and it was the best bad weather alternative! Ernesto told us a lot of his tricks and we got to try everything. Cooking Arancini yourself was also a lot of fun!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jul 28, 2019
Excellent! - When I went to book this tour by SiciLife I was really disappointed to be told that the tour was booked out for several days. So I was very happily surprised when they contacted me to tell me they were putting on an extra tour. I was both surprised and grateful when I discovered that they had organised this extra tour for just two people, myself and an Italian lady. So we had pretty much a private tour for only €25. Paulo, the guide, was excellent and really nice and as the other person was Italian and I speak Italian, we proceeded in Italian. However, Paulo had excellent English and was fully prepared to give a bilingual tour. So fair play! The tour itself was really interesting and covered all the important points and was a great way to get your bearings on this tiny but exquisite island. Most enjoyable and huge thanks to SiciLife!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Sep 3, 2020
tour of Ortigia - I was with friends in Syracuse, last weekend and we booked a guided tour of Ortigia. It was a pleasure to be accompanied by Antonella: the love for her city and the passion for her work made the experience really interesting. Recommended!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Aug 15, 2019
Great walk in Ortigia - On the occasion of our visit to Syracuse we took advantage of a guided tour to tour Ortigia. Excellent tour and excellent guide Giuseppe who accompanied us throughout the route.
Turning through the alleys of Ortigia has enriched the charm that this area of Syracuse already offers us tourists.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Oct 3, 2023
Misleading Company That Switches Tours and Does Not Tell You - I would never book with Empeeria again. If you are going to book the tour, use another provider. They wrote me a message shortly before the tour asking if I could move it to another date. I told them that we were only available for the original date we booked, and they said no problem. When we arrived, the tour was changed to one that would take 2 hours longer and was not what we booked. This is the reason they wanted us to change the date, but they never told us that. As a result, we did not get the tour we paid for. I wrote them after and they did not accept responsibility for changing the tour.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
