My husband David and I, motivated by our shared love of France and David’s passion as a professional chef for French cuisine, moved to Gramont in 2002.  We specifically selected the Tarn-et-Garonne region, situated as it is in the heart of Gascony, for its famed gastronomic repertoire.  Home to duck foie gras, cassoulet and armangac Gascony’s culinary prestige is long established, making it, in our opinion, an unmissable stop on any true foodie’s tour of France.  And we hope you will soon agree!

With the original intention of establishing a chambres d’hotes and table d’hotes (a traditional French Bed and Breakfast including evening meals), we began our new life in Gramont by carefully restoring an old farmhouse and barn.  We furnished each of its five rooms in keeping with the style of the original seventeenth century buildings, aiming in doing so to preserve as much of the area’s local history as possible.  We were pleased with our new home and David and I ran the chambres d’hotes and table d’hotes successfully for four years.   However the popularity of David’s cooking soon attracted the attention of talented local chef Bernard and from their newfound Franglais friendship (helped along the way by a few glasses of rose wine one summer’s evening...) our cookery school was born!

Bernard has owned and run a successful restaurant in Gramont –le petit feuillant – for over twenty-five years and his traditional menu, celebrating the best of gascon cuisine, has earned him a respected reputation in the region.   Bernard and David’s vision was to design a programme that would enable students of French cookery to work their way up from mastering of knife skills to executing impressive four course meals in just under a week.  They wanted to use their combined knowledge as professional chefs from either side of the Channel to make French cookery enjoyable and accessible to all and to debunk its reputation as a complex style of cookery to master.

David and Bernard’s vision is still alive and well four years on and we are thrilled that you are thinking about becoming a part of it!  Through their combined tutelage over these past years they have turned students of all ages, nationalities and cooking abilities into confident, competent chefs of French cuisine.  During your time here at the Gascony Cookery School we will aim to familiarise you with the ingredients and techniques that form the basis of Gascon French cookery.  With your new skills, knowledge and confidence you will then be able to replicate with ease the dishes you learn here in the comfort of your own home.