What is La Cuisine Paris?
La Cuisine Paris is a French cooking school in Paris offering a variety of cooking classes in English. We would be pleased to have you join us! We offer numerous French cuisine classes, including Croissant Classes, Macaron Classes, Traditional French Pastry Classes, Technical Skills Classes, and a French Cheese Workshop in addition to Food Tours in Paris and Versailles! We have a small international team (French and non-French), with different backgrounds and experiences, who share a common value: the desire to share their "savoir faire" and passion with you.
What is the age requirement for the class?
Please note that we have an age requirement of 13 years for our Public Classes and Tours and we do not make exceptions.
We are happy to welcome families with chefs younger than 13 for a Private experience. Our 2-hour private pastry classes and all tours are perfect for younger chefs, while our cuisine classes tend to be adult experiences and include wine with the meal.
Participants aged 13 through 18 registered for a Public Class or Tour must be accompanied by an adult who is also registered for the same experience; we are not equipped to take responsibility for minors. Again, only registered participants are allowed into our cuisines, and irrespective of age, we do not allow observers in the experience.
If you would like to learn more, please contact usdirectly at :
contact @ lacuisineparis.com
Can I document my experience with photos and videos?
We LOVE for you to take photos, and we love it even more when you share them with others (tag us on Instagram so we can show off your beautiful work)! Short video clips for the purpose of catching something important are just fine, howerver we ask that you not video the entirety of the class. If you are interested in a step-by-step video of your class, please take a look at our Video selection! In either case, please take care to not capture other students in your photos/videos without their permission.
What are the formats of each class?
Each class format differs, but all have a common theme: have fun while learning something new. We believe that a cooking class in Paris is just as much about learning as it is about enjoying your time doing so. In order to enjoy yourself with us, you should be comfortable sharing tasks and efforts with others to produce the end result. We have kitchens that resemble your home kitchen - purposefully - so that you are able to replicate the dishes at home. This includes the equipment (we are not a professional school with islands and burns and kitchen aids for each individual). We also aim to make all of our cooking classes as hands-on as possible – though some will naturally be more so than others. If you have a suggestion, we are always pleased to hear ideas from clients as to how we can improve class formats.
How do I register for a class?
You are able to register for a class using the ‘Calendar’ section of the website. This area allows you to register and confirm your place for the class. Please note that all individuals who would like to be in the cuisine area must be registered participants for the class (see below 'Can I observe a class?').
I only see classes online up to a certain date!
We update our calendar on a ‘rolling’ basis. If you cannot see a schedule for the dates of your trip, simply check back around 5 months before you travel.
How many people are there in each class?
We usually have a maximum of 10 people in each of our kitchens, but it depends on the experience. Depending on the type of class, the group may be a bit smaller. We have three kitchens in which we host our classes, two in a typical Parisian cave, the other on the second floor of the school.
Can I observe a class?
For a number of reasons, only those who are registered participants for the class can be in the kitchen area. This is for the safety, comfort, interaction, and participation of the attendees. If you are a family member waiting for someone, you are welcome in the waiting area. Please note that this also pertains to very young children. For the comfort of all the participants, we do not allow very young children being watched by their parents in the classroom areas. Our kitchens are only equipped to hold the number of participants registered for the experience.
What if I want to come, but have a dietary constraint?
We do try to stick fairly closely to the menus listed online for the class. However, if you do have a problem with one of the dishes or a dietary requirement / allergy you would like to let us know about, do get in touch! Please keep in mind that while we do try to be flexible and would be pleased to have you, there may be occasions where the menu is not easily amended.
Is there a ‘dine only’ option?
A “dine only” option is available in a private class setting only; some groups enjoy having spouses and good friends join them during dining portion. This certainly is possible and fun to do – and may be an option you would like to consider!
However, our regular classes do not have an option for guests to join just for dining. For a variety of reasons (comfort of the participants, comfort of the chef, dynamics of the group, etc.), we only allow registered customers participating in our classes from start to finish.
Is the class hands-on?
