One would think that in Paris such amateurish food affairs as a hotel-based cooking school would be greeted with a ‘Sacrebleu.’ But to the contrary, Ritz Paris (http://www.ritzparis.com) offers the Ecole Ritz Escoffier, an hotel-sponsored cooking program aimed at amateur chefs named after the hotel’s first head chef Auguste Escoffier. The cooking school operates in the shadow of the main kitchen at the Ritz, sharing professional advice from working chefs in a majestic kitchen colorfully captured in royal blue stoves with copper detailing and chefs that still wear starched-white toques that don’t mind talking in English, or at least most of the time.
Tips
Following completion of the Ritz Escoffier Course or Master Class students can continue their practice with 1-2 week internships in the actual Ritz Paris kitchen if they have the right ingredients.
Last Word
Ritz Escoffier School feels very much like a real culinary institute, probably because it is, complete with daily uniform requirement and metal locker where spirits of Julia Child are summoned for inspiration. Keep it mind that this is a hotel, and any stolen robes as well as uniforms result in a 100-Euro charge on your bill. Students aren’t required to be hotel guests, instead staying at area hotels with the exception of a few Hedge Fund wives and resident Countesses. Courses cost as little at 150-Euro for afternoon classes in grilled meats or pastry baking to much pricier and intensive 5-week Master Course that ends in a Cesar Ritz Diploma and 10,000-Euro price tag.
