French Cooking Classes in Paris and Culinary Experience in France & Beyond
Cook’n With Class has been operating its Paris-based French cooking school since 2007 and has taught well over 440,000 students over 12,000 French recipes and continues to share the love of French cooking today, with the help of our professional Chefs, assistants, and sommeliers with two locations: Paris & Uzès, in the south of France.
Cook’n With Class, Year by Year
It started with a taste of France & a Love of Cooking
A la Rochelle native, Chef Eric Fraudeau returned to France after living in North & Central America, where he worked as an Executive Chef for high-end hotels such as Vogue, Four Seasons, The Ritz, and Sofitel. Inspired to share & transmit his passion for French cuisine, Chef Fraudeau came up with the idea to create an atelier where global citizens can come together to learn the art of French cooking in a relaxed and fun atmosphere.
The idea quickly took shape, and in July of 2007, Cook’n With Class opened its doors at the original location, on Rue Custine, and began French cooking classes for people visiting Paris from all over. Chef Eric brought us an introduction to the art of French cuisine., all while honoring the three pillars of Cook’n with Class; Using fresh & seasonal produce, catering to small groups, & maintaining a generous and convivial atmosphere
The very first class taught at Cook’n With Class Paris was the French Market class, a class where students are taken on a shopping tour of our local markets to source the fresh ingredients they will then use to make a 3-course meal back at the school. And 18 years later, the French Market Class remains one of our most popular courses.
Italian-born, Chef Pino Ficara became one of the first chefs to join the Cook’n With Class team. Upon his arrival, he immediately developed a Baking and Bread Making program, catered to students wishing to learn all about French Croissants, Baguettes, and other dough-based pastries. Chef Pino built the foundation for what are pastry classes have become today, quick, easy, and effective 3-hours courses. Chef Pino is currently opening his own cooking school for French & Italian cuisine in Rome, Italy.
Chefs Constance Deledalle (French), Briony Laberthionniere (Australian) & Brian Defehr (Canadian), came on board, bringing a wealth of experience from running their own restaurants, culinary institutions, and hotels ranging from the Ritz Paris to Le Bristol. This dream team taught all aspects of French cuisine, from market-to-table French Cooking Classes, to Macarons, Bistro Desserts, Gourmet Chocolates, Choux Pastries, and Advanced French Baking Techniques.
Houston, Texas native, Chef Alex joined the team and brought his culinary expertise to teach each and every class offered at the school. A true jack of all trades, he added both enthusiasm and humor to the team.
Cook’n With Class celebrated the newly designed, expanded cooking school on rue Custine, now equipped with two new kitchens. The launch party brought in an abundance of employees, past and present, suppliers, chefs, and bloggers, including David Lebovitz.
Preston Mohr from ParisBytheGlass joined the team as our in-house sommelier, leading Cheese & Wine Classes and headlining Chef’s Table – Food & Wine Pairing evenings alongside one of our chefs.
Shortly after, Chef Patrick Hebert, who graced the kitchens of The Savoy Hotel London, and was the former owner of his own French restaurant in Louisiana, USA, joined the team adding his classical style to the French Market Cooking Classes.
Cook’n With Class Paris moved to our current location at 6 rue Baudelique, still in Montmartre, Paris, in a 2-level atelier with 2 state-of-the-art kitchens & a new wine cellar for hosting Wine Classes and private events, designed & decorated by Chef Eric’s Wife, Yetunde Oshodi.
We welcomed Chef Emmanuelle Gombert to our team. Chef Emmanuelle trained at école Ferrandi and specialized in baking and French desserts, bringing new creativity and technique to our kitchens.
Cook’n with Class Paris had its reality TV debut! The school appeared on the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills on Feb 24th, 2013.
Cook’n With Class reached 26,000 fans on Facebook, with a ranking of #1 out of the top 89 in Food and Drink in Paris on TripAdvisor with 1,316 reviews and counting.
Following the success of Cook’n with Class Paris, Chef Eric Fraudeau and his wife, Yetunde Oshodi expanded the business to the south of France by opening a second location in Uzès, Cook’n With Class Uzès, with authentic Provençal themed cooking classes.
