The Courageous Cooking School: Immersive, Recipe-Free Culinary Education Retreats at La Pitchoune and Around the World
The Courageous Cooking School: Immersive, Recipe-Free Culinary Education Retreats at La Pitchoune and Around the World
For over five years, we’ve opened the doors of La Pitchoune to intimate groups of 4-7 guests to dive into the world of French Culinary techniques, discover French (mostly natural) wines that we procure from around the country, and give people a culinary escape like no other.
Our proprietary Courageous Cooking School is a truly, one-of-a-kind masterclass in Recipe-Free cooking, developing dishes from scratch, using only the highest quality products including single-origin spices, organic produce, and locally crafted everything. The school is an in-depth, hands-on culinary education that provides one-on-one attention and an immersive opportunity to play in the pegboard kitchen. We cook from the bounty of local produce from Provence—including produce and herbs and eggs from our own ample, on-site garden.
Look into our world a bit through our TV Show
What Our Clients Say
Here at the Courageous Cooking School we believe know that:
01
You are ABSOLUTELY trustworthy in the kitchen to create from the hip...we’re just here to help you tap into the HOW and teach you the techniques required to make it happen
02
Your intuition paired with Solid technique is better than MOST COOKbookS (really). You know what you love to eat - even if you don’t realize it just yet.
03
if you enjoy eating, you’re naturally inclined to be great at cooking delicious things. You just need a framework to unlock your capacity (we provide that).
Your capacity to be a better cook isn’t hiding in a cookbook, it’s already within you. And our expertly trained instructors are with you every step of the way to unlock that magic.
Every 6 Night, 5 Day, All-Inclusive Courageous Cooking School Experience includes:
More than 30 hours of Recipe-Free cooking classes built on our Proprietary Courageous Cooking Method
Shared accommodations in well-appointed rooms
Every room has Dyson Hair Dryers and Air Wraps; luxury bath/body/skincare products. If you’d like a single occupancy room, we have a single supplement option.
Opportunities for hiking, and a gorgeous outdoor gym
We’re a 5 minute walk from some nice hiking trails, and we have an outdoor gym with weights and body weight training tools.
All meals, Three meals a day
From Apéro on arrival day to Breakfast on departure day every meal is sorted. With plenty of choices. Some cooked by you, some by us, some out and about.
Drinks? of every stripe are included. And unlimited.
Water, sparkling water (on tap!), tea, single-origin coffee, and wines from all over France (and the world). Don’t drink alcohol? Worry not! We have 0 proof spirits and cocktails.
Chauffeur Service
We’ll pick you up at any train, plane, boat, or bus station within 30-ish miles or so. Cannes, Nice, Antibes…All of them work.
What you’ll actually learn?
To think more like a chef, allowing greater creativity in your own home kitchen and capacity to cook seasonally, without fuss (and multiple grocery store runs to nab that missing ingredient).
You’ll master nearly all of the key French techniques (including: sauces, braises, souflées, mousses, stocks, sautéeing, roasting, and more) AND you’ll learn how to turn them on their heads so you can create an infinitesimal amount of dishes from these crucial and classic skills
How to mix and match spices with ease, so that your ‘go to Chicken’ recipe is something you can make five days in a row without it actually tasting the same.
Crucial knife skills to love, and some to lose. You’ll walk away with the chef-y tools necessary for the home cook, and we’ll demystify what you don’t need.
What you actually need in your kitchen pantry, spice cabinet, and batterie de cuisine to cook well.
How to go to a market, shop for whatever brings you joy, and then actually be able to turn that bounty into something delicious from anywhere in the world.
Join us for our Final season in the pegboard kitchen before we make the move to Grasse: Spring 2025
Meet Us at La Pitchoune - the house that Julia built.
Our Courageous Cooking School experience is far beyond a ‘food tour’. It’s a culinary back door into the wondrous world of French cuisine, and an introduction to thinking more like a chef in your own kitchen using recipe-free cooking. It’s a slow, immersive, breathtaking dive into the local region we inhabit, and gives you the best of the French Riviera in a deeply immersive educational experience. The bonus? We’re at La Pitchoune. Nestled just outside of Grasse, France 'the house that Julia Child built’, adorns the hillside with it’s jewelbox charm. Home to the only working pegboard kitchen, styled after the walls of E. Dehilerin in Paris.
