2027 Programs
Two pastry Master Diplomas for future professionals, a certificate program to cook with the rhythm of the garden, and Dining with Monet, a cultural-culinary experience. In small groups.
Master Diploma · N° 1
8 weeks · 15 March – 7 May 2027
An advanced professional program devoted to the techniques, structure and refinement of classical and contemporary French vegan pastry.
Master Diploma · N° 2
8 weeks · 11 October – 3 December 2027
Advanced French vegan pastry training built entirely around gluten-free techniques, with an emphasis on structure, precision, texture and professional finish.
Certificate Program · N° 3
12 five-day courses · May to December 2027
A joyful seasonal journey through French plant-based cooking and pastry, using herbs, flowers, leaves, roots and produce from the garden, orchard and surrounding landscape to create complete, generous and unforgettable meals.
Cultural-culinary experience · No. 1
A Luxury Plant-Based Culinary Experience in & near Giverny
Step into Claude Monet's world with a full-day journey blending culture, vegan cooking and seasonal flavors—directly inspired by his famous kitchen.
Cette formation a changé ma vie. Je cherchais à me former à la cuisine végétale dans un cadre humain, chaleureux et bienveillant, je ne pouvais pas mieux tomber !
The place is pristine and surrounded by nature. Deborah and her whole family are both professional and very loving, I felt like I was part of the family. […] Best vegan meals I've ever had.
The Teachers are the most patient, creative and resourceful culinary tutors. […] Over 10 weeks of cooking it was a revelation to me, the culinary depth that the World has to offer, the incredible plating ideas and the wonderful flavours of the Herbs Spices combo from the Globe.
What truly sets Gentle Gourmet apart is the mentorship. Chef Caroline and Chef Deborah offer more than instruction—they bring decades of vegan culinary experience […]
Absolutely fantastic month of private classes, making vegan pastry including macarons and croissants. Highly recommended!
Master Diploma · N° 1
An advanced professional program devoted to the techniques, structure and refinement of classical and contemporary French vegan pastry.
| 1 two-week module | €5,800 |
|---|---|
| 2 two-week modules | €11,020 |
| 3 two-week modules | €16,240 |
| 4 two-week modules: 8-week diploma | €21,460 |
Module 1 at full price; modules 2 to 4 at −10% when booked as part of the diploma track.
For the Master Diploma, staying on site is part of the training: living at the Domaine means full immersion, morning to evening.
The course is taught in English. The complete recipe and learning manual can also be provided in French, Spanish, German or Japanese, and additional language support can be offered when needed to students who are not fully fluent in English.
Master Diploma · N° 2
Advanced French vegan pastry training built entirely around gluten-free techniques, with an emphasis on structure, precision, texture and professional finish.
| 1 two-week module | €5,800 |
|---|---|
| 2 two-week modules | €11,020 |
| 3 two-week modules | €16,240 |
| 4 two-week modules: 8-week diploma | €21,460 |
Module 1 at full price; modules 2 to 4 at −10% when booked as part of the diploma track.
For the Master Diploma, staying on site is part of the training: living at the Domaine means full immersion, morning to evening.
The course is taught in English. The complete recipe and learning manual can also be provided in French, Spanish, German or Japanese, and additional language support can be offered when needed to students who are not fully fluent in English.
Certificate Program · N° 3
Seasonal Plant-Based Gastronomy from the Garden, Orchard, Hedgerow and Woodland
Twelve independent five-day culinary courses, organized around six distinctive moments of the year, at the Domaine de Brocfontaine in Normandy.
The French Herbal Gourmet is a celebration of French plant-based cuisine inspired by the extraordinary diversity of edible herbs, flowers, leaves, roots, fruits, seeds and wild plants that surround us. Far more than a course in “cooking with herbs,” this series explores how the familiar and the unexpected can come together in sophisticated contemporary cuisine.
Parsley, chives, rosemary, thyme, basil, tarragon, mint and cilantro may share the kitchen with nettles, sorrel, dandelion, linden leaves, elderflower, lovage, hyssop, lemon verbena, edible flowers, roasted chicory root and other ingredients gathered from the garden, orchard and surrounding landscape.
Students learn not simply to add herbs to food, but to understand aroma, balance, seasonality, texture, extraction, infusion and the many ways in which plants can become part of a complete culinary composition.
Each teaching day is built around the preparation of two complete three-course meals: lunch and dinner, each with a starter, main course and dessert. Across a five-day course, students therefore prepare approximately 30 finished dishes, in addition to a changing selection of herbal oils, condiments, infusions, preserves and other preparations.
Lunch often focuses on elegant dishes and techniques that can be reproduced relatively easily. Dinner allows us to go further: more developed sauces, multiple components, refined plating and more ambitious culinary or pastry technique. Students therefore learn how the same flavor idea can be interpreted at different levels of sophistication.
The series gives equal importance to savory cuisine and dessert. Apricot and rosemary, strawberry and tarragon, raspberry and rose, blackcurrant and lemon verbena, pear and thyme, plum and sage, fig and basil, chocolate and mint, roasted chicory and chocolate, pear, hazelnut and linden.
