Reflecting on pastry school and a splendid summer in Paris

Post-publish Updates

It’s been three weeks since I returned from Paris. Almost two whole weeks of jet lag, of sleepless nights and finding myself doing laundry, vacuuming or tackling cleaning chores  at odd hours in the middle of the night, then wearing myself out by baking during the day - I’m almost done test-baking the recipes from school - resuming my workout regimen, catching up on my favorite TV programs that hubby had threatened to delete while I was in Paris since they were hogging precious TIVO disk space, and simply cramming as many activities as I could into each day. It was as though I was trying to make up for the 3 months away from home by stretching my time awake as much as I could. It does feel great to be back in the comforts of your own home again. I’ve intentionally immersed myself into my pre-Paris routines, keeping the internet and other distractions at bay,  simply relishing the moments of being with D at home again. This short period of quiet time away from blogging has also given me the chance to gather my thoughts on my experiences at pastry school in Paris. 
The most important thing I’ve learnt after 3 months attending




basic pastry program at Le Cordon Bleu Paris is this: becoming a pastry chef is A LOT OF HARD WORK.  I do realize that success does involve work, no pain no gain, there’re no short-cuts, Rome wasn’t built in a day and all that, but I was probably too beguiled by the notion of a splendid summer in beautiful Paris and the enchantment of living la vie à Paris à la Julia Childs to really consider the realities of life away from home, learning a new craft in a totally different culture, in an environment where more than half the students are only two-thirds your age, having to deal with the intensity of an industrial kitchen, and worse still, the unpredictable temperaments of French Chefs. It was hard work on all fronts - physically, mentally and definitely emotionally. Don’t get me wrong - I am not the type to shy away from work and was prepared to be diligent but I think Jacques Torres, the renowned pastry chef and world-famous chocolatier summed it best in “The Making of a Pastry Chef”: “When you’re in another profession - a lawyer or an accountant, you’re someone who makes decisions and has some power in the company you work for. If you become a chef, you have to start at the bottom and learn to follow orders.” There’re pros and cons that I’m learning more of as I continue this journey. I am not sure if I’ve actually made a full commitment to become a professional pastry chef - professional is a grand word, a tall order - my passion for baking and hunger to learn more have brought me this far but the process has certainly been humbling, to say the least. 

WHY LCB PARIS?

When we first decided that I should take my passion to the next level and pursue pastry school, it was a no-brainer to do this in Paris, the center of the pastry world as far as I was concerned. I’ve looked into a few other programs available locally here in Northern California, sat in for class audits at couple schools (those of you who are seriously considering attending pastry school should definitely audit the classes in advance), spent some time with their program counselors but in the end, D and I both knew where my heart was. Nonetheless, although we knew I wanted to be in Paris, truth be told, I had doubts about Le Cordon Bleu initially because its popularity as the school for tourists and the rich wasn’t entirely appealing to me and coupled with a choice list of other schools like Ferrandi (the strongest contender on my list), Lenôtre (very doable short programs aimed at professionals with specific focus areas but conducted in French), Ritz Escoffier (also module-based, but came across more like a school for hobbyists to me),  and Ecole Nationale Superierure Pâtisserie Yssingeux in Lyon (not in Paris), to name a few, it finally boiled down to 3 factors: global name recognition, language and program duration, the last one more of a personal, self-imposed factor given the family situation. Say “Le Cordon Bleu” and chances are, most people would have heard of the name and can associate it as a strong culinary school. I do want to point out that a pure Le Cordon Bleu school, with a total of 11 campuses worldwide currently, is different than an LCB-associate school, which are culinary establishments in the USA operating under licensing agreement and allowed to use the name “Le Cordon Bleu” as long as the licensing agreement is still in place. Coming from a non-culinary background and learning a new craft at this stage, obtaining a certificate from a prestigious school - a full-fledge Le Cordon Bleu school - was for me, equally important as getting proper training and nailing the technicalities of baking. Language was also key; the demonstration classes for pastry program at LCB Paris are conducted in French and translated to English, including the Superior level which used to be conducted in French only. In general, the translators at LCB Paris were fairly proficient, with a couple of them better than the rest except for one annoying lady translator who giggled at every comment made by the chef (actually come to think of it, she only giggled to comments by Mean Chef) and often times failed to convey the essence of the message in her translation. French is the official language to be used during the practical sessions but the Chefs will accommodate and explain in English for the benefit of non-French speaking students. Hardly an issue even for a French language novice like myself.