The language of instruction is English.
$11,000 per person, double occupancy lodging
$14,000 per person, for single occupancy lodging
Courageous Cooking School Dates
Spring and Fall 2024
We are still booking for COOK CAMP in August, October is Sold Out!
August 24 - 30
The rest of our 25 weeks are sold out!
Spring & Summer 2025
March 2-8
March 9-15
March 16-22 - SOLD OUT
March 23-29
March 30-April 5
April 6-12 -Only 3 spaces left
April 13-19 - SOLD OUT
April 20-26
April 27-May 3
May 4-10
May 11-17
May 18-24 - Only 1 space left
May 25-31 - Only 2 spaces left
June 1-7 - Only 2 spaces left
June 8-14 - SOLD OUT
June 15-21 - SOLD OUT
June 22-28
Step into your week with us….
You’ll pack your bags, hop a plane, get to the local area, and one of our drivers picks you up on Sunday and bring you to La Peetch’s doorstep. Upon arrival, one of our team members will whisk you away to your impeccably designed bedroom (We’ll even carry your bags). Designer linens grace your wildly comfortable bed, there are ample fluffy towels, stunning flower bouquets are at every turn, Dyson hair dryers, and luxury bath/body/skincare products wait for you. In moments, a cold glass of rosé will be in-hand, and the tour de force of discovering delicious things begins…
We begin with a seasonal apéro dinner—small producer cheeses and charcuteries of every stripe, local vegetable crudité, plenty of natural wine, and so much more. (We like some of it to be a surprise after all).
From Monday to Thursday, we’ll meet each day and gather in our pegboard kitchen to engage in a tour de force of deliciousness, expertly guided by a top-notch culinary team (all of us are graduates from top culinary academies and range from adept homecooks to Michelin-Starred restaurant chefs). We’ll highlight class French culinary techniques, focusing on key use cases for the home cook. We will hone your knife skills, and cover everything from the basics to more advanced techniques including braising, sautéing, searing, butchery, infusions, and so much more. You’ll master the art of soufflés, omelettes, mousses, custards, and complex flavor combining–all from the hip.
All of our meals are communal and occur outdoors on our sun-soaked terrace (when possible) where wine, French linen, flowers, and more await you.
Friday, we take to the town to explore the heritage of Provence–from the perfumed hills of Grasse, to one of the best Provençal markets in the world— and to culminate? You’ll enjoy a chef-made, multi-course tasting menu using the spoils of the week in new ways.
The whole week is set up to demystify deliciousness for the home cook. And we’ve removed any barriers to your learning and retaining the information. Your mission during the week is to enjoy and immerse. We’ll clear the table and do the dishes, we’ll do your laundry, we’ll housekeep your room each and every day. The staff to guest ratio is 1:1. (And each of them are paid well enough to actually love their job.) Impeccable hospitality is the name of our game.
Worried you won’t retain everything? A lifetime membership to our live-streamed online platform RecipeKick is included so you can practice all your new found skills at home, with guidance and support.
Every week strangers and friends mingle together at the Courageous Cooking School and La Pitchoune
In fact many stay connected after their stay with us for years to come, and become lifelong travel buddies and friends. If you want to come back after you visit us? You absolutely can! Joining the Pitchounicorn gang is like getting access to a top-secret travel club. Because…we host level 2 classes, Courageous Cook Camps, and trips around the world to Italy, Morocco, Spain, Mexico, and more. In fact, 30% of our clients do return.
Please note...
We will not be cooking from Julia Child’s cookbooks, or learning to cook like her - not at all!
We want you to cook LIKE YOU. Using new found techniques, gorgeous knife skills, and delicious flavor combining.
The only way we try to embody her spirit? We encourage a willingness to just give it a good ole’ fashioned try in the kitchen AND a freewheeling love of really good cooking technique.
