These are not your average, every day chefs. All of them have worked at Michelin-starred restaurants in France and around the world. These men have endured some rather entertaining and demanding kitchens to arrive at a very prestigious teaching post. And I get to sit in front of them every day, preparing basic French dishes.

Chef Bruno Stril

Bruno is my favorite. In fact, I think he’s everyone’s favorite. Chef Stril heads the Basic Cuisine department at our school. He’s a welcome introduction to everything French for those of us who are starting out. His French is easy to understand, and he speaks excellent English. He’s calm, kind and doesn’t get frustrated when his assistant measures out the wrong ingredients. He’s told us several times that this is an opportunity to learn, not to compete. I think that’s very wise advice since we’re here to get an education, not push ourselves to the limit to be perfect.

Chef Stril’s career had him serving prestigious clientele at several Michelin-starred restaurants here in Paris. Most notably, he headed the kitchen at Maxim’s – one of the oldest and most famous restaurants in the city.

Chef Marc Chalopin

I’ve only had Chef Chalopin for a handful of demonstrations and one practical. He’s a native of the Loire Valley and has worked under famous chefs such as Joel Robuchon and Alain Ducasse. Recently he spent 2 ½ years as Executive Chef at the sister school in Korea. In practical, he’s easy going, relaxed and quite helpful. He’s even willing to teach our practical class in English which is very helpful.

Chef Marc Thivet

Chef Thivet hails from the Champagne region of France – what a great place to grow up! He’s served his time at several well-known restaurants in Monaco, Nice and Paris – most notably Le Dome. He’s won several national championships and medals, but his expertise has not gone to his head. He likes to make sure we’re all paying attention when he gives us a demonstration in practical class, and I have a feeling it’s a good idea not to make him mad. I’ve heard he can yell with the best of him, but thankfully we haven’t seen that side of him yet.

Chef Guy

The first time we had Chef Guy (pronounced like Ghee), we were left shaking in our safety shoes. He wants us to learn what it’s like to work in a real French kitchen. Therefore in our first practical, all he did was yell for the first hour. It was a bit humbling when he came over to inspect one of my dishes, and I had made a mistake. For the first hour he pushed us constantly. Then after we had worked as fast as we could, he told us to relax and explained why he was pushing us so hard. We’ve had him again for a second practical, and he was nowhere near as unpleasant as the first time. In fact, he was rather funny and we bantered back and forth quite a bit. We call him Iron based on the fact he’s competed on the original Iron Chef.

Chef Xavier Cotte

Chef Cotte has had quite the tour of France in noteworthy restaurants. He’s participated in the World Culinary Summit in Singapore and was the head Pastry Chef at La Tour d’Argent. He does most of our pastry demos and is a bit of a peacock. He’s very expressive, dramatic and likes to flirt with all the women in our class. We finally had him for a practical class where we were making éclairs. He’s a good judge of our skills, but sometimes his humor is a bit over the top.

Chef Nicolas Bernarde

The chef of chefs – at least that’s what all the other chefs in the school call him. And what a chef he is. He only teaches Superior level pastry classes, and his unworldly sugar and chocolate sculptures grace the offices of the school. Chef Bernarde has served as the pastry chef for the Gabonese President, a handful of many-starred Michelin restaurants, and the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. I remember seeing him win several pastry championships on The Food Network – the most memorable being a chocolate competition where each chef created a dress, worn by a runway model, entirely made of chocolate. In 2004, Chef Bernarde was named Meilleur de France de Patisserie-Confiserie – Best Pastry Chef in France. This is the highest honor a French pastry chef can ever hope to achieve.

Since we are in Basic Pastry, we aren’t supposed to meet Chef Bernarde until we reach Superior. But by some stroke of luck, he got stuck with us for a pastry practical. So here we are, making our St. Honore creations under the watchful eye of the best pastry chef in France. Of course we were all going out of our way to impress him. He’s very approachable, and unbelievably handsome, but he runs a very tight ship and his expectations are high. I’m already looking forward to his sugar classes and the glass-like creations we’ll churn out.

The Sub

For most of our practical pastry classes, we’ve had a substitute chef. I can’t remember his name, but he’s the kindest, sweetest chef of the bunch. From what I can understand, he had his own pastry shop in Paris for many years. He now fills in from time to time at the school, and I think he’s hoping for a full time position. He keeps telling us how much of a pleasure it is to work with all of us, and we feel the same way. He provides very well thought out advice about our final creation, makes us feel very capable, and lets us know when we’re doing well.

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