THE FACILITY

The Paris facility is extremely overcrowded. The Paris campus offers three main culinary programs: Pastry, Cuisine and Sommelier, in addition to continuing educational courses and other weekend or short-term culinary classes. The pastry and cuisine programs comprise of 3 levels: basic, intermediate and superior (advanced). Each level takes 12 weeks to complete but during certain semesters, students may also opt to fast-track and do the intensive programs which are condensed to just 5 weeks. To give you an idea on the situation, the current Basic regular (12-week) pastry program has a total of 8 groups this semester vs. the 3 groups when I attended the summer session; there’s usually 12 to 14 students per group. This is the highest number of students they’ve had per semester in the last 20 years, a veteran staff told me. And that’s just for the regular basic pastry level. Pile on those students taking intermediate and superior pastry, cuisine and add in students doing the intensive pastry or intensive cuisine programs,  the school is literally bursting at its seams. That one of the oldest and most prestigious culinary school does not have a state-of-the-art, large enough modern facility was quite a let-down for me, albeit not a surprising one since this was a known negative that I had to contend with during the decision-making stage. With only 2 kitchens for pastry students, class scheduling is a nightmare. The absence of a known, daily fixed class schedule also made it impossible for us to enroll in any other classes outside of LCB (French language, for example) nor take on any internship or part-time work. With classes scheduled so sporadically and occasional long breaks during the week, students may also find it hard to plan for road trips or vacations, minor inconveniences as far as I was concerned compared to this traumatic-claustrophobic-pre-class-ritual that we had to undergo

A negative impact that students would immediately experience was the cramped changing rooms located in the basement: insufficient ventilation, extremely tight spaces and narrow pathways, all code-breaking elements that would have prevented the issuance of a building permit if it was here in the States. Compounded with the high heat and humidity during the summer - it was hotter in Paris than here this past summer - and coupled with droves of students rushing to get in or out of their Chef whites, it was altogether a most unpleasant experience that one had to pay to experience! Perhaps it was part of the school’s training method, their way of acclimatizing students to the harsh working conditions of professional kitchens. Perhaps. After some time, I’ve simply found a way to get in and out of the changing room in seconds - literally -  and avoiding staying in the “dungeon” for prolonged periods. 

Jardin d'Hiver (The Winter Garden)

Just to share with you some other common areas within the facility: Jardin d’Hiver - the Winter Garden is the place for students to hang out in-between classes. It was also the venue for Basic and Intermediate graduation ceremonies.

There’re 2 demonstration rooms used for both pastry and cuisine classes. Here’s a photo of the main auditorium on the ground floor which sits up to ~ 80 people; I do not have a photo of the other demo room upstairs but it is a smaller room.

I shared about the kitchens we used for the practical sessions so I will not repeat here. Instead, I’ll share the only photo I have of one of the kitchens. To think that I took a total of 6000+ photos during the 3 months in Europe and I could only come up with one decent one of the school’s kitchen? 

THE STUDENTS

A perfect sag-way to the student population at LCB Paris. There were about 40 basic pastry students attending the summer semester and the photo basically reflects how the population pie was sliced:  about 70% - 75% Asians (I know, it looks like a higher proportion but trust me on this) with remaining split amongst students from North America, South America and other European countries. Majority of the students did not possess any culinary background with more than half either still in college (on summer vacation) or coming straight out of college and having no prior work experience. There were 7 of us who were in career transition of some sort, only 3 with more than a decade’s work experience although one - an elderly student, a grandmother - told us that she was pursuing this more as a hobby than contemplating a career change. And how many students were from France, I could hear your next question. There was only one French lady student during the summer term. Only one. I asked the French student why LCB Paris was not the school of choice for locals and she told me that the French prefers to send their kids to government-sponsored public schools vs. private ones. So it’s a matter of costs more than anything else; at least that’s what I’d like to think. 

