French at Heart: An American Mother-Daughter’s Recipes and Lifestyle Report from Their Burgundy Cooking School

“People ask us all the time how in the world we found ourselves, a mother-daughter duo from Arizona, living and working in the heart of Burgundy,” writes Marjorie Taylor. “It didn’t start with a road map or a fancy bank account, but really, with two things: French food and French culture.”

Marjorie, a pastry chef and cook who had run her own French-inflected restaurant and cooking school in Phoenix, passed on her Francophilia to her daughter, Kendall Smith Franchini, who, after majoring in French in college, studied viticulture in Burgundy and worked for wine importer Kermit Lynch. Kendall led the complex way to the two of them opening The Cook’s Atelier, their cooking school and shop, in the walled Burgundian town of Beaune.

We’ve been avidly following their journey since 2015: see A Year in Burgundy about the school, and Christmas in Burgundy, a look at Kendall’s family home: she’s now married to Laurent Franchini, who grew up in the South of France and runs The Cook’s Atelier kitchen boutique and wine shop, and they have three children. Kendall and Marjorie have just come out with their second cookbook, French at Heart, a compendium of, in Kendall’s words “reachable and not-too-pretentious recipes” (scroll to the end for their lovely take on radishes with butter). Kitchen secrets also included—and many ways to create joie-de-vivre. We just spotlighted Kendall and Laurent’s idyllic garden–see American Expats Grow Their Dreams in Burgundy—and today, we’re visiting The Cook’s Atelier school and Kendall and Laurent’s home kitchen.

Photography by Anson Smart from French at Heart: Recipes that Bring France Home by Marjorie Taylor and Kendall Smith Franchini with Jess Thomson. The book is newly out from Abrams.

Above: All in the family—Marjorie and Kendall at their cooking school and emporium in the center of Beaune with Kendall’s husband, Laurent, and their children and dog (they also have three cats and chickens).

Marjorie raised Kendall, her only child, as a single mother in Phoenix. “I didn’t set out thinking I would ever end up living in France,” she writes. “Kendall’s love for French culture altered the course of her life, and eventually mine.” After a successful culinary career in Arizona, Marjorie began her French journey by convincing Anne Willan to allow her to intern at her cooking school La Varenne.

Above: Located 30 minutes from their school, Woodland House, where Kendall and family live, is a well-preserved 19th-century stone structure. “The Woodland House is where we cook for our family and the people who become family as soon as they cross the threshold, and our goal is to keep growing and sharing this with as many people as we can,” writes Kendall. Above: The hearth is used as a companion to the Lacanche range. Marjorie and Kendall’s cooking classes—from one day to a week-long program—are for a maximum of 10 students at a time and end with shared meals.

Tip: The Cook’s Atelier rents a two-bedroom flat with a kitchenette in the school’s original historic location in Beaune.

Above: Kendall stocks her shelves with vintage French wares for the table. As at the school, she sticks with a mostly white ironstone, so that everything goes well together—and, she points out, when cleaning lettuce in a series of baths, white enables you to see the dirt (or lack 0f) at the bottom of the bowl. Above: Fermob’s Luxembourg Side Chairs and Opera Table serve as the family breakfast table.

Above: Sunday roast chicken just out of the oven. For crispy skin, Kendall and Marjorie recommend leaving the uncooked chicken uncovered in the fridge for up to 48-hours before roasting it. They start the cooking process in a “smoking hot pan and a high oven temperature [450 degrees],” no butter or oil necessary. Above: The range is a Lacanche Sully, a Burgundy brand made just miles away. The go-to pots and pans are Mauviel copperware available from their shop and online boutique. They polish the copper with salt and lemon juice using a lemon half as a scrubber.Kitchen surfaces and windows are kept clean with a DIY cleaning solution scented with clove to keep the flies away: boil 5 whole cloves in 1 1/4 cups water; when cool stir in 1 tablespoon dish soap and 1 cup distilled white vinegar. Transfer mixture, cloves included, to a spray bottle.

Above: Marjorie and Kendall collect café-au-lait and other French ironstone bowls and vintage cutting boards. The Cook’s Atelier sells new wood-handled wire Vegetable Baskets. “Open shelving is our solution for storing almost everything we use on a daily basis,” write Marjorie and Kendall, who recommend “prioritizing vertical storage over deep spaces (especially if your kitchen space is smaller), so you’re not always digging into the back of a black hole.” Above: The duo dare to offer their own creative spin on French tradition. This is their Radis Beurre Revisited (see recipe below). Above: French at Heart is newly out from Abrams; $37.20 from Bookshop.org.

Radis Beurre Revisited

Ingredients:

• 24 small round radishes (such as Cherry Belle) with pretty tops, rinsed and dried thoroughly
• 8 ounces (2 sticks/225 g) unsalted European-style butter, at cool room temperature, cut into cubes
• Fleur de sel, for garnish

The Cook’s Atelier’s version of the French apéritif: rather than serving the ingredients separately, they dunk crisp radishes into a “quick butter mousse” so they look like strawberries dipped in white chocolate. Make the mousse by creating a double boiler: heat an inch of water in a saucepan and place the butter in a heatproof bowl large enough to balance over the pan without touching the simmering water. Gently heat the butter, whisking until smooth (but not melted or separated).

When the butter looks “like melted white chocolate,” dip each radish three quarters of the way up, twisting to coat. Wipe away excess butter and sprinkle coated radishes with flaky salt; cool on a parchment-lined sheet pan placed in the fridge for 30 minutes to set.

Heading to France? Peruse our Design Travel favorites, including:

Le Doyenné: A Potager-to-Table Restaurant and Guesthouse an Hour from Paris 

Hotel of the Moment: Lilou in Hyères, near the Mediterranean

Papotte: A Burgundy Holiday House Enclave in a 15th Century Mill