Cib’Aria, where the world meets at the table: one of Florence’s loveliest projects about food and togetherness
Florence has no shortage of places to eat well. Restaurants, trattorias, bistros, new spots opening and fresh food concepts waiting to be discovered. But how many places are there where food truly becomes a chance to meet people we don’t know, listen to stories far from our own and maybe head home with a new friend?
That is exactly the strength of Cib’Aria, a project that chose the kitchen as its starting point for building relationships, bringing cultures closer together and putting the simple pleasure of being together back at the center.
Run by Elena and Federica, the initiative has just unveiled its new calendar for the 2026/2027 season. It is a culinary and cultural journey that crosses Lebanon, Southern Italy, India, Sweden and the island of Ponza, without ever leaving Florence.
The format is simple and, precisely for that reason, remarkably effective: you start by preparing the dishes, move on to a shared dinner and then make room for stories, readings, music, games and conversation.
In our view, Cib’Aria is one of the most interesting projects in the city today when it comes to food and community. Because it gives food a role we often forget: bringing people together.
Cooking together to really get to know each other
The most interesting thing about Cib’Aria is its choice to get participants directly involved.
You don’t just sit down at the table and taste a cuisine different from your own. You take part in the cooking, discover ingredients and recipes, and listen to the people who know those traditions and carry them with them.
It is a hands-on way to get closer to other cultures. A recipe can tell the story of a family, a childhood, a journey or a migration. An ingredient can become the starting point for talking about a country, its history and the people who live there.
Cib’Aria builds its events around exactly this side of food, adding other languages to the cooking: poetry, music, literature and play.
The result stands apart from the usual tastings and cooking classes. The value of the experience lies not only in what you learn to make, but in the conversations and connections that spring up over the evening.
In a city like Florence, where the food scene is vast but opportunities to meet people are not always as easy to come by, initiatives like this carry a special meaning.
From Lebanon to India: the 2026/2027 calendar
The new program kicks off on Saturday, October 24 and runs through January 2027, with six events devoted to different food traditions, stories and cultures.
October 24 – Lebanon: mezze, poetry and backgammon
The first evening is dedicated to Lebanon, with Mona Fayad and May Ayoub.
It starts at 6:30 p.m. with a cooking class focused on Lebanese flavors and continues with dinner, accompanied by poetry, traditional music and a game of backgammon.
The storytelling will move through memories of Lebanon before the war, the diaspora, the country’s situation today and its hopes for the future.
Where Cib’Aria, Via San Giovanni 42, Florence.
Price €75, including the class, apron, recipe booklet, dinner with drinks and the evening’s playlist.
November 7 – Southern Italy: an Odyssey in the kitchen
A journey through the farming traditions of Southern Italy, created together with Enzaebbasta.
The theme is origins, journeys and our bond with the flavors of home. As in the Odyssey, the journey becomes a way to reflect on what home means and on our relationship with the places we come from.
Cooking starts at 6:30 p.m., followed by a shared dinner.
Where Cib’Aria, San Frediano.
Price €75, with the class, apron, recipe booklet, dinner with drinks and playlist.
November 26 – Le cose che portiamo con noi (The things we carry with us)
One of the most original events on the calendar doesn’t revolve around a national cuisine, but around objects and personal stories.
As part of the Patto per la lettura, Florence’s reading pact, Cib’Aria hosts a meeting between readers and residents from different cultural backgrounds.
Over a glass of çay, a date, readings and personal accounts, the conversation will turn to the objects that travel with us through life, the memories they hold and the meaning we give to the word home.
It is also an evening that highlights the role convivial spaces can play in fighting urban loneliness.
Where Cib’Aria, San Frediano.
Time 6:30 p.m.
Admission free, reservation required.
November 28 – India comes to the table
Together with Nura Catering and the River to River Florence Indian Film Festival, Cib’Aria hosts an evening that brings together Indian cooking and Indian cinema.
It begins at 6 p.m. with a cooking class, followed by dinner at 8:30 p.m., punctuated by cultural moments and a game about Indian culture and film.
A chance to discover recipes and food traditions, but also to get closer to the stories told by Indian cinema.
Where B.east Gallery, Via di Mezzo 42, Florence.
Price €75 for the class and dinner with cultural activities; €55 for dinner only.
December 13 – The Swedish table: from Syracuse to Stockholm
The journey continues north, following in the footsteps of Saint Lucy, the figure who links Sicily and Scandinavia.
Through traditional recipes and stories, the evening will explore one of the most evocative celebrations of the Swedish winter.
There will also be live video calls with guests in Stockholm, to dig deeper into Swedish society and contemporary culture.
Where Cib’Aria, San Frediano.
Time 6:30 p.m.
Price €75, including the class, apron, recipe booklet, dinner with drinks and playlist.
January 29, 2027 – Ponza: the Mediterranean that connects us
The final event takes participants to the island of Ponza, through seafaring traditions, fishing, navigation and migration.
The evening will also trace the historical ties between Ponza’s communities and Tuscany, through the stories of those who moved along the sea routes.
It will also be a chance to reconnect with the people met during Cib’Aria’s earlier summer events.
Where Cib’Aria, San Frediano.
Time 6:30 p.m.
Price €75, including the class, apron, recipe booklet, dinner with drinks and playlist.
Why Florence needs projects like Cib’Aria
One thing makes this project especially valuable: the will to create moments of connection between people who, in everyday life, might never cross paths.
Florence is an international city, crossed every day by visitors, students, workers and residents from all over the world. Yet that richness doesn’t automatically turn into chances to get to know one another.
Cib’Aria tries to create them through something familiar to everyone: a table.
And it does so without reducing cultural differences to mere culinary curiosities. The program also makes room for difficult subjects, such as the war in Lebanon, migration, our relationship with our roots and loneliness in cities.
These themes are approached through personal storytelling, cooking and sharing, in a setting designed to encourage listening and participation.
This is probably the initiative’s most meaningful quality: it manages to hold together the pleasure of food and the desire to better understand the world and the people who live in it.
We also like the idea of reclaiming time for conviviality. The time it takes to prepare a dish, hear a story through to the end, learn a new word or keep talking with someone you have just met.
We can’t say whether every evening will spark a new friendship. But creating the conditions for it to happen is already an important achievement.
And that is why Cib’Aria is a project FUL wants to tell you about and support.
Cib’Aria Florence: where it is and how to book
Cib’Aria’s new home is at Via San Giovanni 42, in the San Frediano neighborhood of Florence, in the Oltrarno. Some events take place in partnership with other cultural organizations around the city, at different venues.
Spots for the classes and dinners are limited and reservations are required.
Contacts and reservations:
- Email: cibaria.fi@gmail.com
- Phone: +39 339 352 3715
- Instagram: @cibaria_firenze
- Full program (in Italian): Cib’Aria – Incontrare il mondo a Firenze, calendario 2026/2027
Cib’Aria also offers formats for private and corporate events.
If you feel like discovering new cuisines, hearing new stories and meeting new people, the 2026/2027 calendar offers six good places to start. And maybe to find yourself, a few weeks later, sitting at the same table again.
