Chefs and Instructors for Programs in English
Get to know the talented and experienced professional chefs and instructors that work on our International programs through the below portraits, in alphabetical order.
Stevy Antoine
Intensive and Advanced Professional Programs in French Pastry
For patisserie teacher Stevy Antoine, it all clicked during an internship in his third year of school with a pastry chef in Mayenne. He decided from that moment on, and with his parent’s go-ahead, that he would take a sandwich course for two years in Duval. Never put off by demanding hours, often reaching 10 hours a day, he left his native Brittany and pursued an apprenticeship in a bakery-patisserie in Paris where he learnt to make desserts.
Georges Benard
Intensive Professional Program in French Pastry
Growing up with a father who ran chocolateries, Georges Benard discovered his love for the industry from an early age. Passing through the production lab at the bottom of the garden on the way home from school, he would fill his pockets with chocolates.
First of all, he undertook two years of on-the-job training in a restaurant in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, giving him experience both with classical pâtisseries and plated desserts.
Arnaud Bonnefoy
Intensive Professional Program in French Pastry
Having grown up making pastries with his grandmother and later watching his older brother at work in a bakery, Arnaud knew from an early age that he wanted to become a pastry chef. After completing 4 years’ training in a boulangerie-pâtisserie and passing his CAP with flying colours as the best apprentice of the department (regional division of France), he spent 2 years in military service which took him to the Central African Republic, and taught him how much there was to discover outside the limits of ‘the Hexagon’.
DIDIER CHAPUT
Intensive Professional Program in French Bread Baking
Didier Chaput is 35 years old, with a happy smile on his face and a passion which hasn’t stopped growing for more than 20 years. He has now been teaching at FERRANDI Paris for more than 2 years.
Originally from Roanne, it was as an apprentice that Didier, a motivated and willing student, discovered his long-lived attraction to a career in baking. He then worked for 6 years in a traditional French bakery, practicing using flour and dough. Keen to meet new people and see new things, he moved on to several bigger companies, including 3 years in a luxury hotel in Carcassonne.
STÉPHANE JAKIC
Intensive and Advanced Professional Programs in French Cuisine
Sometimes our parents help shape who we are today: in fact, it was as a result of his mother’s advice after expressing how bored he was at school, that the young Stéphane Jakic undertook an internship in a restaurant near Vouvray-en-Torraine.
We never thank our parent enough: in fact, it is as a result of her mother’s advice, after having stated how bored she was of school, that the young Stéphane Jakic undertook an internship in a kitchen nead Vouvray in Touraine.
FRÉDÉRIC LESOURD
Intensive Professional Program in French Cuisine
Born in Paris, Chef Frédéric Lesourd has worked in Michelin-starred restaurants and hotels, including Maxim's, Le Bristol, The Swan Garden in Prince of Wales, Celadon in Westminster, The Swordfish at the Ritz, and Les Muses in the Scribe.
LUCAS SIWINSKI
Intensive and Advanced Professional Programs in French Pastry
Lucas Siwinski started out studying pastry, chocolate and ice cream-making here at FERRANDI Paris in 2004 before going on to work in several patisseries around Paris, including Gérard Mulot’s Maison Mulot. He then left to travel the world, first working in several prestigious clubs in Australia, before moving on to South America.
BENJAMIN THIBAULT-CHEVALIER
Finance Teacher - Master of Science in Hotel Management
Sometimes, our initial professional ambitions have very little bearing on the career path we eventually take. In the case of Benjamin-Thibault Chevalier, it was only after failing to gain entry to the Autun military school that he decided, without any great conviction, to follow his best friend and enroll at Blois Hospitality school.
JEREMY TOUZELET
Chef-Instructor in Cuisine
An Italian mother and a father from Burgundy: the perfect recipe for a lover of fine food and wine. Raised by passionate amateur chefs, Jérémy Touzelet developed a taste for good food from an early age. While his friends spent their time watching cartoons, Jérémy preferred to make cakes for his nanny.