Le Foodist

A cooking school in the Latin Quarter

Le Foodist runs its own cooking classes, pastry and baking workshops, wine tastings and food tours in Paris, from a kitchen in the Latin Quarter, and one-week residential cooking holidays in Provence and the Loire Valley. "All classes are in English and hands-on," the homepage says, and the school frames its teaching around both "what" and "why" French cooks do things the way they do. The market classes walk to one of two markets close to the kitchen, the Maubert market or the Monge market, which the site says it can reach on foot every morning.

The site's menu reads as a map of the business: Paris cooking classes (with or without a market visit, morning or evening, plus vegetarian classes), pastry classes (macarons, advanced macarons, French desserts, chocolate eclairs, and private pastry classes), baking classes (croissants, baguette and brioche), three food tours, the two cooking vacations, culinary team building and wine tastings.

Classes and their timings

The schedule on the homepage lists dated sessions with start and end times and a "Places left" count, which gives a clear picture of each format:

• Morning Market Visit and French Cooking Class, 9:00 am to 3:00 pm, described as "6 hours of pure delight": a market visit, a lesson on French cheeses, "a dozen French cooking techniques" and a meal. Elsewhere the site describes it as about an hour at the market and 2&1/2 hours of hands-on cooking of an appetizer, main and dessert, and calls it "our most successful class."
• Morning French Cooking Class and Lunch, 10:30 am to 3:00 pm, "up to 10 French cooking techniques" and a three course meal.
• Evening Cooking Class and Dinner, 5:45 pm to 10:30 pm, "six to ten French cooking techniques."
• Macarons in Paris, two and a half hours of baking followed by 30 minutes of teatime, with a box to take home.
• Good Morning and Good Afternoon Croissants, "3 full hours" on croissants and pain au chocolat, then teatime and a box.
• Chocolate Eclairs and Cream Puffs, built on choux pastry, cream fillings and Chantilly.
• Classic French Desserts, 10:00 am to 1:00 pm: chocolate soufflé, crème brûlée, crêpes suzette and financier or madeleine.
• Baguette and French Breads, 9:00 am to 1:00 pm, baguette, brioche and ciabatta, ending with French toast.

The site says cooking classes last "4 to 6 hours" and pastry classes "about 2&1/2 hours in the kitchen." Meals come with white and red wine chosen to pair with the food. A separate wine tasting, led by a sommelier, includes a wine and cheese pairing that covers what the site calls the 5 families of French cheeses.

The homepage explains what the market walk teaches. Every Paris market, it says, has at least a produce seller (a maraîcher), a butcher, a fishmonger, a cheesemonger and a baker, and a good cheesemonger may carry up to 100 cheeses, so the chef shows how to judge quality and offers "a few magic words" for dealing with vendors. The site also leans on French food culture as a theme, citing the 2010 UNESCO listing of the French gastronomic meal, and each cooking class ends with the group eating together.

Food tours and cooking holidays

The site runs three food tours, in the Latin Quarter, Montmartre and Les Halles. The Latin Quarter Food Tour runs 10:00 am to 1:00 pm with a local expert through the neighborhood's food shops and market, and the homepage says it ends with "a great lunch at Le Foodist of all that you will have gathered." The Montmartre Food Tour, a pastry and chocolate walk, runs 3:00 pm to 5:30 pm and tastes madeleines, choux, chocolate and macarons alongside a view over Paris. The Les Halles Lunch Food Tour appears in the menu.

The French Cooking Holidays are one week in Provence or the Loire Valley, described as "only cooking, learning, visiting, tasting wine, meeting local producers." Their dates and itineraries sit behind "More Info."

Families, diets and practical notes

The site sets clear rules for children. Families with children 12 and older can join any class "provided each child 12 years and above is accompanied by a participating adult." Children under 12 are welcome in private classes, where the site suggests macarons, choux or pastry, and for more dedicated families a baguette class or a market class.

On diets, the site says its market classes can easily be made vegetarian or gluten free if the school knows ahead of time, because other guests may have asked for dishes that conflict. Vegan classes are offered only on a private basis.

The homepage carries practical advice too: Paris open-air markets generally run in the morning, and "none of these markets is open on Monday," so the site warns against booking a market tour on a Monday.

Booking, and what the site leaves open

The reviews shown on the homepage come from Tripadvisor and name the teachers: Chef Fred on a Sunday market class, Frederick on the bread class, Stephan on a two-hour wine tasting and Emily on the Latin Quarter tour. One macaron student who went alone advises going with a friend, since the work is easier in pairs; the site itself says its small-group classes suit couples and singles alike. These are the school's chosen reviews.

Classes are booked through the schedule, with a choice of registering one person or "Two or More," and a calendar view and list view of all availabilities. Sessions show how many places are left and close when full. For private classes, culinary team building and the cooking holidays, the site points visitors to its contact form. The footer links to terms and conditions and FAQs.

The homepage does not show class prices or state a group-size cap, though the "Places left" counts show that sessions are limited. It does not set out the cancellation rule on the homepage; the footer points to the terms and conditions for that. It does not give the kitchen's street address or say whether it has step-free access.

Le Foodist suits travelers in Paris who want a hands-on class in English that mixes technique with French food culture, from a market morning to a macaron afternoon, and families with teenagers. Vegans and families with young children should plan on a private class, and anyone set on the market visit should avoid Mondays.