Enrica Rocca Cooking School, London
Who knew that the best place in Europe to learn Venetian home cooking is London? Enrica Rocca, 44, a Venetian countess, is a superb cook, and lessons in her Ladbroke Grove kitchen are a lot of fun, because she hosts small groups of students with warmth, humor, and tremendous professionalism. Rocca's late father, Count Rocca, was a regular teacher at the Cipriani cooking school in Venice for many years, and Rocca herself went to the famous Lausanne hotel school before moving to South Africa, where she ran two Italian restaurants and a cooking school in Cape Town for 11 years. Rocca finally settled in London—in her words, "the most interesting food city in Europe today." Daylong sessions begin with a market visit (either to Portobello Market or Borough Market), where the menu is improvised according to what's available. "No real Venetian would ever decide what to cook before going to market," says Rocca. "And since the quality of the London markets gets better all the time, it's now possible to learn and practice spontaneous Venetian cooking right here." Depending on the season, dishes taught might include risi e bisi (rice and peas), sardines in saor (sardines with onion marinade), or wild duck with polenta. Rocca also offers gastronomic tours to Italy, with cooking classes each day. From $220 (011-44-7762-167900; enricarocca.com).
The Raymond Blanc Cookery School at Le Manoir Aux Quat' Saisons, Oxford, U.K.
Interested in stepping into the shoes—or at least the kitchen—of a Michelin-starred chef? This program takes place in an extension of the acclaimed restaurant's main kitchen. Luxurious niceties, such as having chef's whites laid out on your bed in one of the rooms of this lovingly restored English manor house, will give way, come morning, to an intense but thoroughly enjoyable session on a particular theme, such as poultry or dessert. Students in the weeklong courses follow up each evening with a class dinner with their chef-instructor in the main dining room (partners may join as well, and dine at roughly half price). Visits to chef Blanc's vegetable garden make the experience even sweeter. From $523 (011-44-1844-278881; manoir.com).
L'école de Cuisine d'Alain Ducasse, Paris
Alain Ducasse opened his school, complete with stylish high-tech kitchens, only last year, but it immediately became the best place in town for serious amateur cooks to learn new techniques while adding ambitious recipes to their repertoires. The Ducasse school not only has a refreshing rigor—most of the teachers are working chefs who've cooked in Ducasse's international constellation of restaurants—but the courses are an intelligent reflection of what we want to eat now. "Cuisine de Bistrot" and "Moments d'Exception" ("Cooking for Special Occasions") will have you making dishes like poached oysters on the half shell in a Champagne gratinée or green ravioli stuffed with artichoke. Instruction is in French, but translators are available for $180 per person per class; for groups of four or more, translation is free. From $140 (011-33-1-44-90-91-00; atelier-gastronomique.com).
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