A new Valrhona school for professionals opens in Dubai

At the heart of a vibrant culinary scene, Dubai is home to the latest Valrhona School. Its opening aims to bring together a multicultural community of chefs to foster the development of a sweet gastronomy that embodies values such as excellence, commitment, sharing and tolerance.
In this place of discovery, each learner will be immersed in a world of creativity. More than ever, the Valrhona School is helping to forge a strong link between French know-how and local cultures, to imagine inventive culinary creations full of meaning.

A center of excellence in the heart of the Middle East

At the crossroads of Asia, the Middle East and Europe, Dubai radiates out into the world. A commercial and cultural hub of varied influences, this world-city has many faces and lends itself intuitively to creativity.

Located in the heart of the city, close to all the hotels and restaurants, this new Valrhona School is designed to become a center of excellence for all the region's sweet gastronomy professionals.

A sweet gastronomy on the rise

The decision to open a School in Dubai was in response to a growing demand for high-quality vocational training in the region, and Brice Konan-Ferrand was entrusted with this mission.

“The United Arab Emirates has become one of the world's gastronomic nerve centers. With its history and unique geographical position, Dubai is a city of multicultural richness, which stimulates creativity. We are delighted and eager to bring our chocolate and pastry expertise to this dynamic community.”

-Brice Konan-Ferrand, Pastry Chef Instructor L’École Valrhona Dubai

A pastry and chocolate chef with over 12 years of experience, Brice Konan-Ferrand began his career as a chef in Europe and Africa in prestigious establishments before joining the Valrhona Tokyo School in Asia, where he worked for over 8 years. His international experience and personal background (having grown up in the Ivory Coast) make Chef Brice the ideal candidate to head the Valrhona Dubai School, where he will be keen to pass on his knowledge and expertise in responsible pastry-making and sharing.

His travels around the world have had an impact on his inspiration and allow him to be perfectly in tune with a School at the service of a growing community. His desire to go beyond the limits of pastry-making, whether in the combinations he makes, with spices for example, or in his evolving applications, perfectly adapted to the 29 markets of the Europe, Middle East and Africa zone, are real assets.

At the Valrhona Dubai School, Chef Brice will be accompanied by Fatima K Rahman, Pastry Chef Assistant, who has worked with numerous MOF (Meilleur Ouvrier de France) chefs and trained with many award-winning chefs. A duo who will express all their creativity thanks to the blend of their past experiences and their cultures.

Committed and responsible

CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) is an intrinsic value of the Maison Valrhona and an integral part of the Dubai School's operations. Particular attention has been paid to integrating eco-responsible, state-of-the-art machinery with a view to preserving resources.

For example, the selection of quality raw materials that respect seasonality and the reduction of waste are among the practices passed on to staff and students alike. The use of plastic has been excluded from the Valrhona Dubai School and replaced by eco-responsible materials.

A rich and diversified program

Led by the Valrhona School's chef instructors, as well as guest pastry chefs and exceptional artisans, the school's training courses are divided into several levels to enable each participant to progress throughout their career. Lasting two to three days, they cover a range of basic themes, including chocolate, pastry, plated desserts, ice cream and viennoiserie.

There are also Valrhona’s signature courses such as Introduction to Chocolate, Alternative Desserts, Vegetal Pastry-making, including a Measured Indulgence course led by Frédéric Bau, experimental pastry chef at Maison Valrhona.

“For me, the Valrhona Dubai School perfectly represents what a school should be. Passing on and sharing knowledge, learning from everyone, working on the evolution of pastry-making, with new techniques and new products, is also a commitment to the new challenges of our profession, eco-responsibility, traceability and the origin of products.

It's an honor for me to be the patron of the Valrhona Dubai school, which will raise the profile of French pastry and chocolate-making in this beautiful part of the world.”

-Philippe Rigollot, MOF (Meilleur Ouvrier de France), PASTRY CHEF AND CHOCOLATIER

The Valrhona School offer

In addition to training courses, the school offers :

• Demonstrations: Discover new Chefs' techniques and new products.
• Workshops: Introduce customers to the brand through a buffet, and explain the techniques used to create it.
• Conferences: Regional training courses on different areas of expertise.
• Technical consulting: On-site technical consulting with customized training based on the customer’s needs.