Want to rent La Pitchoune and cook from Mastering the Art of French Cooking? You can do that by clicking here.
In Our Clients Words...
Samantha Halpern, Food Relationship Coach
Natalie Arianne Baack, Intuitive Insights Consulting
Meet Your Hosts
Makenna Held, Chris Nylund, Stuart Folkes, and Kendall & Ross Lane
In 2015, when Makenna bought La Peetch, they had no idea what they were in for or that they would create the Courageous Cooking® Method. All they knew? Was they sure as heck couldn’t teach Julia’s recipes at La Peetch (coals to Newcastle kinda situation). So to combat that? They opened the world’s first, recipe-free cooking school. Now, nearly 8 years later, they traipse around the world from Italy to the United States, teaching Courageous Cooking® Classes to shake up how people think, talk, and build cooking (and shhhhh it’s a secret…personal) capacity.
After a few years of testing if you could teach cooking without recipes, Makenna took the idea of a recipe-free cooking school and turned it into a method to make any dish, any time, for any palette, even if you’re not a trained chef. WIth the help of their best friend, and husband, they turned the Courageous Cooking thought process into an easy-to-repeat framework that will turn even the most timid cooks into courageous ones.
Chris comes to La Peetch with a background in curriculum development, library science, and history nerd-dom and will certainly regale you with food, La Peetch, and music history.
In 2016, Makenna met Kendall on the first day of orientation at Le Cordon Bleu and said to Kendall “Someday I think you’ll work for me”. Kendall DID NOT believe them, but Makenna was right.
With years of Michelin-starred sous-chefing under Kendall’s belt, you’ll guaranteed to learn a heck of a lot with Kendall in the kitchen. (She’s a powerhouse). Her husband Ross, is our wine wizard.
Stuart joined our team in May 2023 on RecipeKick, and full-time on the culinary and hospitality side in December 2023. A multi-Cordon Bleu graduate herself. The team is certainly ‘dreamy’.
Your questions, answered
Do I have to already know how to cook really well and without recipes?
ABSOLUTELY NOT! We’ve worked with people from all abilities. Literally from people who have never even boiled an egg, all the way up to students who are cookbook testers and recipe creators professionally.
No matter your current skillset, you’ll learn something that will blow your mind. A technique, a historical tidbit, a new dish. THAT we can promise. And we’ll give you some homework so you can prep, and be the teacher’s pet from day one. ;)
Your pricing is really expensive! WHY?
Yes. It's absolutely expensive to come to the Courageous Cooking School. We know that. And, if you compare us to our colleagues in high-end travel/hospitality/cooking experiences with backdoor access to things you couldn't do/get on your own, we're pretty much the same price. The fact that this house 'feels like it belongs to the public' because it was Julia's is a problem in how people perceive our pricing.
There are a number of factors that made us bring our prices to what they are now. Including…
Pandemic. Business debt from said pandemic. The real cost of doing business. Etc.
Living wages are expensive. We don’t just pay living wages we pay thriving wages. The absolute lowest paid humans on our team makes $25 an hour (US based) or at minimum 50% above the current SMIC (their minimum wage) for Europe based folks (cleaners/dishwashers/nanny for our kiddo because…we work a lot when you’re with us…etc). Our experience requires 10+ people working 40 hours a week, to deliver an experience for 6-7 people. Basically 1/3 of your payment is just to cover human capital. And if you know anything about business, it means our margins (after other costs) are thin.
Food, hospitality, and tourims is traditionally a “low-ish cost” game. And we think that sucks. People are underpaid in the food world, and we decided to say “nope” to that. In fact, the labor laws around “what it costs to actually make food/run tourism” are freaking outlandish, and we refuse to continue the exploitation of food folks.
We only welcome up to seven folks a week, most of our colleagues in the industry host 10-15 people at a time, and OFTEN their programs do not include lodging, all-inclusive beverages, transportation, etc. The pricing for these experiences is pretty comparable to ours when you look at what we include as extras including the online programs, what we send your way, transportation, etc.