As trivial as it may seem, the group of students you end up working with does add to your experiences at pastry school.  And as cliché as this sounds, good teamwork is important during the practical sessions. “May I borrow your spatula?” “I can make syrup enough for the four so each of us don’t need to replicate” “I found your fouet in the sink; here - I’ve washed it for you as well” - music to any pastry students’ ears especially during the intense practical sessions. I still remember vividly the day that Mean Chef threw a fit when my friend “A” mistakenly transposed the measurements of her pâte à choux ingredients and the dough just couldn’t come together. If I were the instructor, I would have helped to trouble-shoot, asking questions calmly instead of yelling at the top of my lungs, trying to solve the issue at hand and hopefully, helping other students learn along the way. But no, Mean Chef just went ballistic on poor “A”, an extremely sweet but rather timid girl from Japan who aspires to run a catering business serving dignitaries at the Japanese Embassy where her fiancé works. She was simply terrified, her hands trembling as she started making the pâte from scratch again. My partner-in-kitchen “G” and I could see that “A” was at the verge of breaking down, so we went over to her station to help. By the time Mean Chef returned, “A” was piping the choux on to the baking trays and everyone didn’t have to wait too long for the last tray to be ready for the oven. Students who are serious about making a career in pastry will also be the ones who will aggressively ask questions during class sessions, undeterred by the sometimes lackluster responses from the Chefs. They are well-organized and work with speed in the kitchen, thus augmenting the efficiency of those working close to them during the practicals since no one likes to be left behind. I enjoyed knowing and working with these wonderful people: G - an ex-restaurant manager from Brazil making a career switch to pastry, C - a social worker from Canada who’s taking her year’s maternity leave to study pastry in Paris and, K - a young, budding culinary artist whose family runs 2 bakeries Down Under and A - a recent Biology graduate who decided to pursue the culinary field instead so that he can manage his family restaurants - all three in Bay Area, couple of which I frequent. Given its international recognition and location, one gets to network with a rather diverse student population. I’ve already picked out who I would add to my team of executive and sous pastry chefs in future. It won’t be Mean Chef, for sure.

THE CHEFS

I think I’ve done enough Mean Chef bashing and it’s time to talk about what’s, for me, the most important factor that defines the quality of education at LCB - les Chefs. There’re four key chefs in the Pâtisserie program and I had the chance to work with all of them throughout the duration of my basic pastry course.

First and foremost - Head of Pâtisserie de Base - the most feared revered Chef

Mr MainteNOW, Mr. ooh-I’m-jazz-a-zittle-petit-chef (inside joke amongst LCB pastry students), Mr. jovial, funny, calm and kind one minute turned angry, mean and menacing the next. Chef Cotte began his career in pastry at a very early age of 14 and has a list of impressive accolades - CAP in Cuisine and Pastry, pastry chef at the renowned Michelin-star La Tour d’Argent, then later, at Stella Marris and joined LCB Paris’ teaching faculty since 2002. Although I’m not a fan of his coaching methods (or lack thereof, really), I love his vigorous and animated demo sessions . Despite the couple run-ins with him, Chef Cotte was probably the person who gave me the best advice on how to start a career in pastry. He was fairly open about why his earlier restaurant business failed, offered good feedback on how to improve and this, perhaps one of the best - when asked what he thought about the new trends in pastry, the works of Pierre Hermé, Conticini, Mulot et. al, he nodded approvingly and then said, “but make me an old-fashioned éclair or millefeuille or croissant that consistently tastes great every single time. That, is the key”. Incidentally, Chef Cotte was also credited for popularizing the Kouign Amman in Parisian pâtisseries back in the 80s. I was sitting at the edge of my seat when he demonstrated the making of his infamous Kouign Amman. Alas, no one else in the class had heard of it! This man has made quite an impact on my journey so far, more positives that I probably care to perhaps admit. Just the other day while making croissants at home and I got a tad sloppy with my turns, I thought I heard Chef Cotte screaming across the room......

