A culinary week at Skillette
The Mid-Atlantic Culinary Program
Five days of cooking, discovery, and good company. Find your confidence in the kitchen, and discover the region through its food.
Georgetown, Washington, D.C.
Make room for a different kind of week
A week worth coming away for.
Mornings in the kitchen. Lunch around a shared table. Evenings with room to explore.
At our Georgetown atelier, professional savory foundations and French pastry meet the ingredients and foodways of the Mid-Atlantic. You’ll practice with purpose, taste with curiosity, and leave with skills that belong in your own kitchen.
Rooted in the Mid-Atlantic
A place you can taste.
From the Chesapeake’s working waterways to its farms, orchards, and mills, the Mid-Atlantic gives classical technique a distinctly local expression.
01 / The water
The Chesapeake & coast
Seafood brings the working waterways into the kitchen. Learn to handle fish with care, build a fumet, and see how sourcing connects a dish to the health of its watershed.
02 / The land
Farms, orchards & mills
Local grain, seasonal fruit, dairy, and vegetables shape the week. A sauce follows the harvest; a French pastry finds its sense of place in an orchard filling.
03 / The people
A living food culture
A producer conversation and a short culinary walk connect the work at your station to the people and traditions behind what we eat.
Spring
Asparagus, peas, tender greens
Gentle cookery & herb sauces
Summer
Tomatoes, sweet corn, peaches
Ripeness, acidity & fruit fillings
Autumn
Apples, pears, squash, mushrooms
Roasting, reductions & preservation
Winter
Roots, brassicas, stored apples
Stocks, glazing & resourcefulness
The pantry changes with the season. Local voices connect our ingredients to Indigenous knowledge, Black foodways, and the region’s living traditions.
Your five-day journey
From the first cut to the final course.
Each day builds on the last: savory foundations, French pastry, and the confidence to bring it all together at the Mid-Atlantic Table.
Day one / Savory foundationsThe habits of a good chefMise en place · Knife work · Stocks & sauces
Build a clean station and a clear plan. Practice knife work, poultry preparation, stocks, sauces, and composed plating, connecting each technique to the finished dish.
Seasonal vegetables and whole-product cooking give those foundations a regional point of view.
Take it home: a calmer, more organized way to cook.
Day two / Savory executionConfidence with heatFish · Steak · Sauce · A composed plate
Work with seafood, build fumet and velouté, and explore heat control, resting, and red wine reduction.
A timed plate brings protein, sauce, and a classical garnish together. Learn the method, then understand how to adapt it to another cut or another season.
Take it home: judge doneness, balance a sauce, and bring a plate together.
Day three / French pastryOne dough, many possibilitiesÉcole Ducasse · Pâte à choux
Begin the two-day French pastry module with École Ducasse. Mix, pipe, bake, and evaluate pâte à choux, learning the cues that make a shell light, stable, and ready to fill.
Tasting and critique connect dough consistency, oven behavior, and internal structure to the texture on the plate.
Take it home: recognize what good choux looks and feels like.
Day four / French pastryThe pleasure of refinementÉcole Ducasse · Creams, fillings & finishing
Build creams and fillings, practice controlled piping, and refine glazing and finishing. Work toward consistency across a small pastry collection.
Keep the French structure and let seasonal orchard or berry fruit give it a Mid-Atlantic expression.
Take it home: finish a pastry with precision and your own sense of the season.
Day five / The Mid-Atlantic TableA table you create togetherPlan · Cook · Host · Celebrate
Bring the week together in a student-produced lunch. Organize the prep, sequence the courses, and present the dishes you’ve made before sitting down to enjoy them together.
The proposed menu brings seasonal fish, steak, local-grain sourdough, and seasonal choux to the table, with regional wine and thoughtful alcohol-free pairings. The week closes with recognition and a shared toast.
Take it home: the confidence to host a dinner party with clarity and calm.
A generous daily rhythm
Time to learn. Time to linger.
Begin with coffee and a seasonal welcome bite. Settle into the work, pause for a proper lunch, and finish with time for Georgetown.
Practice, conversation, and the pleasure of the table are all part of the learning.
A sample daily rhythm. Friday is planned to finish around 2:30 pm; final timings will be shared before your week.
More than a class
A full week. A lasting repertoire.
The week carries beyond the atelier, in the methods you return to and the people you gather around your own table.
Five days of practice
Savory foundations, two days of French pastry, and a final lunch that brings your new skills together.
A seat at the table
Daily lunch, conversation, and a student-produced celebration to close the week.
A connection to place
A producer encounter and a short culinary walk, with regional ingredients woven through the learning.
Care for every ingredient
Know the source. Turn bones into stock and fish trim into fumet. Practice thoughtful portions and whole-product cooking.
A working book to keep
Technique pages, sauce and pastry notes, and a practical plan for your next dinner party, with room for your discoveries.
Something to carry forward
A Skillette knife roll for completing the program—a useful keepsake for the cooking still to come.
Stay a little longer
Make Georgetown your home for the week.
Arrive on Sunday, settle in, and let Skillette anchor your week. Between classes, there’s time for the canal, a neighborhood walk, and an unhurried evening.
Rosewood Washington, D.C.
A welcoming base beside the C&O Canal, for visitors and locals making a week of it.
Our program rate and hotel booking link will be shared here when available.
Accommodation is booked separately and is not included in program tuition. Hotel availability and booking terms apply.
Before you join us
A few things to know.
Do I book the five days together?
Yes. The program is a complete five-day journey, with each day building on the last. One enrollment covers the full week.
What does a typical day look like?
The proposed rhythm begins with a welcome at 8:45 am, followed by demonstration and guided practice, seated lunch, and an afternoon of cooking and feedback. Most teaching days are planned to finish around 3:45 pm; Friday around 2:30 pm. Final timings will be shared before your program.
Is accommodation included?
Accommodation is separate from tuition. Rosewood Washington, D.C. is our suggested base in Georgetown. The program-rate link will appear in the stay section when available.
Are the evenings part of the program?
Evenings leave room for discovery and rest. Optional curated experiences may be offered separately, subject to availability; confirmed options and prices will be shared with enrollment.
What if I have dietary or access requirements?
Please discuss your dietary and access requirements with Skillette before enrolling so we can confirm arrangements for your week.
Where can I find dates, tuition, and booking terms?
The registration page is the home for current dates, tuition, availability, and booking terms, including the cancellation policy. Visit the Enrollment section for the latest registration information.
Your place at the table
Come curious. Leave inspired.
A deeper understanding of food. The confidence to cook and host with care. Five days to make it your own.
Five immersive days · Georgetown, Washington, D.C.
Enrollment is coming soon.
We’re putting the finishing touches on your week. Program dates, tuition, and registration will be shared here when enrollment opens.
Five days at Skillette. Accommodation and optional evening experiences are separate.