The Herbal Atelier
Throughout the week, students prepare aromatic elements that may be used immediately in the day's menus, developed further during subsequent classes or taken home as part of a new repertoire for their own kitchens. They learn not only how to make these preparations, but how to integrate them intelligently into complete dishes.
Cooking with the seasons
Each seasonal period offers two different five-day courses. The twelve courses are completely independent: students may attend a single week or return throughout the year to experience the changing garden. No previous course is required. Across the twelve weeks, more than 250 dishes and preparations, organized as complete, harmonious seasonal menus.
17 – 28 May 2027
Week I · 17 – 21 May
Tender shoots, young leaves, fresh green herbs and the first wild plants of the year.
Week II · 24 – 28 May
Spring flowers, fragrant leaves, blossoms and the transition from early greens toward the flowering garden.
21 June – 2 July 2027
Week I · 21 – 25 June
Fresh herbs, edible flowers and the increasing abundance of the early-summer garden.
Week II · 28 June – 2 July
The meeting of flowers, herbs and the first berries and orchard fruits.
19 – 30 July 2027
Week I · 19 – 23 July
The height of the growing season: abundant herbs, vegetables, flowers and vibrant summer cuisine.
Week II · 26 – 30 July
Rosemary, thyme, basil, oregano, savory, fennel and other sun-loving aromatics interpreted through French plant-based gastronomy.
30 August – 10 September 2027
Week I · 30 August – 3 September
Late vegetables, ripe fruits, herbs, seeds and the beginning of preservation.
Week II · 6 – 10 September
Fruit, nuts, seeds, tree ingredients and the deeper flavors that announce autumn.
27 September – 8 October 2027
Week I · 27 September – 1 October
Roots, hardy herbs, berries, seeds, roasted aromatics and the surprising richness of the cold-season garden.
Week II · 4 – 8 October
Cooking with the herbs, flowers, fruits and aromatics captured during the warmer months through drying, preserving, fermenting, infusing and pickling.
6 – 17 December 2027
Week I · 6 – 10 December
Festive French plant-based cuisine, holiday pastry and aromatic winter ingredients.
Week II · 13 – 17 December
Elegant celebratory menus, petits fours, desserts, beverages, condiments and edible gifts for the festive season.
How aroma behaves during cooking, when herbs should be added, fresh versus dried, infusion and extraction, balancing bitterness and acidity, combining several herbs without confusing the palate, using flowers as flavor rather than decoration alone, preserving aromatic ingredients, building complete menus, composing and plating a dish, reducing waste by using more of the plant. Students leave knowing how to think with ingredients, rather than simply how to reproduce individual recipes.
Designed for passionate home cooks, food lovers and curious cooks who want to deepen their understanding of herbs, seasonal produce and regional French cuisine; equally suited to gardeners, travelers, culinary enthusiasts and professionals interested in cooking more creatively with what grows locally and seasonally. No professional experience is required — only curiosity, enthusiasm and a love of good food.
Classes are limited to approximately four participants. On-site accommodation is limited and subject to availability; a number of independent holiday rentals and B&Bs are available nearby.
| 1 week, without accommodation | €2,200 |
|---|---|
| 1 week, with accommodation | €2,950 |
| 2 weeks, without accommodation | €4,180 |
| 2 weeks, with accommodation | €5,605 |
Second consecutive week: −10%.
The philosophy
Extraordinary cuisine can begin with what is growing just outside the kitchen door.
A humble leaf, flower or root can become the starting point for a remarkable dish when it is understood, respected and treated with technique. At the Domaine de Brocfontaine, the garden does not merely supply ingredients. It helps write the menu.
Cultural-culinary experience · No. 1
A Luxury Plant-Based Culinary Experience in & near Giverny
Step into Claude Monet's world with a full-day journey blending culture, vegan cooking and seasonal flavors—directly inspired by his famous kitchen.
After a guided tour of Monet's house and gardens in Giverny by Caroline, certified national guide and chef, you will be brought to the charming Domaine de Brocfontaine for a lavish five-course lunch served on the same china that you see in Monet's own dining room. The lunch menu is inspired by Monet's own collection of recipes, in a contemporary plant-based version made by vegan pioneering chef Deborah Brown Pivain. After lunch and a stroll in the garden, guests will enjoy a short pastry class and then indulge in a high tea near the brook, often painted by Norman artists.
This is a journey where art meets the garden and conscious gastronomy.
The whole unique experience includes transportation from Paris to Giverny, then to Brocfontaine and back to Paris, the private guided tour, the five-course gastronomic meal at a table with the exact dishes that are found at Giverny, the pastry class and high tea.
The two-day adventure includes, in addition to the 1-day experience, a Monet-inspired dinner, a next-morning cooking class and lunch, and a visit to some of Monet's most famous painting spots: this is a complete adventure into Monet's world!
Contact us for alternative pick-up locations.
Questions
Language, accommodation, required level, allergies, transport: the answers are in the FAQ, or write to us.
