Le Cordon Bleu's Kitchens
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Classical French cuisine is taught in a new, state-of-the-art stainless steel kitchen in Ottawa,
Canada. By Carroll McCormick
Nickel magazine, March 16, 2003 -- Synonymous with the plus haute of
the haute cuisine, Le Cordon Bleu has an international reputation as the school for learning
classical French cuisine. Founded in 1895 in Paris, Le Cordon Bleu draws amateurs and culinary professionals
from more than 50 countries to its teaching kitchens.
In 1988, Le Cordon Bleu opened Le Cordon Bleu Paris Ottawa Culinary Arts Institute, its first school outside France. Nestled among the world’s embassies to Canada, it is known as the Ambassador of French Gastronomy in North America.
Le Cordon Bleu Paris Ottawa Culinary Arts Institute has five kitchens: a prep kitchen for the restaurant kitchen, where meals are prepared for the three-story mansion’s 86-seat restaurant; a demonstration classroom with seating for student chefs and a fully-outfitted one-chef kitchen and video recording capabilities; a 16-work-station "practical cuisine" kitchen, where students work around an enormous stove known as a French piano; and a pastry kitchen. A sixth kitchen, part training kitchen and part banquet preparation facility, is being built in the basement.
Nickel stainless steel is the material of choice for professional kitchens, and in Cordon Bleu’s Ottawa facilities, the ubiquitous gleam of steel reflects the material’s dominance. Practically everything in sight - bread trays, coffee pots, creamers, counters, cupboards, refrigerators, ovens, pots, pans and pastry racks, range hoods, rotisseries, shelves, stoves, sinks, serving bells and serving dishes, even the swinging doors and doorframes, are all made of S30400 or S31600.
The new banquet kitchen, measuring about 30 by 17 metres, will be outfitted
predominantly with stainless steel counters, cupboards, fixtures and cooking equipment made of S30400 and S31600, according to project manager Pierre Harvey of Quebec City-based SML Stainless
Steel Group, which specializes in building and installing custom kitchens. "It doesn’t rust, it takes a good
cleaning and it is sanitary," Harvey says of the material.
And general manager Christine Maassen: "It’s all about long-term maintenance." The kitchens receive
tremendously heavy use from early morning to nearly midnight, and there is no time to coddle the capital
assets. Clouds of steam rise constantly from giant cooking pots and sinks, and a non-stop blur of chefs
slide, scrape, plunk, bump and whisk their creations. Occasionally, they even use the counters as
impromptu cutting boards.
 Christine Maassen SML Stainless Steel Group |
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