Le Foodist — Local services in Paris

I took the evening dinner class with the market addition.

This was my first solo trip to Paris and this class was a perfect activity for a social evening with companionship. I took a similar class in 2016 with La Cuisine Paris and by comparison, I enjoyed the 2016 class much more. Let me explain a bit more... The class is taught in English. My group consisted of 3 couples and 3 singles - 6 women and 3 men - ages ranged from 30 to 65 -- all from the US. Overall, I thought the pace of this class was off... The market addition made the class too long (4:30 PM start to 10:30 PM). The market visit did not add any value... We went to an indoor market - the menu was already selected - most ingredients were already purchased and we just stood around while our instructor, Frederic, purchased a few additional supplies. We spoke about cheese and sampled one cheese. We were provided with Metro Tickets (nice touch!) and then we took the metro 4-stops during rush hour. We arrived at the cooking school at 6 PM and spent a solid 30 to 45 minutes sitting around while Freddie prepared the kitchen. The menu was disappointing: We prepared a Cauliflower Veloute Soup, a complicated dish of shredded Duck served in a cabbage leaf and a dessert with poached pear and ice cream. I love cauliflower soup but I found the soup to be absolutely terrible and flavorless. It was prepared with 100% milk - no stock so it had a strange and terrible flavor and texture. The Duck dish was interesting and the poached pear was very basic and a bit bland. Wine was served throughout the evening although wine consumption was discouraged during the meal prep. We didn't sit down to dinner until 9:30 PM! It was a long night... maybe I was jetlagged? So overall, this was a fine experience but certainly not a 5-star experience, not a $200 value, and not something I would recommend...

I took the macaron workshop and it was amazing! Our teacher was Chef Stephane and he was super friendly, patient, helpful, encouraging, and funny. I went with two other friends and we all really enjoyed it.

The macaron class was a group of 8 and we worked in pairs to make 4 different flavours of macarons. For my group, we did vanilla, pistachio, lemon, and chocolate. He demonstrated every step clearly so it was really easy to follow along. He also spoke Spanish fluently which was cool, aside from English and French of course. We got to participate in every step, from using a scale to measure out ingredients, boiling simple syrup until exactly 118 degrees celsius, incorporating the meringue, using our choice of a special powdered dye for the macaron, piping, and assembly. The three hours passed by before I knew it.

He taught us a lot about different types of macarons and techniques, while giving tips to guide us through every step of the way. They turned out super delicious and I was frankly proud and surprised at how nice they were. I've tried to make macarons on my own at home a few times and they've always fallen flat (literally). After the macarons were finished, we had some time to sit down and chat with him and the other students over tea and coffee. The little dining area has super cute decor too. At the end, we packed the rest of the macarons and took home a huge box of the four flavours.

Also, when the students enter, everyone stores their items in the basement and it gets safely locked up. There were a lot of cute spots to take mirror selfies with warm lighting (if you want that too LOL)

edit: I spelled the Chef's name...

I would rate this 100 if I could! This was one of the best days of my life! I had no idea how joyful and amazing this experience would be when I signed up for it. Without a doubt, you should book this cooking cass!

My husband and I booked the class without the market visit, although I heard that was very fun. He did not want to do a cooking class with me, but then he finally decided to go with me. And he sure was glad he did! Some of the women in the group told us their husbands were not interested, but I think anyone would have a blast at this class. Aside from my husband, there was one college-aged boy, who had a great time!

At first I thought, what are we going to do for 5 hours? But believe me, I could have stayed there for 5 more hours! The time went by so quickly.

Fred, the owner and chef, did such a fantastic job of helping our group of 12 get to know each other. He is fun and very polite, and just a great person to hang out with. He explained every step of the process, and divvied up the tasks. Our group was so fun and willing to learn!

Fred is a gifted chef, and a very good teacher. He was very patient with us, and just so easy-going. He was able to manage 12 people in the kitchen and multiple dishes going at the same time. I was so impressed with his managing us all!

We made a delicious salmon tartare for our appetizer. For lunch we had chicken with a divine sauce, vegetables, and potatoes au gratin. For dessert, we made vanilla ice cream with a peach topping.

This was such a perfect experience. If you are interested in a cooking class, book this one! Fred gets filled up quickly, and you don't want...