A hands-on culinary immersion for passionate home cooks who want
real technique, confidence, and depth.
Limited to 6 guests · Taught in English · Professional French chef
French Cooking Holiday
The Walnut Grove Culinary Retreat is an immersive, small-group French cooking retreat designed for passionate home cooks who want real understanding, confidence, and lasting skils.
Set in our 19th-century farmhouse cookery school in the French countryside, each retreat is limited to six guests and built around hands-on instruction, clear guidance, and classical French technique.
Across the week, you’ll cook daily alongside Chef Eric, learning the foundations of French cuisine — from knife skills and kitchen organisation to stocks, sauces, butchery, and pastry — always with an emphasis on why techniques work and how to apply them confidently at home.
You will leave with more than recipes
You will leave with clarity, confidence, and a deeper understanding of French cooking.
This isn’t a "cooking holiday". It is a culinary transformation.
What the Experience is Like
Hands-On, Every Day
You cook daily using classical French methods, guided step by step by Chef Eric
You are actively cooking, tasting, adjusting, and learning
throughout the week.
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Personal Instruction
With no more than six guests, instruction is individual and thoughtful.
Teaching adapts to your level, your pace, and your questions.
Seasonal, Real Cooking
Meals are built around local produce, traditional techniques, and the rhythm of a real French kitchen — from market selection to final plating.
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Meet
Chef Eric brings over 40 years of experience in classical French cuisine, having cooked for private households, estates, and distinguished clients across Europe.
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His teaching focuses on foundations, precision, and intuition — the skills that allow home cooks to grow long after the retreat ends.
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Guests don’t simply follow instructions.
They learn how to think, taste, and cook with confidence.
