We’ve all seen the Olive Garden ads where the popular chain of Italian eateries touts the Olive Garden Culinary Institute of Tuscany, a picturesque cooking school in Italy where they claim to educate chefs and develop new products. But, like many others, the folks at Jaunted.com wanted to know just how reality stacks up against the advertisements.

To their surprise, they found that the Culinary Institute isn’t a complete load of PR bull.

Writes Jaunted:

It is indeed a group of beautiful rustic buildings (even a pool!) in the region of Tuscany, close to Siena, and it does indeed host Olive Garden cooks, managers, and waiters from their chain restaurants every so often, but it’s not a full-time Olive Garden cooking school.

They explain that it’s actually called the Tuscan Culinary Institute, and while it was created by O.G., the restaurant only uses it a handful of times during the year — mostly in the winter — for training and menu development.

The site of the school, known as the Riserve di Fizzano, is available for visitors who want to tour the school or even take classes.

Is There Really an Olive Garden Cooking School in Tuscany? [Jaunted]

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