La Peetch costs a lot of money to maintain. Holy monkey. Last year we had septic issues that was literally over 100k to fix. We have to keep everything in great condition, which is expensive. And the deferred maintenance is real!
We're an educational instituion, not a tourism experience. Joining us is a way to get a long-term education in recipe-free cooking, and in classical techniques. Both in-person, and in our online platform.
Why am I being this transparent?
Well…because I think business should be more transparent. The real costs of most things in business are hidden, and not talked about. AND the expectation for affordability of certain industries are directly linked to colonialism and capitalism. Ahem.
And since we’re a relatively public facing business, with a beloved former occupant, a TV show on major networks, and our current steward is a business mentor?
Transparency is important.
The good news?
Our online school is now FREE to join, the Smithsonian original Julia Child kitchen in DC from her Boston home is absolutely free, and we’ve built a new lower cost program for folks who want to spend time with us. It's called COOK CAMP! And it starts at $4000 a person!
The Courageous Cooking School is for people who want to shift their entire frameworks on cooking, it’s not for people who just want to see La Peetch. We understand we’re not for everyone. And with only 16 weeks a year, supply/demand is as it is.
And yes…we’re expensive. Because we have to be. And because...Most people who attend say it is utterly worth it.
Will we be visiting the perfumeries of Grasse? Museums? Etc etc?
The short answer is yes and no. We are not a sight-seeing focused tour group. In fact, we’re not a tour company. We are a curriculum-centered cooking school. Yes, we leave campus somedays. But we’re not going to be gallivanting from place to place. This is immersive, slow travel done remarkably differently.
But we sometimes do go to a perfumery, as it's directly related to cooking. But won't be spending a lot of time in museums/site-seeing/etc.
Will there be down time for me to sight-see?
Not really. If you want to sight-see in the local area, we encourage you to come before or stay after to do so.
Do you have amenities on campus? Shampoo? Soap? Conditioner? Hair dryers?
Dyson Hair Dryers AND AirWraps. High-end ammenities (Caudalie and Aveda) So...Yes! We have everything on campus you need. We ask that you limit your use of the washer and dryer and combine loads of laundry with friends if you don’t have a full one. We prefer not to let you use the laundry whatsoever, but if you need it, we won't say 'no'. It’s a historic house and we need to be gentle with water consumption.
Can you send me a rough schedule?
Nope! We can’t. Our philosophy is ‘Be. Here. Now’.
I know that’s weird for those who are used to tour groups, but we aren’t rigid in terms of schedule around here. We live in France, a country that loves to live in the mindset of ‘it depends’.
Since we’re seasonal, we also change things from time to time. We’re not here to create the perfect vacation, we’re here to facilitate a deep dive into the local cuisine. And to teach you about the local cooking techniques, produce, etc. And that changes from season to season.
We can tell you we always visit markets, always visit local food producers/purveyors, always go to at least two restaurants that are extraordinary and always cook A LOT.
More Thoughts on the Experience:
"I think of my experience at La Pitchoune all the time, so many wonderful memories!
I loved my time at La Pitchoune, the opportunity to cook in that kitchen and peruse some of their memorabilia that has been collected over the years was marvelous. I enjoyed the total cooking experience even without recipes! Our chef, was a treasure. We all enjoyed the delicious food we prepared and the French wines with every meal.
It was a photographers dream being able to take pictures of the presentation of ingredients in the kitchen every morning before class, the cooking techniques and of the final presentation of the meals we created. A good time was had by all!
Everyone does a wonderful job making all who attend your Courageous Cooking School a holiday to remember!"
Karen Allen, Photographer and Writer
"My favorite part about the Courageous Cooking School? Interacting with the hosts, the instructor, and the other students in such a beautiful location.
Then there was the day trip to the market in Antibes! Getting to shop and cook everything we bought the same day was an amazing experience. I was delighted and surprised by just how delicious the food was (and the never-ending pink water! Aka Rosé!)
If you're someone who loves food and wine and wants a taste of Provençal life? You should come. Also? You've never eaten good melons unless you've tried the melons in Provence."