Italian for Praising the Cook: Say 'This Is Delicious' and 'You're a Great Cook'
Learn elementary Italian phrases to compliment food and the person who made it, including pronunciation, polite register, and a short dinner-table dialogue.
By MarcusFood & cafés · Yapr Learn
When you eat in an Italian home, praising only the food can sound incomplete: many hosts care just as much about being told they are a good cook. This lesson teaches you elementary phrases such as È buonissimo and Sei un bravo cuoco or una brava cuoca, so you can compliment both the dish and the person who prepared it. You will also learn how to thank the cook naturally, how to ask who made a dish, and how to avoid a common mistake with the verb essere.
By the end, you can…
- say that a dish is delicious in Italian.
- tell someone that they are a great cook, choosing the correct form for a man or a woman.
- thank the cook and ask who prepared a dish in a simple conversation.
Listen once. Try it slowly. Then say it without looking.
Checking available voices…
È buonissimo!
It's very delicious!
eh bwoh-NEES-see-moh
Use for one dish or one item of food. The adjective agrees with the thing you are tasting, so a feminine dish would be È buonissima.
Sei un bravo cuoco.
You are a great cook. (to a man)
say oon BRAH-voh KWOH-koh
Said to a male cook. Bravo describes the person, and cuoco is the masculine noun for a cook.
Sei una brava cuoca.
You are a great cook. (to a woman)
say OO-nah BRAH-vah KWOH-kah
Said to a female cook. Both the adjective brava and the noun cuoca are feminine.
Grazie, è tutto buonissimo.
Thank you, everything is very delicious.
GRAH-tsee-eh eh TOOT-toh bwoh-NEES-see-moh
A warm way to thank the host after a meal. Tutto means 'everything' and takes the masculine singular buonissimo.
Chi ha cucinato?
Who cooked?
kee ah koo-chee-NAH-toh
A simple question to find out who made the food. It uses the passato prossimo with ha, the third-person singular of avere.
Pronunciation guides are approximate. Slow playback keeps the original pitch.
Make it make sense
Useful pattern
To praise the cook, use essere plus a person word: Sei un bravo cuoco, Sei una brava cuoca, or Siete dei bravi cuochi for more than one person. The adjective bravo changes to brava, bravi, or brave to match the person. To praise the food, use è plus buonissimo or buonissima: È buonissimo! La pasta è buonissima! The ending -issimo means 'very' or 'extremely,' so you do not need molto with it.
When to use it
Use È buonissimo at the table while you are eating, and Sei un bravo cuoco or Sei una brava cuoca directly to the person who cooked. If you are talking to an older relative or someone you do not know well, you can soften the compliment with Lei: Lei è una brava cuoca. After a full meal, Grazie, è tutto buonissimo works well as a general thank-you. If you want to know who made the dish, ask Chi ha cucinato? and then compliment that person.
Listen to each line, then take one part and reply out loud.
Allora, ti piace la pasta?
So, do you like the pasta?ahl-LOH-rah tee PYAH-cheh lah PAH-stahSì, è buonissima! Sei una brava cuoca.
Yes, it's very delicious! You are a great cook.see eh bwoh-NEES-see-mah say OO-nah BRAH-vah KWOH-kahGrazie! È una ricetta di mia nonna.
Thank you! It's a recipe from my grandmother.GRAH-tsee-eh eh OO-nah ree-CHET-tah dee MEE-ah NOHN-nahDavvero? È tutto buonissimo. Grazie mille!
Really? Everything is very delicious. Thanks a lot!dahv-VEH-roh eh TOOT-toh bwoh-NEES-see-moh GRAH-tsee-eh MEEL-lehA little context goes a long way
In many Italian households, a compliment to the cook is as valued as a compliment to the food. Calling someone un bravo cuoco or una brava cuoca is warm and personal, while È buonissimo focuses on the dish. If you are speaking to an older person or someone you have just met, the polite Lei form is safer: Lei è una brava cuoca. Among friends and family, tu is normal. Regional cooking terms vary, but these standard phrases are understood across Italy.
One thing to watch for
Saying Sei un bravo cuoco to a woman, or using buono instead of buonissimo for strong praise.
Try this instead: Match the person: Sei una brava cuoca for a woman, Sei un bravo cuoco for a man. For stronger praise of food, use the -issimo form: È buonissimo! or È buonissima! rather than È molto buono, which is correct but less enthusiastic.
Your turn
Try answering out loud before checking a possible answer.
1How do you tell a female friend that she is a great cook?
Show a sample answer
Sei una brava cuoca.
The adjective brava and the noun cuoca are both feminine, matching the female friend. For a male friend, you would say Sei un bravo cuoco.
2You taste a soup and want to say it is very delicious. What do you say?
Show a sample answer
È buonissimo!
Soup, la zuppa, is feminine, so È buonissima is also correct. If you are not sure of the gender, È buonissimo is often used as a general reaction.
3After a meal, how do you thank the host and say everything was very delicious?
Show a sample answer
Grazie, è tutto buonissimo.
Tutto is masculine singular, so buonissimo agrees with it. You could also say Grazie, era tutto buonissimo if you are referring to the meal in the past.
Praise the dish with È buonissimo or È buonissima, and praise the person with Sei un bravo cuoco or Sei una brava cuoca. Match the ending to the food or the person, and use Lei for polite situations.
Progress is saved on this browser.
Practice real time conversations on Yapr for faster learning.
Put today’s Italian into a conversation with an AI tutor. Speak, make mistakes, and try again.
Practice on Yapr