Learn to make pasta
by hand, on a rooftop
above the North End.
Three hours with host Danielle D'Ambrosio — aperitivo, an olive-oil tasting, hand-made gnocchi & spaghetti, and dinner under the Boston sky.
Ciao, I'm Danielle.
I'm a dual Italian-American citizen splitting my time between the North End and Sardegna. I trained in culinary arts and wine at Florence University of the Arts, and I've been cooking ever since.
La Terrazza is what happens when I bring that training home — to my own rooftop terrace and organic garden, looking out at the city skyline and the sea. It's not a restaurant. It's my table, for six people at a time.
The view from La Terrazza · North End, Boston
Straight from the garden
to your plate
Danielle grows organic tomatoes, herbs and greens right here on the terrace. Whatever is ripe that week gets simmered into the sauce.
Ingredients that never travel farther than a few steps from the table.
Three hours on the terrace
Hands-on, outside on la terrazza, and small on purpose. You arrive as guests and leave with flour on your sleeves and pasta in your hands (and bellies).
Aperitivo and olive oil tasting
We start slowly — a light Italian aperitivo and an olive oil tasting. If you fall for one, it's available to take home after class.
Gnocchi & spaghetti, from scratch
You'll hand-make two classic shapes. Pillowy potato gnocchi, rolled and ridged on a wooden board, and golden egg spaghetti, rolled thin and cut by hand — no machines, just flour, egg, potato, and your own two hands. Gnocchi is my signature — the little dumpling food historians call the ancestor of nearly every Italian pasta.
Dinner, then dolce
Sit down to the warm and bubbly gnocchi alla Sorrentina (mozzarella!) you just made. The spaghetti is boxed up as a take-home gift. We close with a traditional dessert famous in this neighborhood.
3 to 6
-
3:00
Arrival & aperitivo
Aperitivo and the olive-oil tasting.
-
3:45
Gnocchi by hand
Potato dough, rolled and cut on the board.
-
4:30
Spaghetti
A classic egg dough, rolled thin and cut by hand.
-
5:15
Dinner on the terrace
Gnocchi alla Sorrentina together at the table, harbor & skyline in view.
-
5:45
Dolce & goodbyes
A traditional dessert from the neighborhood and espresso from nonna's moka pot — plus your spaghetti to take home.