There are cities that teach you things no classroom can. Paris is one of them. Walk its streets early enough and you’ll find bakers already at work, pastry shop windows dressed like art exhibitions, market stalls arranged with a care that borders on reverence. Food here is not an industry — it is a language, spoken fluently by an entire culture for centuries.
It is in this city, and under the guidance of one of the most celebrated names in the history of gastronomy, that we are proud to introduce our newest partner school: École Ducasse.
A Name That Needs No Introduction
Alain Ducasse is, by any measure, one of the most influential chefs of the modern era. His restaurants have held more Michelin stars simultaneously than those of any other chef in history. His philosophy — rooted in classical French technique, shaped by a modern and sustainable vision of cuisine — has defined fine dining for a generation. École Ducasse is the educational expression of that philosophy: a place where the standards of the world’s finest kitchens are brought into the classroom, and where students are trained not just to cook, but to think, create, and lead.
For US students with serious culinary ambitions, this is not simply another school in Europe. This is the opportunity to learn from the source.
Programs for Every Stage of a Culinary Career
One of the things that sets École Ducasse apart within our portfolio is the range of programs on offer — designed to meet students wherever they are in their journey.
For those taking their first professional steps, the Culinary Arts Essentials and French Pastry Arts Essentials programs offer intensive eight-week foundations built around hands-on practice. With 80 to 90 percent of each program dedicated to practical workshops, these are not introductory courses in the traditional sense — they are fast-track professional launchpads, designed for career-changers, entrepreneurs, and passionate food lovers who are ready to commit fully to their craft. Graduates leave with the skills to pursue careers as chefs, private chefs, pastry chefs, caterers, and culinary entrepreneurs.
For working professionals looking to elevate their practice, the Expert Diploma in Culinary Arts and Expert Diploma in French Pastry Arts represent something rarer: advanced programs designed exclusively for those who already have experience, and are ready to operate at the highest level. With cohorts capped at ten students and curricula built around luxury hotel and resort cuisine, haute-couture cooking, artistic pastry, and sustainability in professional kitchens, these programs are less about learning the fundamentals and more about perfecting a professional signature.
All programs are taught in English, and all are based at École Ducasse’s Paris-area campuses — putting students at the center of the world’s most storied culinary culture from day one.
What Studying in Paris Brings to the Table
Switzerland has long been our home for culinary and hospitality education, and the schools in our Swiss portfolio — Culinary Arts Academy Switzerland and Swiss Culinary Academy by BHMS — remain among the finest in Europe. But France adds something different to the conversation.
Studying culinary arts in Paris means your education extends well beyond the kitchen walls. The city itself is a curriculum — in its markets, its restaurants, its pastry shops, its wine bars, and its deep, living relationship with the table. Students who train here don’t just learn technique; they absorb a culinary culture that has shaped the way the entire world thinks about food.
For US students in particular, the opportunity to spend time immersed in that environment — training in state-of-the-art facilities, guided by chefs who have worked at the highest levels of the profession, and living in one of the world’s great cities — is genuinely transformative.
A New Chapter in Our Portfolio
Adding École Ducasse to our partner schools represents a natural evolution of what we have always set out to offer: access to the best culinary education Europe has to give, with the guidance and support to make it accessible for American students.
Whether you are considering a career change, looking to launch your own culinary venture, or seeking to take an already established professional practice to the next level, École Ducasse offers a path worth taking seriously.
Paris is waiting. The kitchen is ready. Contact us to learn more about École Ducasse programs and how to apply.
Contact us