Everyone loved Chef JJ. Kind. Helpful. Quiet. Understated. The nice-guy Chef who could whip up impeccable high-end 5-star quality desserts so effortlessly. Coincidentally, Chef Tranchant was the Head Pastry Chef at Le Bristol; I had tea at Le Bristol just the other day and could recognize some of the desserts seen during Chef JJ’s demo sessions. Prior to Le Bristol, Chef JJ worked in famous Parisian culinary landmarks such as Le Fouquet’s and Hotel Nikko.  Known to help students even during the final exams, I really  enjoyed Chef JJ’s calm and zen mode in the kitchen, although I’m starting to blame him for the croissant problems I’m having these days. Chef JJ allowed us to use the croissant roller back then and now my laminating skills are rusty. On a serious note, Chef JJ loves to showcase a plethora of truly inspiring designs during his demo sessions. He’s really a great motivator. Everyone wants to have Chef JJ’s skills when we grow up in the pastry world.

We’ve only had Chef Deguignet a couple times for demo and one practical session. Chef comes from a family of pastry chefs and worked at his family-owned pâtisserie at an early age. Chef Deguignet holds both CAP and Diploma in pastry, but more impressively, the whole slew of titles won from national competitions: 1990 Gold Medalist “Trophée National de L’Academie Culinaire de France”, 1991 Gold Medalist The Pastry Confederations at “Journées Gourmandes d’Evry”, earned another gold medal from the “Société des Meiulleurs Cuisiniers de France”, Silver Medalist Charles Proust and Les Maitrees Cuisiniers de Paris, and many more that are too long to list here. Suffice to say that our Chef Deguignet is fiercely competitive and fortunate students like us get to enjoy his works of arts as he practices, often times churning out new masterpieces for display at the school’s main entrance.

Last, but not least, Chef Nicolas  Bernardé. The man with the grand title Meilleur Ouvrier de France. 

The celebrity pastry chef - this guy has created works for fashion runways, appeared on TV shows, was the Head Pastry Chef for the President of Gabon and was also a member of the pastry team for the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Mr Bernardé holds a Master of Pâtisserie and has worked in fine Parisian establishments like Dallayou before joining LCB as the Head Pastry Chef in 2001. I’m not sure why but most of the students found Chef Nicolas intimidating, much more so than Chef Cotte. I begged to differ. Chef Nicolas has a thing about organization - he was extremely picky about that and ran a tight ship during the practical sessions, sans the mindless yelling. As long as you’re not a messy, disorganized student, you’ll have a pleasant experience working with him - I say this with much caution since he was in our class not more than 3 times . What I liked most about Chef Nicolas was that he was very technical. He was also sharp and intelligent; he understood what students did not understand and adjusted his teaching accordingly. He would not only explain the hows but also delve into the whys, and like it or not, making pastry is a Science. One has to understand the Science of Baking and nail down the technicalities first before the artistic touches come in. It is quite pointless to focus on decorating or plating a cake that couldn’t rise not puff pastry that couldn’t puff, is it?

