Cook’n With Class – Our Story

French Cooking Classes in Paris and Culinary Experience in France & Beyond

It started with a taste of France & a Love of Cooking

Cook’n With Class has been in 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.

2007

A la Rochelle native, Chef Eric Fraudeau returns 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 comes 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.

In July of 2007, the idea quickly becomes a reality as Cook’n With Class opens its first school (at 21 rue Custine) and begins French cooking classes for visiting tourists. Chef Eric brings us an introduction to the art of French cuisine. The three pillars of Cook’n with Class were already in effect then, Using fresh & seasonal produce, catering to small groups, & generous & convivial atmosphere

The very first class taught at Cook’n With Class Paris was the French Market class, a class where students were taking on a shopping tour of our local market to source the fresh ingredients they would use to make their 3-course lunch back a the school.

2008

Italian-born, Chef Pino Ficara becomes one of the first chefs to join the Cook’n With Class team. Upon arrival, he immediately develops a Baking and Bread Making program, catered to students wishing to learn all about French Croissants, Baguettes, and other dough-based pastries. As a result of Chef Pino’s help, our pastry classes have evolved into a quick, easy, and effective 3-hours course. Chef Pino is currently opening his own cooking school for French & Italian cuisine in Rome, Italy.

Pino
Chef Pino

2009

Food writer and culinary enthusiast, Rachel Khoo (English), joins the Cook’n With Class team, where she taught pastry classes. Khoo is currently a TV presenter with her own series on BBC. Dublin, Ireland native, and long-time Paris resident, Tara Byrne joins the staff as office coordinator helping with the ever-growing administrative side of the school.

Cook’n With Class joins Facebook and starts building a fan base.

 

2010

Chefs Constance Deledalle (French), Briony Laberthionniere (Australian) & Brian Defehr (Canadian), come 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 French Baking as well as advanced baking technics.

our story previous chefs
Chef Bryony, Chef Brian, Chef Constance

2011

Houston, Texas native, Chef Alex joins the team and brings his culinary expertise to teach each and every class offered at the school. A true jack of all trades, his adds both enthusiasm and humor to the team.

Cook’n With Class celebrates the newly designed, expanded cooking school on rue Custine, now equipped with two new kitchens. The launch party had an abundance of employees, suppliers, chefs, and bloggers, including David Lebovitz.

 

2012

Preston Mohr from ParisBytheGlass joins the team as our in-house sommelier, teaching Cheese & Wine Classes and animating the 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, joins the team adding his classical French style to the French Market Cooking Classes.

patrick market our story
Chef Patrick

2013

Cook’n With Class Paris moves to a new location at 6 rue Baudelique, still in Montmartre, Paris, in a 2-level atelier designed & decorated by Chef Eric’s Wife, Yetunde Oshodi, with 2 state-of-the-art kitchens & a new wine cellar for hosting the Wine Classes and private events.

Welcomed Chef Emmanuelle Gombert who trained at école Ferrandi prior to joining the team. Chef Emanuelle specialized in baking and French desserts.

Cook’n with Class Paris appears on the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills (Feb 24th, 2013 air date)

school move

2014

A year of progress: We hosted company events for both Stella and Dot, and Pinterest. We appeared on French national television, as well as House Hunters International. Cook’n With Class Paris held the position of #9 out of the top 10 things to do in Paris on TripAdvisor.

After lots of hard work and training, Chef Alex made it to the semi-finals for his MOF (“Meilleur Ouvrier de France”) where he competed to receive a highly revered award in France, bestowed upon the best worker or artisans in their respective fields.

2015

Cook’n With Class reaches 26,000 Fans on Facebook, with a ranking of #1 out of top 89 in Food and Drink section in Paris on TripAdvisor with 1,316 reviews and counting.

With the success of the Cook’n with Class Paris, Chef Eric Fraudeau and wife, Yetunde Oshodi expand the business by opening a second school, Cook’n With Class Uzès, in the south of France with authentic Provençal themed cooking classes, located in Uzès, France.

Yetunde taking on a more active role with both schools as a marketing consultant works on updating the logos for both locations and creates the website for Uzès.

school Uzes
School in Uzès

2016

Yetunde Oshodi-Fraudeau officially joins the team as Sales & Marketing Director bringing her experience as a former sole owner of a successful vacation rental company to the schools.

