France has a reputation for great food, and she intends to keep it that way!

How does France keep up its reputation for good food? Where do all the great chefs come from? Would you like to dine on the knowledge that the student-chef of today’s meal might just be one of the great 4-star chefs of tomorrow?

Relatively confidential, there are a myriad of restaurant schools in Paris where the public can come and dine. 

Logically, if students are to learn to cook for restaurants, they must be able to practice cooking for restaurant-sized numbers of guests. But when they do so, who is going to eat the meal? And how can they learn to serve correctly? That, therefore, is the basis of the “restaurant d’application.”  The general public can reserve tables at these restaurants where the quality tends to be high and the cost low.

Some are private and students pay for their studies, some are part of the public high school (and post-high school) system, some are specifically for dropouts from school or from society altogether, or for the handicapped, and aim to train the students in a profession where they are sure to find work. 

So that students can practice their skills regularly, these schools have restaurants where the students are in charge under the very watchful eyes of their teachers: they check your coat, greet and seat you, create the cocktails of the day, get your wine choice, and serve. Out of sight, they do all the cooking.

As these restaurants are schools, many of them only serve lunch, and almost all of them follow the French school year and are therefore closed on the weekends and during French school vacations.

In most cases, menus are announced in advance; they can be fixed or offer some choice, but drinks are most often extra.  

RESERVATIONS ARE A MUST, and should be made well in advance. It is best to reserve as close as possible to the day that a restaurant opens its reservations for a particular date, which may be more or less a month before, as tables fill up very quickly.

Let’s take a closer look.

Ferrandi

This is France’s most sought-after restaurant school. Some of France’s greatest chefs began at Ferrandi. At the same address, there are two restaurants, both gastronomique, the 28 and Le Premier, that differ only in the students’ class level. At the latter, food is prepared and served by students studying for the equivalent of a high school diploma in food service, while at the former, students will be working toward a bachelor’s degree. There is also a year-long international section, which is taught in English. The students are expected to be highly conscientious and professional in their work.

Seating for a five-course lunch takes place at 12:30pm, and the lunch from amuse-bouches through to dessert and mignardises (a kind of smaller, second dessert) will finish at around 3pm. Reservations open three weeks before the lunch date, which can become full within minutes. However, after chatting with the director of the international program, he has suggested that an email can be sent to try and get a reservation for the time you will be in Paris. In this case, be sure to ask for English-speaking students, who will be happy to prepare their wait service specially for you in English. 

Address: 28 Rue de l’Abbé Grégoire, 75006 Paris, France

Restaurant d’Application Belliard

Like for Ferrandi, there are two restaurants here: Sesame and Paprika. The former is where first-year students learn to bake bread, cook, and serve, and to study wine and coffee. It was kindly explained that the objective of Sesame is to give young people a first professional experience of this trade and to inspire them to continue in this career. The latter is for more advanced students studying for a degree in restauration. 

Address: 135 rue Belliard, 75018 Paris, France

La Table d’Albert de Mun

With a small vase of fresh flowers on each one, this vocational high school has round tables throughout for groups of 5-6, with some square ones along the walls for smaller groups. Beyond the main general restaurant curriculum, the school offers three specializations: pastry and bread baking, as well as chocolates and wines, where proof of the learning is in the eating (and drinking!).

Menus are announced on the site, so reservation dates best made a month in advance can be made according to taste. When reserving, do indicate if anyone in the party has allergies and that you would like a menu in English — the students have a course in translating menus, and the teachers are happy to have English speakers as guests on whom the students can practice their language skills. 

It is important to note that the school will ask for a credit card number for a reservation; in case of a no-show with cancellation less than 48 hours in advance, 15 € will be deducted from the card. 

Address: 3 Rue Pierre Leroux, 75007 Paris, France

Lycée Hôtelier Guillaume Tirel

From the name only, it can be seen that this is a vocational high school. In fact, its courses include both food service and hotel accommodation. Lycée Hôtelier Guillaume Tirel has three restaurants with different levels of service: Brasserie Orée, Côté Jardin, and Astérie. Brasserie ORée and Coté Jardin offer a vocational high school degree in food service, and Astérie, an advanced degree. Both lunch and dinner menus and dates are fixed and published with their prices on the site for the month to come.  

After lunch at the Coté Jardin, the four student chefs all came out to see how we enjoyed the meal. They are proud of how their school is somewhat smaller than others and of the importance of working together closely in teams. We were informed that there is a vegetable garden in the back courtyard of the school, which is the mainstay of each year’s “project”; i.e., the graduating class takes away whatever vegetables are left after the school year, and the next class decides what vegetables they want to grow for their year. These vegetables then find themselves in guests’ dishes — to our eating delight!

The hotel displays very modest prices (for Paris) for its few rooms. It is only open during the school year, on school days, and as can be expected, the service is provided by the students.

Address: 237 Bd Raspail, 75014 Paris, France

Mederic

Different from the other vocational school restaurants, Mederic‘s menu is not pre-set; diners can eat more or less depending on their appetite. Menus offer a small choice for each of their three courses: appetizer, main, and dessert. Also, diners can choose to order only one course, two, or all three, and will only be charged accordingly. 

Address: 20 Rue Médéric, 75017 Paris, France

La Salamandre

Lost in the east end of Paris in the 20th arrondissement and so named for the large sculpture hanging on the building across the street (well worth looking up for), La Salamandre serves lunch on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Also, at the end of a school term, it serves a dinner on Wednesday as the final exam for the students. Because it is a private organisation and not attached to the French school system, it is open all year round. Now and then, it opens for a brunch on the weekend, mainly serving salads and pastries. A relatively inexpensive bag of mixed breads can be ordered in advance to be picked up at mealtime and taken home. Typically, this will include a baguette, some special bread, and various breakfast breads, depending on the day’s production. 

Many speak very highly of Thierry Marx, the renowned chef who has founded this private-run, free school for those who have fallen out of the mainstream labor system and want to learn a profession. It seems that Marx comes from a working-class background and is devoted to helping those who want to raise themselves in today’s workforce. He has also opened a “bouillon” (a low-cost restaurant serving traditional French dishes) in Clichy, but that is another story.

Address: 3 Rue Albert Marquet, 75020 Paris, France

A Few More Vocational Restaurants

Too many food service schools, too many meals to be eaten, this article is in no way exhaustive. It only reflects my dining during this school year. There are many other restaurant schools in and around Paris and beyond. Below is an incomplete list of a few more. Check them out to see how they present, find the menus and prices.  

• Restaurant d’Application A. Dumas: 29 bis rue de Cronstadt 75015 Paris
• Vatel: 122 Rue Nollet 75017 Paris. The restaurant does both lunch and dinner. It is most known for its dessert trolley.
• Far out at Paris limits to the west is the La Fontaine  EPMT: 6 rue Louis Vierne 75017 Paris. This restaurant also does dinner on days that are specified on its site.

Do give this very French culinary experience a try; it can become addictive. Bon appétit!

Photo features students busy cleaning up their kitchen at Ferrandi.

Did you enjoy this article? TAIP is 100% reader-supported through tipping. If you want to leave us a tip of any amount it would be highly appreciated.  These tips help support our efforts to keep TAIP an ad-free environment. Just like at a cafe, the tips are split evenly among the team.