In Practice · Spring 2026
DC Culinary Club at
St. John's Episcopal School
A chef-led after-school culinary program built around real technique, ingredient understanding, and food students prepared themselves.
A look inside the completed Spring 2026 program.
Spring 2026 at a Glance
- Program
- After-School Culinary Education
- Season
- Spring 2026
- School
- St. John's Episcopal School
- Format
- Progressive hands-on series
- Instruction
- Led by Chef Rémy Carton
- Setting
- St. John's kitchen, after school
The Program
Learning by doing, one class at a time.
The Spring 2026 after-school program was designed as a connected culinary series rather than a collection of unrelated activities. Each class introduced a practical technique, an ingredient or food concept, and something students prepared themselves.
Chef Rémy led the program personally, guiding students through the habits of a working kitchen: setting up properly, handling ingredients with care, tasting throughout the process, staying organized, and taking responsibility for the finished result.
The goal was not simply to send students home with something they had made. It was to help them understand how food comes together and become more confident participating in the kitchen.
A curriculum, not a demonstration.
Every student participates, and every session builds on the habits introduced before it.
The Class Series
What students made and learned.
The Spring 2026 curriculum connected each finished dish to the techniques, ingredients, and kitchen habits required to prepare it.
Each session ended with a finished dish students prepared themselves and took home to share with their families—turning newly learned skills into something tangible, memorable, and shared.
Session 01
La Macaronade
Students built a cake of two almond macaron shells with vanilla cream and fresh raspberries, finished with gold leaf, whole almonds, and a vanilla bean, then churned butter from scratch in a jar.
- Technique
- Whipping cream by hand, assembling and filling, plating and finishing
- Ingredient Focus
- Almond, vanilla, cream and butter
- Skill Carried Forward
- Understanding why every ingredient plays a role
Session 02
Gourmet Cookies
Students mixed and shaped two doughs from scratch: a classic chocolate chip and a version wrapped around a frozen Nutella core, finished with dark chocolate drizzle and gold leaf.
- Technique
- Creaming butter and sugar by hand, mixing, shaping and stuffing dough
- Ingredient Focus
- Butter, sugar and chocolate
- Skill Carried Forward
- The science behind texture, and what makes a cookie chewy or crisp
Session 03
Chocolate Moelleux
Students mixed and baked a classic French chocolate cake from Chef Rémy's mother's recipe, whipped vanilla cream to stiff peaks by hand, and watched a crème anglaise prepared from start to finish.
- Technique
- Melting chocolate and butter, batter mixing, baking, whipping to stiff peaks
- Ingredient Focus
- Chocolate, eggs and heat
- Skill Carried Forward
- Understanding why technique changes the result
Session 04
Gourmet Pizza
Students mixed a San Marzano tomato sauce, shredded fresh mozzarella, stretched and shaped their own dough by hand, and baked it on a professional pizza stone.
- Technique
- Sauce making, hand stretching dough, stone baking, guided tasting
- Ingredient Focus
- Flour, tomato, mozzarella and olive oil, including a blind tasting of four oils
- Skill Carried Forward
- How quality, acidity, and flavor change the finished bite
Session 05
Cupcake Creations
Students mixed cupcake batter from scratch, baked their own cupcakes, whipped a ganache, and piped and decorated each cupcake by hand.
- Technique
- Batter mixing, baking, whipping ganache, piping and decorating
- Ingredient Focus
- Chocolate, cream, eggs and flour
- Skill Carried Forward
- Training the palate through a guided flavor tasting
Session 06
Cupcake Creations
A second group of students completed the same class, mixing batter, baking their own cupcakes, whipping ganache, and decorating by hand.
- Technique
- Batter mixing, baking, whipping ganache, piping and decorating
- Ingredient Focus
- Chocolate, cream, eggs and flour
- Skill Carried Forward
- Training the palate through a guided flavor tasting
Beyond the Dish
Skills that carried across the series.
While every class produced something different, the same foundational habits were reinforced throughout the program.
01
Kitchen Organization
Setting up a workstation, managing tools and ingredients, and cleaning down responsibly.
02
Technique & Control
Measuring, mixing, cutting, shaping, cooking, tasting, and adjusting with increasing care.
03
Ingredient Understanding
Learning how ingredients behave, why steps matter, and how different elements contribute to the finished result.
04
Confidence Through Practice
Participating directly, completing the work, and becoming more comfortable taking responsibility in the kitchen.
The Approach
Designed to build over time.
The Spring 2026 program was structured so that students could practice familiar habits while encountering new techniques, ingredients, and finished dishes.
“Cooking becomes a life skill when students are trusted to take part in the work.”
01
Chef Designed
Chef Rémy developed the session sequence, preparation plan, teaching approach, and culinary focus for the program.
02
Hands On
Students participated in the preparation and process rather than watching a demonstration.
03
Progressive
Classes reinforced organization, technique, tasting, and responsibility so confidence could develop across the series.
Spring 2026
A season of learning, making, and growing more confident in the kitchen.
We are grateful to St. John's Episcopal School and the families who made the Spring 2026 after-school program possible.
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