Yes. We don’t force you of course, but you should expect to get involved in the preparation during the class. Depending on the nature of the menu, some classes may be more hands-on than others, and there will be times when the tasks of the production are divided and shared amongst the group to create the dishes - particularly for the two-hour experiences. If you are not comfortable sharing with others, then we are not the best school for you. If you need and want a more hands-on experience wherein you work on your product from start to finish, take a look at the three-hour technical classes.
Is the building wheelchair / mobility accessible?
Unfortunately, our school is in a very typical Parisian building and is not wheelchair accessible. The reception area is on the ground level, but all of our kitchens are either upstairs or downstairs, accessible only through staircases. There are no elevators. Consequently we are sadly not able to welcome those with reduced mobility, or those for whom stairs are very difficult.
What if I am very late?
We work very hard to respect the schedules of our clients and we do start our classes on time. Certainly occasions do arise when you are running late for a particular reason – but please let us know. A late entry to the class can be very distracting to the other participants, so we ask that you be here five to ten minutes before the start of the class to ensure you are ready for a timely start. Our classes are relatively short experiences, and lateness can result in missing critical parts of the class. If you are very late, please keep in mind that you may have missed important steps that unfortunately the chef cannot repeat. We will ask that you enter the kitchen in a manner that is not distracting to the other group members and we ask that you be patient until there is a point that the chef can integrate you in to the flow of the class. The chef will be pleased to chat with you after the class about the elements that you missed, but will not be able to restart the class. If you are very, very late, and at a point where it may be difficult to integrate you in to the class without a distraction to the other participants, then we may respectfully decline your entrance.
What if I miss my class?
A missed class is treated as a non-refundable cancellation. When you reserve a class with us and do not show for the class, please keep in mind that we have held a place for you, made preparations for your participation in the class, and in a number of occasions turned away others who would have liked your seat. Similar to theater tickets, if you miss the activity, it is non-refundable and not rescheduled. If you are beyond our cancellation policy of 7 working days' notice and know that you will not be able to join us, please do give us the courtesy of letting us know not to expect you.
What if I have a small group and we want to do a private class?
Outside of our regularly listed classes, we do often welcome private groups for cooking classes and Foodie Walks tailored to them. Feel free to contact us at contact 'at' lacuisineparis 'dot' com for further information. We ask clients to be sensitive to the point that if they are more than five people, it may not be appropriate to register for a class that is open to the public, but rather consider a private class. Keep in mind that there will be other participants in the class, so it is not appropriate to use classes open to the public in order to arrange a private event. If you are a larger group of people, please contact us beforehand to discuss options that will make the experience the best possible!
I received my credit card bill and the amount is different.
The La Cuisine Paris prices are in quoted and charged in EUROs. When one uses an international credit card, the bank of that credit card then converts the amount in to the local currency of the credit card. Therefore, if your credit card is a US credit card, your bank will likely have applied an exchange rate to convert the amount of EUROs in to your local currency of USD. If you have questions regarding the final amount on your credit card statement, you should contact your credit card company as this is not something La Cuisine Paris is involved with.
What is the cancellation policy
We are a small cooking school and try to be as flexible as possible with our clients!
For cancellation or amendment to a reservation we ask that clients give us, a minimum of 7 working days' notice prior to the date of your registered class is required. All no-shows are treated as a non-refundable, non-transferable, late cancellations (please note that our cancellation policy does not alter for travel disruption, such as any transport cancellations). If for any reason you are not able to join us after the cancellation period, please do be kind enough to let us know not to expect you!
For cancellation or amendment to a private class/tour or reservations of 6 or more participants:
More than 14 working days before the event, the cost is fully refundable minus 5% processing fee.
Less than 14 working days before the event, you will receive a 50% refund minus 5% processing fee.
Less than 7 working days before the event, the full cost is non-refundable.
When you purchase a cooking class, you are purchasing an experience on a specific date and time, and very much like tickets to the theater, a non-showing or a late cancellation is non-refundable. Please keep in mind that we rely on confirmed class bookings for making sure that we have the right chef in place, as well as ensuring that we have fresh ingredients for each participant attending. As such, when someone cancels at the last minute, unlike a restaurant, we are not likely to fill their space.
