Anne Willan

International Cookbook Author, Food Writer & Syndicated Columnist

International cookbook author, food writer and syndicated columnist Anne Willan may be best known as the founder of Ecole de Cuisine La Varenne, the famous cooking school in the burgundy region of France. She has been recognized throughout the world as a leading authority on French regional cuisine, classic French cooking, and the culinary history of France.

Early Years

Born in Yorkshire, England, Willan studied as well as taught cooking in London and Paris, following graduation from Cambridge University, and then moved to the United States in 1965. An American citizen since 1973, in 1975 she returned to France to establish La Varenne, the bi-lingual French cooking school. In 1982, Anne and her husband purchased Chateau du Fey, a “classified monument historique” dating from the 17th century, where for the last twenty years she has taught master classes on regional French cooking. In addition, under Anne Willan’s direction, La Varenne classes are now offered at the Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia and at the Cipriani Hotel in Venice, Italy, with the assistance of internationally recognized guest chefs and professional culinary instructors.

Current Projects

Anne Willan has authored over a dozen internationally published cookbooks, including:

• Great Cooks and Their Recipes: from Taillevent to Escoffier
• French Regional Cooking, La Varenne Pratique
• In and Out of the Kitchen in Fifteen Minutes or Less
• Anne Willan: From My Chateau Kitchen
• Cooking with Wine
• Good Food No Fuss: 150 Recipes and Ideas for Easy to Cook Dishes

The 17 volume series, Look and Cook, has sold nearly 2 million copies, is available in over a dozen foreign languages, and was the basis for the PBS series, Look and Cook with Anne Willan.

Recognition

Respected for her ability to demonstrate every aspect of cooking, with authority yet in an entertaining way, Bon Appetit Magazine named Anne Willan 2000 Cooking Teacher of the Year. Past president of the International Association of Culinary Professionals, she received the association’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 1998. Among many other awards, Anne Willan was elected to the Who’s Who of Food and Beverage in America in 1986, and was additionally honored as Grande Dame of Les Dames d’Escoffier in 1995.

It would be wonderful if we could all visit Ann Willan’s French culinary haven, La Varenne. In the meantime, we’ll rely on her thirty years of experience in the culinary field as an educator, cookbook author, writer, and television host, utilize her expertise and instruction, and adapt her techniques to create a little French haven in our very own kitchens.