Yetunde began taking on a more active role with both schools as a marketing consultant, working on updating the logos for both locations and creating a website for Uzès.
Yetunde officially joined the team as Sales & Marketing Director. She brought her experience as a former sole owner of a successful vacation rental company to the schools.
Cook’n With Class got a new logo and brand name!
Cook’n With Class Uzès kicked off a week-long culinary program, Week in Uzès, inviting students to enjoy the tastes and sights of the south of France while participating in full-day classes, tastings, and tours of the region.
We worked on increasing our social media presence with our Instagram, Facebook & Twitter accounts. The hashtag #AlwaysCooknwithClass was created.
We celebrated 10 years of offering French cooking, baking, and tasting in Paris, and continued looking forward to the next 10!
Yetunde & David Lakin worked together to create a new website for both Cook’n with Class Paris & Cook’n with Class Uzès. They now shared a common web address under www.cooknwithclass.com with a new modern design that’s more user-friendly and fun.
Although Cook’n With Class Uzès has since closed its doors, the spirit of its adventures continues through Let’s Eat The World, a parter company created by Yetunde. Through Let’s Eat The World, travelers can still enjoy multi-day immersive food and culture experiences in the South of France… and more!
On June 25th, Chef Eric hosted Sony HK recording artist Phil Lam for a private market visit and hands-on cooking class in our Paris atelier.
Chef Sarah Tyler joined our team as a pastry chef, whipping up delectable desserts with eager students.
To celebrate 10 years in Paris, Cook’n with Class organized an international contest, Cook’n in Paris, where the Grand Prize winner won a trip for 2 to Paris. Other events around the 10 years included a Michelin-starred Chef’s Table – Food & Wine pairing experience and an anniversary party at the school in Paris with invited guests.
We created a new recipe database with over 400 recipes from our chefs to enjoy at home.
We added a new cooking class to our roster, Cuisine en Famille where parent and child pair up to share a cooking experience together followed by a 3-course meal. A great way to initiate our budding chefs 😉
Following the 10th anniversary contest, we flew over our Grand Prize Winner, Claudia T., aka, The Hungry Claudia, who hails from the UK. Claudia participates in several of our classes and enjoys a lush stay at the Hotel le Six near the Luxembourg Gardens, A Michelin-starred dining experience at La Table d’Eugène, a hair makeover from international hairstylist Nicole Pembrook, a guided tour of Paris by the Seine with Sight Seeker’s Delight, and much more.
Chefs Manon & Pierre-Antoine, joined the team bringing fresh new talent to the Cook’n With Class crew.
The recipe website grew to over 600 recipes! With plenty of new content exclusively available for our newsletter subscribers.
Following the success of Cuisine en Famille, and to meet growing demand for more kid’s cooking classes, we created Macaron en Famille!
This year marked the 4th season of Chef Eric’s culinary adventure in Provence: Week in Uzès. He was joined by many Cook’n with Class alum who want to experience the taste of the south of France.
Learn more about our team here!
The logos for Cook’n With Class and partner company, Let’s Eat The World, were both refreshed as part of their individual brand evolutions, bringing them to how you see them today! While Cook’n With Class continues to welcome visitors back to its Paris kitchen, Let’s Eat The World, expanded its offerings beyond France (Paris & Uzès), providing a variety of culinary travel experiences to food lovers exploring Europe and beyond.
Renovations took place at the school giving the classrooms a whole new makeover and creating an even more convivial environment to learn about French cooking and pastry!
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We introduced the Patisserie en Famille Class, the Bistro Class, and an advanced pastry class, Gateaux Boutique.
Additionally, we welcomed Chefs Christian and Fabrice onto the team!
A big summer for Paris! Cook’n With Class joined in on the team spirit by making a new mascot, or charming rooster chef! To show him off, we created new boutique items, so you can show of your Paris pride at home!
We added many new classes, including our first kids only class, a Kids’ Chocolate Class. But don’t worry adults, we made a seasonal chocolate class for you too! We also introduced a whole new structure of classes, Express Classes. Don’t have time for a full 3 hours of croissants or macarons between tickets to Le Musée de l’Orangerie and lunch reservations? Squeeze in a 2 hour Express Macaron or Express Croissant class!