I recall the time when a student had messed up her chocolate ganache and instead of losing his temper, Chef Nicolas gathered all of us around the her workstation, walked us through the trouble-shooting process step-by-step and showed us how to remedy the problem. At the end of the practical sessions with Chef Nicolas, he would not only grade each student on their bakes but also took the time to explain what worked well and what needs improvement, right on the spot. Sadly, we didn’t always get the benefit of such method of critique and coaching in most of our practical sessions, partly due to the different instructor styles and also in part due to the time factor. Most of the time, the Chef presiding over our practical sessions were rushed to clear the kitchens in time for another incoming group. Desserts need time to set, especially when you’re making mousses, ganaches or assembling cakes with multiple components so I don’t recommend condensing the practical sessions, but having more than just the 2 kitchens would definitely help ease the scheduling and logistics nightmares issues. Actually I may have to retract that last statement since I do recall that a few Cuisine students shared with me how their instructors took time to taste and critique their food at the end of the practical sessions. So let’s just leave out the logistics and blame it on lazy pastry chefs!

THE CURRICULUM

If you’re not bored stiff already and still following this seemingly endless post, here comes the interesting part - the curriculum for basic pastry at LCB. You are interested to find out, aren’t you and I’m not being presumptuous, am I? Truth of the matter is I’ve received several emails asking the same so might as well lay out the course structure here. We started with simple, basic recipes like sablés (shortbreads), then progressed on to the various kinds of tart crusts - we had to learn and memorize at least 5 different kinds of tart crust recipes, then, going out of any logical sequence (in my opinion) to teacakes and the various cake batter methods followed by puff pastries, jumped back and forth between meringues, puff pastries and more tarts/tartelettes, yeasted dough which includes croissants and brioches (sadly, no baguettes) and finally - my favorite -  a series of cake assemblies employing the various techniques and elements from earlier lessons. 

My friend, an expert in the world of baking and French pastries also noted the rather peculiar sequence and found it interesting how the curriculum mixes up the basic with complex techniques and recipes. We also learnt different recipes and methods for crème pâtissiere, crème anglaise, mousses, meringues, chantilly and artery-clogging buttercreams (the recipes are very, very heavy-handed when it comes to butter) as well as decorating with marzipans and plastic chocolates which I frankly didn’t quite care much for, honed our piping skills and also explored chocolate tempering. Of course this is just the tip of the iceberg but I would say the basic pastry program has covered at least 80% of the standard pastries you’d get in a typical Parisian pâtisserie, notwithstanding haute pâtisseries like PH, Dallayou, Hugo & Victor, etc. of course. I’ve also touched a bit on the exam formats in my previous post so the only thing I would like to add here is this: LCB needs to shift from its method of rote learning and instead, aim towards methods that build a stronger technical foundation, equipping basic level pastry students with the skills to recognize the specifics that made a bake successful or know how to trouble-shoot when problems arise. Again, baking starts with Science;  purely memorizing how many grams of sugar, or butter, or flour in a recipe will not help if you’ve measured everything with precision yet still find that your bake had failed but do not definitively know what the problems were.

THE GRADING SYSTEM

About mid way through the semester, you will receive your mid-term grades and also have a one-on-one session with your Chef. At the end of the program, assuming you hadn’t messed up terribly in the final exam and failed, you will receive your transcript showing the gradings for the following:

• Your practical sessions throughout the term - accounts for 45% of total grade
• Written Exam - 10% of total grade
• Final Exam  (remaining 45%) showing further breakdown of your final exam scores for Technique, Organization, Presentation, Taste and Recipe Memorization.

