A local taste of a French classic
CAMBRIDGE - After almost three years and $18 million, Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts Boston opened two weeks ago in the Athenaeum Press building near Kendall Square.
Ironically, it's in the same city where the late Julia Child, herself Cordon Bleu-trained (she attended the original school in Paris in the 1940s) taught the nation what she knew of classic cooking.
But this is not Child's Cordon Bleu. For one thing, it's slicker than the modest premises where she learned. And the cost of tuition is in the stratosphere. Finally, it functions like a franchise, rather than a branch, of the famous school. Le Cordon Bleu Boston is run by
Students at Le Cordon Bleu Boston will spend one year learning, then do a three-month externship in a professional kitchen. They graduate with an associate's degree in applied science; the 15-month program costs $38,300. For some students, this is a second career. Others chose culinary school over conventional colleges. "The industry has become more glamorous and the demographic of restaurant cooks has changed," says school president Stephen King.
As appealing as it may seem on TV, the reality can be unpredictable. What lies ahead might well be overwhelming - student loans and low wages. For now, students seem content and modest about expectations.
Peter Cacace, 24, a Pepperell resident who studied hospitality and tourism management at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, graduated two years ago and worked as a dining room manager at the Rock Center Cafe in New York. "What I learned is that I really just wanted to cook," he says.
Cooking school might be a quicker route than starting at the bottom. The Paris school, which Andre J. Cointreau bought in 1984, had a London branch, which he bought later; then, as Le Cordon Bleu International, it expanded to nine more around the world, including Australia, Korea, and Japan. They're different schools than this Boston venture.
The Cambridge school is on three floors, which house 10 kitchens, four classrooms, a library, and soon, a restaurant called Technique, which will be staffed by students. For now, 69 are attending, with an administrative staff of 25 recruiting. Within a year, says King, "Everything will be full."
That means 1,300 future chefs dressed in checked pants, white jackets, hair covered in scull caps, scarves knotted, no jewelry except wedding bands, no perfume or nail polish. "We run a tight ship," says King.
Large kitchens are appealingly sterile and efficient, with outlets and extension cords spooling from the ceiling and remote-controlled cameras, which can zoom in and display images on large screens.
"When I walked in here for the first time, they had to pick my chin up off the floor," says student Barbara Pignone, 34. The Malden resident, who spent six years taking care of her son, always wanted to work in a hotel pastry kitchen. "I'm fine with starting at the bottom somewhere when I get out," she says, "but I would rather it be at the Four Seasons than just any local pastry shop."
Bob Botchie, 32, of Everett, is an engineer by training. "I wanted to do something more creative," he says. "I didn't want to spend 15 years becoming a professional." 