Cook’n With Class Uzès kicks 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.

A new brand name and logo are born.

Cook’n with Class works on increasing its social media presence with its Instagram, Facebook & Twitter accounts. The hashtag #AlwaysCooknwithClass is created.

 2017

10 years of offering French Cooking, Baking, & Tasting in Paris. The year ahead will be one of celebrations and sharing.

A new website was created by Yetunde Oshodi & David Lakin. Both Cook’n with Class Paris & Cook’n with Class Uzès now share a common web address under www.cooknwithclass.com. The new modern design is meant to be more user-friendly and fun.

June 25, Chef Eric, creator of Cook’n With Class, hosts Sony HK recording artist Phil Lam for a private class and filming with market visits and hands-on cooking class in our Paris atelier.

Chef Sarah Tyler joins the team as our newest pastry chef. Whipping up delectable desserts with eager students.

Chef Sarah

To celebrate 10 years in Paris, Cook’n with Class organizes an international contest, Cook’n in Paris, where the Grand Prize winner can win a trip for 2 to Paris. Other events around the 10 years include a Michelin-starred Chef’s Table – Food & Wine pairing experience and an anniversary party at the school in Paris with invited guests.

A new recipe database is created with over 400 recipes from our chefs to enjoy at home.

We add 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.

French cooking

2018

Following the contest of celebrating our 10th anniversary, we fly 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.

 

Cook’n With Class Uzès gets a new domain: cooking-classes-uzes.com and now hosts our recipe site.

Our newest recruits, Chefs Manon & Pierre-Antoine, join the team bringing fresh new talent to the Cook’n With Class crew.

2019

The year of our 12th anniversary. So many memories. So many students.

The recipe website grows to over 600 recipes! With plenty of new content exclusively available for our newsletter subscribers.

New class: Macaron en Famille to feed the demand for more kid cooking classes.

macaron en famille - piping

This year marks the 4th season of Chef Eric’s culinary adventure in Provence: Week in Uzès. He is 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.

2020

In March of 2020, a global pandemic was declared forcing the temporary closing of the schools until July. As a result of being unable to offer in-person classes, Chef Eric Fraudeau looked towards taking his French culinary offerings, online. A new line-up of virtual cooking classes was born in April. The classes first offered included 2-day bread baking, Terrines & Pâtes, French Teacakes & Cookies, as well as the offering of private one-on-one or group classes to help people find new ways to come together while apart.

In August 2020, Chef Eric was joined online by chefs in Paris to enrich the class offerings and bring a diverse knowledge of French cooking to your home kitchens. Class listings are on our Let’s Eat The World Cook’n With Class Experiences website and subscribers to the school’s mailing list remain the first to know about new offerings and updated schedules. Let’s Eat the World is also home to our culinary tours and masterclasses.

Learn more about our online French cooking classes, here.

2021

The world re-opens slowly and Cook’n With Class enters another year. 14 years of cooking, laughter, cultural exchange, & culinary delights. We also have a fresh face on the team, cuisine chef Antonin joins us with a wealth of experience, personality and wine expertise.

 

Antonin
Chef Antonin

2022

The Cook’n With Class and Let’s Eat the World logos get revamped and bring with them a new wave of visitors to Paris enjoying a variety of lessons in a Paris that is starting to breathe easily after the pandemic.

2023

Renovations take 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!

We have the introduction of the Patisserie en Famille Class, the Knife Skills Class, the Bistro Class, AND an advanced pastry class Gateaux Boutique. You can explore all our classes to see what which class you want to explore next!

What’s more, Cook’n With Class turns 16 this year! To celebrate our sweet sixteen we have many exciting activities from a special discount code in our July Newsletter, to social media giveaways and competitions in our classes on our Birthday (July 17th)! Read more about how we’re celebrating our 16th Anniversary here.

 

Things can only go up from here. With two new websites and branding, the Cook’n With Class team is starting off 2023 strong and we will keep bringing more people closer to the great food, wine, & travel experiences they dream about. Discover our hands-on cooking classes in Paris and from Let’s Eat The World: Discover our culinary holiday programs, online classes, & workshops

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