For all reasons late cancellations, including travel changes and/or delays, are non-refundable. While we try to be accomodating, we are not a travel insurer and not able to provide refunds for missed classes in those circumstances - please direct those to the appropriate party responsible.
Please note that all processed refunds are imposed a 5% processing fee.
Can you convert the recipes in to 'cups'?
We often get questions about cups vs weight and we usually suggest that clients check their preferred on line resource for conversions. Having said this, we always encourage people to use scales for a number of reasons, including they are just more precise! Depending on how you 'pack' your cup of flour, it will have varying weights - however, 100grams of flour, will always be 100grams of flour! For some recipes, especially if you make them in large batches, if you are not precise, you can start to multiple a very big error. Also, when it is critical to use exact measurements (Macarons being a great example, scales are very helpful), lastly, the most of the world uses metric in recipes, so if you move to a scale, you will open up a world of recipes!
One of our favourites is the OXO scale where you can flip back and forth between Ounces and Grams. Hope we have convinced you =)
Should I take the Masterclass or the 3-hour Baguettes & Boulangerie Class?
Our shorter classes are suitable for all levels of ability from first-time bakers up to professionals looking for some new tips and tricks! The 2-day Best of the French Boulangerie Masterclass is more suitable for regular and confident bakers looking to really get in depth with bread baking and breakfast pastries. The two-day programme runs from 9-5pm each day. In the Masterclass we work in a professional kitchen environment including ovens etc, while our 3-hour Baguette Classes are conducted in more of a home-kitchen setting.
Is La Cuisine Paris right for me?
We would love for you to join us – but most importantly, we want you to be happy when you are here. If you are considering an experience with us, there are a couple of things to keep in mind:
We believe in sharing and group effort – we think it is best to share the work, share ideas, share experience, and share the fun. In general our classes do involve group effort with tasks for each participant - we work hard to ensure that all of the classes are hands-on, and naturally some of the classes are more hands-on than others, depending on the subject matter - for the cooking/cuisine classes this is certainly the case. If you need to have your own cooking island and do not feel comfortable sharing the production process with others, then you may want to consider a private class – our regularly scheduled classes will probably not be the best fit.
We have a number of participants in the class with varying degrees of experience – but we still try to keep it as hands on as possible - and ask that the participants be active and take responsibility for helping to ensure they are getting the experience they want. The chefs rely on feedback from their group, particularly in expressing how much or how little they would like to participate. Please do not assume that the chef will be able to know your interest level by looking at you. They love when you speak up and jump in, so please do not be afraid to do so!
We try to be realistic and manage the class in way (and in a cost) that is reasonable for the participants. As an example, the Macaron classes : as you can image, one batch of Macaron mix can make more than 60 Macarons. While the class makes sufficient batches to ensure that everyone gets a chance to work with the batter, and take home a number of macarons produced, the practicalities of having each participant make and cook one batch each is just not possible. The Macaron cookie itself is the same recipe no matter what - the color may differ - so while the group will be divided and work in a team, they work the same cookie recipes. The garnishes we use for the macarons are usually of the same base with slightly different take, so the groups are again divided to create them and debrief on the differences.
We try to offer something for everyone and hope that our new family members look carefully and consider before joining us – if you want to have a formal training experience that is heavily technical, we would not mislead you and tell you to take our two hour class… or our three hour class… or even the half day class – training that is pertinent, rigorous, and meaningful will take much longer than one day, and we do not offer that – but we think we offer plenty of other great things to enjoy!
Most important to us - we work very hard to keep our pricing accessible to all – yet and still hands on. We think we have the right balance. For those that absolutely do not want to share the work and want a full experience with the benefit of working from start to finish on an individual basis, then we are happy to have you as well – but would recommend you consider a private class with us.
How does La Cuisine Paris care for your privacy?
Your privacy is very important to us. As a result, La Cuisine Paris will not release your personal details to a third party without your prior approval. We do not redistribute your name, address, telephone number, e-mail contact to anyone else and we only use the details you have provided us to ensure that we provide you with the best possible service.
If you have opted to use a credit card for any payments, we do not have
access to these details and the information remains strictly with Monetico via our Bank CIC.
Please see our full privacy statement here
