Many folks coming to Paris have asked about cooking classes on the non-professional level. Here's a list of cooking programs offered around town. Some offer professional-level classes lasting a week or several months, while others are for dedicated home cooks where you can prepare a meal with a local cook in their Parisian kitchen and perhaps visit a market. Click on the links to find their scheduled classes and what language they're taught in.
Because I haven't gone to most of them, I can't offer personal recommendations. But a visit to their website should give you an idea of the nature of their classes. For professional-level classes outside of Paris, there's a list below of some that specialize in pastry.
Atelier Gastronomique de Alain Ducasse: The cooking school of super-chef Alain Ducasse
Ecole Ferrandi: Paris' school for professionals who want to cook.
Ecole Lenôtre: One-day classes for home cooks, and professional programs
Cucina di Terresa: Organic & vegetarian cooking
La Cuisine Paris: English & French classes
Gourmet Promenades: With Paule Caillat (in English)
Ecole Escoffier: at the Ritz Carlton
On Rue Tatin with Susan Loomis: Classes in Paris & Normandy
Patricia Wells: Weeklong cooking programs
Pam Williams offers an online course in chocolate-making, with the option of coming to France (and Italy) and learning with selected professionals.
Chocolate Academy of Barry-Callebaut
Ecole du Grand Chocolat at Valrhona
Read about my visit to Valrhona's Chocolate School
Ecole Nationale Supérieure de la Pâtisserie
Jacques Vivet's Centre de Désgustation
O-Château: Wine tasting in English with sommelier Oliver Magny.
Related Paris Posts
Vegetarian Dining Tips for Paris and a list of Vegetarian Restaurants
Where to Find a Great Hamburger in Paris (Kid-friendly)
Recommended Paris Guides
Excellent list -- it will be printed a filed for future Paris trips! Thank you.
What a great list. When my husband and I were in Paris this summer we took the wine class at
O-Chateau and had a really good time. We also used your reccomendations from your chocolate book and visited a lot of the pastry and chocolate shops you suggested. They were great!
-Holly (David, my husband just gave me one of my birhtday gifts-i'm coming to cooking class at Sur la Table in Los Gatos. See you there.)
Your blog is very interesting and beautiful ! I love your macarons !
About 'L'Ecole du grand chocolat', you can have a course even if you are not a professional !
You can see the description of the courses on my blog in the part : Stage à thème
I went to O Chateau on your recommendation last night. It was great. If given the opportunity, I could be a walking testimonial for Mr. Olivier - but that might make me seem just a bit "touched"!
This list represents a lot of work, merci beaucoup David!
Perfect! Exactly what I have been seeking. Thank you so much for compiling the recommends.
I am a chef in Scottsdale Arizona and would like to take a cooking course given in English, preferably in Paris during the summer of 2009.
i am sending a couple to Paris May 26th for 5 nights. the husband will attend the French Open and the wife wants to attend a French cooking school on May 27th. We have not selected a hotel. would like a 4 star hotel - do any the hotels provide a French cooking school. budget less that $200 for a day. We have not selected a hotel yet, do you have any suggestions - safe for wife and walking ditance to many of the aris sites? Each access to metro for husband to get to Roland Garros.
HI Carlos: The only hotel I know that has cooking classes is The Ritz, which is higher than your budget. On the My Paris page, here at the site, you'll find a link to a list of hotels I recommend as well as other information for visitors to Paris.
Hi! Thanks so much for the links above, but do you know of any baking/pastry vacations in France? Like a one or two week course?
Thanks!
Hi Hiliary: I don't know any specific one-week baking vacation classes (I assume you mean for non-professionals). There might be some, but I'm not aware of any. I'll think you'll have to poke around the internet to hopefully uncover one.
I had looked around but couldn't find any, so I was hoping you had maybe heard of one. I'll keep looking. Thanks again!
Hi,
Merci for compiling such a great list. I'm interested in taking a macaron class while I'm in Paris in October. Do you know of any good ones? I know there are good classes at Lenotre, but I'm not fluent in French so I think that may present a bit of a problem. Thanks for you wonderful blog.
David, thanks for the info. I am looking to take a 2-3 week cooking class in Paris or elesewhere. I have some professional experience cooking french food and my skills are pretty good. Do you have any ideas for a fit?
Thanks,
Steve
Steve: I went to Ecole Lenotre, which was great. Classes are for professionals and each lasts one week so you can create your own curriculum. But there are others, listed in the post, that might be suited for you since everyone is looking for something different, so I would check the others out as well.
thanks for the list David, so helpful. I will be in Paris around Feb-Mar 2010, is it possible that you have early paris-pattiserie tour with you in those months? :-)
For which cook school would you recommend a gift certificate for a Parisienne daughter who loves to cook surprises for her husband? We are looking at Lenotre and the cooking school at the Ritz. Would you choose one of these for a three hour experience or is there another one to consider?
narizza: I only do week-long tours, which you can find out more about on my Tours page.
Elizabeth: Because I haven't attended many of the schools, only the professional program at Lenotre, I can't advise. But the Atelier des Chefs offers a lot of classes in various areas (in French), in well-equipped kitchens, and might be worth checking out via their site.
Hi David, thanks for this list, it's coming in handy as I look at options for wine tastings and cooking classes for my upcoming trip to Paris. I just wanted to let you know that the link for the Jacques Vivet school has changed -- I found it on Google at http://www.ecolededegustation.fr/
Hello all,
I was wondering if anybody out there had done one of the half day or full day weekend courses at the Escoffier School, Ritz Hotel Paris? I am tempted to do one but I'd love to hear what an actual participant thought of it. Was it stuffy or fun? Was the English translation good? How many other students were in the class?
Thanks for any input.