Best cooking schools in Paris

[Bux]

I second Linda's suggestion that you check out the Ritz-Escoffier. Our daughter took a series of one week courses there over a two month period about a decide ago. I seem recall my sister going over to Paris to visit her niece and taking a one day course while she was there. I believe it was a lecture demonstration and not a hands on course. It may even have been an opportunity simply to audit the class our daughter was taking that day. They were a competent organization and I suspect they still are.

[Carlsbad]

I think I missed my calling.

[Laidback]

This may not be as formal as you wish, but I have heard that it is enjoyable. We took the Rungis tour she suggests with Isabelle Batchelor(spelling?), and plan on taking one of Mme Caillat's classes. http://www.promenadesgourmandes.com

Edited February 1, 2005 by Laidback (log)

[gdg]

Ritz-Escoffier ... absolument.

[lalala]

I am trying to talk my taller half into a buche de noel class at the Ritz in December. I think she might bite.

However, the classes are taught in French, correct?

lalala

[John Talbott]

I am trying to talk my taller half into a buche de noel class at the Ritz in December. I think she might bite.

However, the classes are taught in French, correct?

lalala

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I'm certainly not an expert here, but I think if all classes were in French, there wouldn't be so many. I'd Google French Cooking Classes English. I bet the Ritz and Varenne and other places have listings, eg Expatica: "French cuisine classes; Living in France, there's no better place to learn about cooking. Whitney Kellogg selects some crash-course French cuisine classes on offer, especially appropriate for English-speakers." Shameless advertising: A friend of mine who speaks just basic French did a stage at the Ritz and loved it: read Alice Steinbach's Educating Alice: Adventures of a Curious Woman, Amazon quote - "Steinbach takes off again and recounts eight endeavors, including studying French cooking in Paris"

[gdg]

" ritz escoffier" ... you can have on request simultaneous translation ... it's free i guess

[Bux]

When our daughter was at the Ritz-Escoffier, at least in the series that led to a diploma, the instruction was bilingual French/English. Her chef had cooked in New York at Bouley and was prepared to converse in either language and there was a translator on hand to fill in the class. I suspect one day classes are at least as much geared to foreigners, but one should always check if it's a concern.

[LindaK]

My experiences with classes at the Ritz-Escoffier and the instances I've dropped by since: the chefs who teach the courses are French and provide instruction in French. They generally understood English well enough to field questions from English speakers but responded en français. There was always an assistant who translated into English if necessary--side-by-side translation was standard in the demonstrations but not necessarily so in the classes.

My French was minimal when I took my first class and it wasn't a huge problem. The student body in the short courses and definitely the demonstrations was very international, they are accustomed to accomodating many languages and English was the backup. Don't let it concern you if their offerings suit your interests.

[Laidback]

There is an announcement on the Bonjour Paris homepage that Christian Constant is going to be giving classes on some Mondays at Violon D'Ingres...http://www.bonjourparis.com/

[cigalechanta]

Laidback, you beat to it :)

[JVB]

Laidback, you beat to it :)

←

You may still have time to enroll!

March 7th, 2005 from 9.30-2.30

Would you believe in the kitchens of Le Violon d’Ingres!

135 rue St. Dominique, Paris, 7th. Metro Ecole Militaire or Pont d’Alma.

Reserve at: cooking@parisperfect.com

or call Carolyn on 06 78 98 60 49

(from the States: 011 33 6 78 98 60 49).

www.christianconstant.com

[JVB]

Laidback, you beat to it :)

←

You may still have time to enroll!

March 7th, 2005 from 9.30-2.30

Would you believe in the kitchens of Le Violon d’Ingres!

135 rue St. Dominique, Paris, 7th. Metro Ecole Militaire or Pont d’Alma.

Reserve at: cooking@parisperfect.com

or call Carolyn on 06 78 98 60 49

(from the States: 011 33 6 78 98 60 49).

www.christianconstant.com

←

Here's a write-up from http://bonjourparis.com and Born to Shop Suzy Gershman

http://www.bonjourparis.com/publications/a...?articleId=1926

[John Talbott]

In the April issue of Paris Notes, Paul B Franklin mentions an interesting sounding woman, Laure Maso, 104 rue Oberkampf in the 11th, 06.30.51.97.01, who is bilingual and gives cooking workshops.

[Laidback]

This morning Pat & I spent a most enjoyable morning in Christian Constant's kitchen in Le Violon D'Ingres. Things start with welcoming croissants and beverages at 9:30, then everyone is aproned up and led into the kitchen for a demonstration/participation. Today we peeled asparagus and shelled petits pois and feves. He made a soup of the petits pois shells which are sautéed in olive oil, then boiled down in salted water, sieved, and enriched with a little cream and served with freshly fried tiny croutons made from pain de mie from Poujauran. Then we were given an up close and personal introduction to an agneau du lait, he demonstrated removing the loin from the saddle, dosing it with rosemary, thyme, parsley, etc., before wrapping it in crepinette, then foil and placing it in the oven. While the lamb roasted, he prepared the garniture from baby veggies...peas, carrots, onions, asparagus. The feves were served as a simple salad dressed with shallots, chopped Serrano ham and a vinaigrette. We moved into the patisserie and prepared strawberries with marscopone cheese, enhanced with vanilla, and a reduction of honey, ginger and lime. After we dispatched with great enjoyment the morning's efforts, we then de-aproned and walked just down the street for lunch at his tiny seafood restaurant, Les Fables de la Fontaine...oysters, smoked haddock, shellfish soup, Merlan Colbert or roasted cod, then a fine light chocolate terrine. M. Constant is a delight, gracious and full of humor and his charming Scottish wife did the necessary translating.

