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Sharpen your French technique with Chef Alain Bourgade at Berkeley Kitchen. This three-hour, lobster-focused class mixes demonstration, hands-on stations, and a composed tasting to elevate home cooking.
Sharpen your French technique with Chef Alain Bourgade at Berkeley Kitchen. This three-hour, lobster-focused class mixes demonstration, hands-on stations, and a composed tasting to elevate home cooking.
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Operated by Kitchen on Fire · Berkeley, CA
At Berkeley Kitchen - 1509 Shattuck Ave. Berkeley, CA 94709 Chef Alain Bourgade leads the French Master Series, a focused three-hour class that turns a weekday evening into a hands-on lesson in refined seafood and classic French technique. This is a cooking workshop anchored in professional method: demonstration stations, small-team prep, and plated tasting at the end.
In this installment, students concentrate on lobster and other shellfish applications while moving through a composed menu—silky mushroom velouté, sea bass over fondant endives with truffle jus, tender roasted chicken breast with coco beans and chorizo, and a crisp Calvados apple pastry for dessert. The kitchen layout emphasizes workstations you can approach and tools supplied by the school; participants are welcome to bring a personal knife but all aprons, equipment and ingredients are provided.
What makes the series special for the Bay Area is Chef Alain’s background: raised in the Cévennes and trained in Michelin-level kitchens and embassy service, he pairs rustic respect for produce with high-level technique. That lineage informs lessons on flavor balance, efficient prep, and full utilization of ingredients—the kind of food literacy that sticks with home cooks. The class is intentionally small enough to allow meaningful mentor feedback while large enough to maintain lively teamwork.
Berkeley Kitchen itself is part community teaching space, part laboratory for ingredient-driven cooking. The neighborhood—walkable, connected to BART and local farms—feeds into the menu through seasonal produce and sustainable seafood choices. The class policy on alcohol allows attendees to bring their own wine or beer to enjoy responsibly during class, a social touch that softens the reproach of strict safety rules (closed-toe shoes and tied-back hair are mandatory).
This experience is ideal for home cooks who want to raise technique and plating without returning to culinary school. Expect a mix of lecture, demonstration and hands-on stations: you’ll leave having cooked and eaten multiple composed dishes, with practical notes on knife skills, sauce making, and temperature control. The format does not permit taking food home, and the instructor can accommodate declared allergies if contacted in advance.
For visitors to Berkeley who want a practical, palate-forward immersion into French technique, the French Master Series with Chef Alain offers an evening that’s both instructive and delicious—one that translates Michelin ideas into everyday cooking and highlights why the Bay Area remains a laboratory for thoughtful, sustainable food.
Bookings are available through the class calendar and sell out; check the Berkeley Kitchen schedule and reserve early. The pace suits committed home cooks and food professionals looking to refine timing and plating under pressure. If you have dietary restrictions, email [email protected] ahead of time so the team can review ingredients. Close-toed shoes and hair tied back remain enforced for safety.
The class runs three hours and includes demonstration, hands-on cooking in teams, and a plated tasting.
Yes—bring a personal chef’s knife if you prefer, but the kitchen supplies all necessary tools.
No—local zoning does not allow students to take prepared food home; you will eat your dishes in class.
There is no specific minimum age listed, but minors cannot consume alcohol and safety rules apply.
Indicate allergies on registration and email [email protected] so the chef can review ingredient lists prior to class.
Yes—participants 21+ may bring personal wine or beer to enjoy; staff cannot open or serve beverages.
Kitchen on Fire is a hands-on cooking school and event producer that offers a broad calendar of culinary workshops, multi-week series, camps, and virtual classes. The school presents technique-driven, chef-led experiences ranging from single-session workshops to 12-week fundamentals courses. Classes focus on regional cuisines, baking, pastry, vegetarian and seasonal cooking — examples include Italian pasta and breads, Indian and Burmese dishes, Middle Eastern street food, Mexican and Latin specialties, and classic bistro techniques. Chef-led offerings feature named instructors and visiting chefs, with programs such as multi-week Basics of Cooking series, themed nights like A Night in Florence and A Night in Rome, specialized workshops including ricotta and doughnuts, and seasonal pie and baking classes. Kitchen on Fire also runs teen camps, school-break day camps, and virtual workshops to reach learners at different levels and schedules. Instruction emphasizes hands-on practice, practical skills like knife work and recipe fundamentals, and communal dining of the dishes created during class. Many classes run three hours or longer; multi-week series provide progressive skill development. In addition to in-person workshops, the organization publishes virtual classes and instructional series led by its roster of chefs. Kitchen on Fire’s program diversity — from single-session craft workshops to immersive multi-week courses and teen camps — reflects a commitment to accessible, skill-focused culinary education. The school’s transparent class descriptions, named instructors, and recurring series offer prospective students clear expectations and opportunities to build lasting cooking skills. Class sizes vary to prioritize engagement, hands-on practice, and personalized instructor feedback for students.
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