Your grades are computed to show up to 2 decimal points. Such precision, you exclaim? Naturally, the accountant in me wanted a more detailed breakdown on the Practical sessions since all that was published was just a total score for that category. My request was handled with reluctance; they told me they cannot release the scores to me - my scores - in hardcopy but I was welcomed to take a look at my scores on the staff’s computer screen. What?? I wasn’t asking for classified top-secret information, was I? “How else can a student know which areas to focus on for improvements?” I was adamant. Based on that statement that I had made, she printed out a hardcopy for me to peruse in the office and said, “but you can’t take this”. I’ve never heard of such nonsense but kept calm as I wanted to focus on the scores. At first glance, it looked like there were scores for every detail: cooked sugar 3.654 (4), creaming 3.3 (2) just to give an example. Some of the other categories were lining of tart mold, whisking, dough lamination, marzipan roses, etc. The scores were further weighted by the number of times you’ve been evaluated for each category (the numbers shown in parantheses - see above example), which explained the decimal points in their scoring system. Peel back the layers further and that’s when the deck doesn’t seem to hold; my report card showed a certain score for Tastes, averaged over 18 evaluations but I can tell you that out of all the bakes that I’ve done throughout the term, Chef only tasted once. It was the pâte à choux session when we made éclairs and chouquettes; Chef tasted one of my chouquettes to make sure I had not forgotten the salt so technically, he only tasted half of my bake! Hence I’m not entirely sure who tasted the other 17 times but apparently someone followed me home (I’ve always brought all my bakes home for photo-shoots and taste-tests), tasted my bakes when I wasn’t looking and could give me scores that averaged down to 3 decimal points!  There were many other sillies that I could catch, certain areas where I knew I didn’t do too well yet scored high marks and vice versa. For example, I knew I was always less generous when it came to imbibing my cakes with syrup since I was trying to cut back on sugar, yet they scored me high on that. Besides, it would’ve been rather difficult to tell the amount of syrup that was applied (the Chefs weren’t always around) unless one cuts into the cakes (have I shared with you that the Chefs didn’t taste what we made?). Lastly, the final math just didn’t add up, which irked me to the nth degree! The detailed scores show a certain percentage but my transcript showed another.  A perception of precision which cannot be fully supported by solid details. Nonetheless, I would not totally discount this method of grading; it IS certainly helpful for students to know where they stand on each technique rather than one gross final score but let’s be mindful that when there’s garbage in, there’ll be garbage out. There has to be some level of consistency amongst the graders and certain discipline enforced to adhere to the standards set.  I also hope to see their systems being upgraded to deliver real-time online scoring so students can log on to their designated accounts after each practical session and review the scores, thus allowing for corrections and improvements as the term progresses. Bonjour, it’s 21st century and we are talking world-class, aren’t we? Nonetheless, more than the grades, more than getting noticed by the Chefs, more than vying to be Chef's pet, being curious, asking questions, approaching this solely from a learning standpoint is crucial to getting the most out of your time in school.

THE LEAST IMPORTANT FACTOR: COSTS
Ha, that must’ve perked you up, didn’t it? I figured that you’re all droopy-eyed and drifting into sleepy land or perhaps you’ve totally abandoned this post by now. If one has surpassed the 4500-word mark and still have not come to the end of a blog entry, it’s no longer self-indulgence but more like an evangelistic mission to share a message. Now that I’ve painted the landscape of pastry school and baked in (pun intended) my observations on key areas, we get to the real meaty part. How much does it cost?

Perhaps the most glamorous part of living and going to school in Paris for several months is the costs, not necessarily a good thing. Since tuition fees hike change all the time, it’s best to send you here for the updated information. It’s no surprise that Paris is one of the most expensive cities to be in, real estate is at a premium and you pay an arm and a leg just to get a tiny studio where you’ve got to pace your steps as soon as you enter else you’d reach the end of the room immediately. Rentals are also steeper during the summer months yet good apartments are snapped up by tourists or short-term visitors as soon as they become available. The school has a listing of studios and apartments for rent directly by owners; practice strong persistence in getting hold of that list since the staffs are usually busy with other priorities. The school is located in the 15th arrondissement (district);  most students I knew spent around Euro 700 - 800 per month for a studio (not larger than~200 sq. ft.) in the same or surrounding districts, with some spending north of Euro 1,000 per month and more for slightly larger apartments. Having a real kitchen, one that’s fully equipped with working stoves, oven and decent workspace and not one of those closet-size 2-burner hot plates, was an extremely important criteria in my search for an apartment. It was a decision that really paid off; not only did I get to practice baking but it allowed me the chance to go back to the Chefs with questions, questions that might not have surfaced had I not tried out the recipes. Housing is probably the single largest expense; followed by food although that depends on individuals. After all, Paris is the gastronomic center of the world with a dizzying array of great restaurants, brasseries and bistros; you have a choice from elegant meals at Michelin-star establishments to still exquisite food prepared by great Chefs, sans the 3-star price tags

Lunch menu @ Yves Camdeborde's Le Comptoir

......to cheap but good and hearty “street” food

I can live on bread baguette alone....and awesome cheeses!

