Who We Are
The Gourmandise School is a women-owned and women-operated recreational cooking school located on the third floor of Santa Monica Place in Downtown Santa Monica. Founded in 2011, we focus on hands-on, technique-driven instruction designed to build culinary intuition for all skill levels. The school emphasizes locally sourced, organic, and sustainable ingredients, active participation in the local food system, and partnership with local farmers’ markets and grain movements.
Whether you’re stepping into the kitchen for the first time or refining your techniques as an experienced home cook, our hands-on, expert-led classes empower you to create with confidence.
Our Chef-Instructors
Our chef-instructors have cooked in Michelin-starred kitchens in New York and Europe and served as Executive Pastry Chef at Curtis Stone’s Pie Room by Gwen. Others trained under Leah Chase at Dooky Chase’s Restaurant in New Orleans, built Lao restaurants recognized by the Michelin Guide, and wrote a book on Italian Jewish cooking. You will also learn from a registered dietitian who is a classically trained chef, a chocolatier trained at the Callebaut Chocolate Academy, and the founder of Milk Jar Cookies. Their classes cover everything from knife skills and French pastry to Creole, Southeast Asian, and plant-forward cooking.
We are truly honored to have these exceptional Chef-Instructors bring their incredible talent, expertise, and passion into our kitchens every day to share them with you.
