Grand Diplôme^®

Le Grand Diplome is the epitome of culinary training, as Chefs pass on a culinary legacy to those who have the will and the courage to be part of such a creative and passionate profession.

Gastón Acurio is a Chef, writer, businessman, and advocate of Peruvian culinary art. He attended law school in the late 80s but his passion for cuisine was so strong that he decided to leave to study the culinary arts at Le Cordon Bleu Paris. He came back to Paris, France in 2015 to open a new restaurant.

Having finished my studies and received my diploma from a gastronomy school in Rio de Janeiro, I came to Paris in order to specialize and to learn Le Cordon Bleu techniques. This is how my passion for pastry and all the techniques involved began. In addition, pastry requires attention to detail which I really enjoy. My studies at Le Cordon Bleu Paris Institute made me realise what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. The Chefs also left me with lasting memories: you could really feel how passionate they were about their job and teaching.

I always knew that cuisine would take me to France. Cooking, it's in my family for generations, not as chefs, or restaurant owners, but on the every day bases. Le Cordon Bleu experience and diploma opened opportunities for me here, but mostly because I perused and worked for it. I work every day to deliver excellence in what I do and to make my time in Paris truly worth it. I study daily, and try to keep on track of the news of the pastry world.

Learning all the cooking and pastry techniques is an incredible memory. I wanted to travel abroad and to experience professional training, and Le Cordon Bleu Paris gave me the opportunity to do so. After Le Cordon Bleu, I did an internship at Bernard Loiseau, and I then travelled to Australia in search of new flavours. Now I´m a chef at Feelviana, the first sports hotel in Portugal.

I really enjoyed the teaching method which combines demonstrations by Chefs, all of whom have had outstanding careers, with completely autonomous practical classes. A full immersion from the word go, combined with discovering products, techniques, fatigue, adrenaline and, of course, opportunities to meet interesting people from around the world. I realise that I now have real added value in the professional world.