[John Talbott]

Another article in ParisVoice has recently appeared on cooking classes. Since it's in English and covers everything from the Ritz to Patricia Wells, I'll let interested members go directly. It has a lot of places already mentioned in this thread with fairly extensive descriptions.

[Gifted Gourmet]

From the Christian Science Monitor, a lovely article on a place mentioned up this thread ... the article ...

cooking school L'Atelier des Chefs opened its doors last summer, offering 30-minute classes at lunchtime, not to mention a table on which to eat your meal afterward in the company of fellow students. All that for about $20, the price of lunch in an average Paris brasserie.  There was nothing intimidating about this place. It felt as though I were in someone's home.

Students are taught to cook only one dish in each class. The recipes are deliberately simple but with a touch of sophistication so that people can reproduce them at home and impress their families and friends

I wonder that there are so few of these lunchtime options here in the States ... or am I in error about that?

[touaregsand]

I wonder that there are so few of these lunchtime options here in the States ... or am I in error about that?

Recreational cooking classes in the States seem to be 2 1/2-3 hours with at least 3-4 dishes made in "real time". The students sample what they make, depending on the class it can turn into a multi course tasting meal.

Most classes are held in the evening on weekdays. Weekend classes are scattered throughout the day. I suppose if the weekday classes in the States were catering to tourists like so many of the French classes seem to be there would be more lunchtime options. As is, even in Los Angeles where there is no shortage of tourists, most classes cater to locals who presumably work during the day.

[wyf4lyf]

Forgive me if this is the wrong place for this...wasn't sure where to post. I have been interested in going to a French cooking school for years, but now that I've been to France, my desire for it has heightened immensely! I have no aspirations to become a chef or to make a career of cooking, but I would like to have some hands-on experience with either a professional chef or a seasoned home chef (like Patricia Wells). A week long class would be wonderful. I've seen the info on Patricia Wells's class and they look great. Wondering if you have knowledge or info on any others. My preference would be for the class/school to be in France, but that's not entirely necessary, as long as the focus was on French cuisine. And the classes would need to be taught in English. *sigh* I've always been better at speaking it than understanding it.

Any and all suggestions will be much appreciated!

Merci...

[chezcherie]

along with patricia wells, i long to try susan hermann loomis' school, on rue tatin.

www.onruetatin.com

[chefzadi]

Where are you currently located?

[wyf4lyf]

Chefzadi,

I live in sweltering (at the moment) Tucson, AZ.

ChezCherie,

Thanks for that reminder! I loved her book. I'll investigate that option. I have a feeling there are going to be several that will be hard to choose from. I just heard about a week-long class in Provence, taught by Kathy Alex, which is held in the homes where Julia Child and Simone Beck wrote the first volume of "Mastering the Art of French Cooking." Talk about an inspiring location for a cooking school!!

[chezcherie]

she has a new book--cooking at home on rue tatin.

[Bux]

Some years ago, we happened to have had the good fortune to meet a charming woman who was running a program out of her family's summer home which is an 18th century manor surrounded by vineyards in the heart of Gascony. Her chef was from San Sebastian where she also had her own cooking school. We never had the time or chance to actively pursue our interest in representing the school as agents, but for several years we had active pages with information on our web site. Those pages are still on the server although no longer linked from the rest of the site. The links back to the site may be broken as well and the e-mail address shouldn't work, but you can sneak a peek here at these URLs. The photographs don't do it justice and certain information is likely to be out of date. I'll try to find the URL for their own site if anyone's interested. While I haven't taken any of the courses, not been there when a course was in session, I can vouch for the charm of the owner, the house, the grounds and the area.

http://www.worldtable.com/reports/ecole.html

http://www.worldtable.com/reports/ecolephotos.html

http://www.worldtable.com/reports/ecolefaq.html

[bleudauvergne]

Forgive me if this is the wrong place for this...wasn't sure where to post.  I have been interested in going to a French cooking school for years, but now that I've been to France, my desire for it has heightened immensely!  I have no aspirations to become a chef or to make a career of cooking, but I would like to have some hands-on experience with either a professional chef or a seasoned home chef (like Patricia Wells).  A week long class would be wonderful. I've seen the info on Patricia Wells's class and they look great. Wondering if you have knowledge or info on any others. My preference would be for the class/school to be in France, but that's not entirely necessary, as long as the focus was on French cuisine. And the classes would need to be taught in English. *sigh* I've always been better at speaking it than understanding it.

Any and all suggestions will be much appreciated!

Merci...

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I have been to the sites where people have posted them and they are really amazing! If I could I would do things right like this : Buy an apartment in Vieux Lyon across the footbridge from the St. Antoine Market. Equip the entire apartment as one big super haute gamme kitchen with a bedroom, and rent it by the week. I'd go to cooking school myself and then teach a la carte from a menu that changes with the season. You get the carte at breakfast, make a choice, we hit the market, and then and we cook whatever you've chosen that morning/afternoon. Ahhh. Daydreams.