Of course one of the joys of having a kitchen in Paris is the ability to shop for fresh produce readily available at neighborhood open markets, then cook a wonderful meal at home. A quintessential Parisian experience that’s easy on the wallet. But when you’re in pastry heaven, setting aside a budget  - what I’d call the sweet indulgence fund - is definitely a must because, just because.......

I’ve been visiting local bakeries since I got home and let me tell ya - the croissants here just don’t taste as good as those in Paris. 

Transportation can either cost you nothing - Paris is truly a very walkable city plus one has to burn off those gastronomic indulgences anyway  - or not more than Euro 60 a month for travel pass with free, unlimited access to the city’s public transportation; of course you’re in a different league altogether if you take cabs everyday in which case, it’s just chump change for you. Depending on the lifestyle one chooses to lead in Paris, the living expenses may add up to equal or even exceed a term’s tuition fees. 
So is all the expense and time worthwhile? It may be difficult to justify the return on investment on this. Chancier. Riskier. According to him, it’s probably the wrong path to take. Then again,  I wouldn’t have embarked upon this if it was purely monetary. Besides, there're other options in the pastry world aside from pastry chefs. The one thing that was apparent to me while in pastry school was how very little I knew about the craft, and more importantly, how much more learning that needs to take place after one leaves school, especially in the pastry world where experience, rather than mere paper credentials define the chances for success. It’s hard work, not your typical eight-to-five office job, physically demanding and you’re probably covered in flour and sweat all day long especially when you first start out. A young 19-year old student friend shared with me that she wanted to go into pastry field because she wants to make a lot of money when she returns to her home country in Brazil. Ironically, after several years, a fellow blogger, a Grand Diplome holder (did both pastry and cuisine programs) and LCB Paris alumni, decided to pursue her CPA certification in Accounting because she believed that Accounting jobs are more available and the profession is more protected from the impacts of recession. So it may work for some and not for others.  True success stories are few and far between despite the romanticized and glorified image of culinary chefs on TV today.
So what are my next steps? Stay tuned and we’ll find out together. In the meantime, here’s a high-level summary on basic pastry program at LCB Paris - strictly my opinions and take based on personal experiences:

Facility: cramped and increasingly crowded; could use expansion and some updating

Student population: mostly young, in their 20s, seeking first career in culinary; quite a few college students on summer break from North America

Faculty: highly qualified with strong resumes (MOF, Michelin-star and international experiences, national competitions, etc.) However great chefs ≠ great coaches; a couple need to improve on coaching techniques

Curriculum for basic pastry: shortbreads, tarts and tartlets, pound cakes and tea cakes, puff pastry, meringues, dacquoise, yeasted dough, genoise, sponges, mousses, ganaches, cake assemblies, decorating with marzipans, piping, and intro. to chocolate tempering.

Each lesson begins with a 2.5 - 3 hour demonstration session followed by 3-hour practical (hands-on) session in the kitchen

Exams: Written (10% of total grades) and Finals (45% of total grades); remaining 45% based on evaluation of practical sessions

Students are graded on Techniques, Organization, Presentation and Tastes

Grading: rather subjective for practical sessions; can improve by ensuring more consistency amongst Chefs and enforcing real-time feedback every session. Until then, take it with a grain of salt and just focus on learning 

Costs: Tuition Fees  + Living Expenses (safer to assume starting from Euro 1,000 per month to higher, depending on location and lifestyle)

Now it would have been smarter to just provide this summary from the start, wouldn’t it? Are you still with me??