SCHOOL OF CHOCOLATE Is an Utter Delight
It’s beautiful to see art and creativity unfold in any capacity, and to watch it coupled with learning and teamwork is just *chef’s kiss*.
My reality TV preferences have generally been as follows: The Hills, America’s Next Top Model, RuPaul’s Drag Race, and literally anything produced by VH1 between 2006-2009. Cooking and/or baking shows have never been of particular interest to me (except for Nailed It! which is wonderfully fun). I think I generally steered clear because I thought they would make me hungry for a lot of food that I couldn’t have. Like, thanks a lot, Guy Fieri, now I want lobster poutine, and I can’t have it! (I did a quick YouTube search to see what sort of food to add here, and now I’m mad that I can’t eat so many burgers and sandwiches and fries.)
I should clarify, I don’t mean “can’t have” like I’ve restricted what I eat (diets are bullshit) or have an allergy or an intolerance, I mean I am incapable of having it because I can’t make it myself and I don’t live near that specific diner, drive-in, or dive bar establishment, so I can’t get it. And, even if I could make it myself, I for sure would not do that, because the idea of finding the ingredients, making the recipe, and cleaning up afterwards is gross to me and outweighs my craving for that thing. I think that’s another reason why I’ve never gravitated toward cooking shows - the clean up stresses me out. Not because I’m an organized person who needs cleanliness in her space - I am absolutely not that - but because I hate cleaning so much that I don’t even like thinking about other people cleaning. Reading that back, I wonder if I should bring this up in therapy, those are strong emotions about cleaning.
Recently, however, I found myself drawn to the new Netflix reality series School of Chocolate. And by “found myself drawn to” I mean “Netflix made it my featured recommendation for a week and wore me down”. It’s likely that this show was recommended to me because I had recently enjoyed Blown Away: Christmas for the holidays. That show, the season one Chrismukkah episode of The O.C., The Muppet Christmas Carol, and the predictably terrible Snowmance (it’s about a snowman named Cole [get it?] who becomes a man named Cole to reveal to the main character that her true love was right there in front of her, all along) were the only holiday content I consumed this year, and I feel good about the balance.
Blown Away is also an utter delight. It is a glass blowing competition show, and, aside from the fascinating and mesmerizing glass blowing process, the beautiful and unique works of art that are presented, and the refreshingly grounded artists and instructors calmly yet enthusiastically discussing this skill and art form, what delights me is something else: resilience.
Viewers discover very early into episode one that glass breaks a lot, and when that happens, the blowers have to begin again. A lesser reality show would supplement each and every glass shatter with dramatic music to increase the perceived stress, zooming fast and close onto the blower’s exasperated face as she sighs or melts down. But Blown Away, and the glass blowers and judges, take each shatter in stride. They accept it as part of the trade, acknowledge frustration and that there’s nothing to be done, and move on. It’s beautiful. It also makes watching the show far less stressful for me, because I don’t feel like I’m about to watch someone’s nervous breakdown be exploited for my enjoyment.
School of Chocolate doesn’t exactly have that same resilient spirit, but it does have values that I rarely see in the reality TV that I watch. Those values are asking for help, risk taking in the spirit of learning, and collaborating with peers. Plus, the instructor, Amaury Guichon is an adorable, kind, and incredibly talented pastry chef and teacher. If you want to be amazed, watch his TikToks.
Even though School of Chocolate is a competition, with the “best” pastry chef winning a sizable prize, it is also a school. Since each chef is not just a contestant, but also a student, no one is eliminated. The winner is the student with the best overall grade in the class, and the graded projects are both individual and team projects, so teamwork and collaboration are essential to succeed. Additionally, each project must incorporate a specific technique that they learned in that morning’s lesson. They are there to learn, to improve their skills, to make connections, and, hopefully, to take home some cash, a commission, and a job teaching their own master class in Las Vegas, but it’s apparent from beginning to end that Guichon’s primary and perhaps even sole goal is to help each chef become the best they can be.
Watching Guichon give personalized constructive feedback to students, assuring them that they are capable and talented and offering them dedicated time and help along the way, gives me the same sense of comfort that I get watching the blowers shrug off glass shattering and move on. It’s simply lovely to watch an exceptional instructor teach a willing student. I only felt frustrated watching this show when some of the students seemed to forget that they were also there to learn, and they set themselves firmly in a competitive mindset, which, thankfully, faded as the show progressed.
Guichon’s dedication to students’ success shows beyond the requisite check-ins while the students are working and the critiques at the end of each episode. Each challenge, he provides specific feedback to each student. Upon reviewing all the work, he acknowledges the top performers and names the “Best in Class” for the project. As the students leave to debrief, those who had the biggest struggles with the project are called in to a one-on-one conversation with Guichon. In that conversation, he kindly tells the student that he doesn’t believe they are ready for the group challenge, so while they will not be participating, they will have time with him during the group project to practice the skills he’s teaching and improve for next time. While it’s hard for some to hear that they aren’t meeting expectations compared to their classmates, it’s beautiful to see this as a way to help and grow. It’s not a punishment, meant to set them back even further. It’s an opportunity to independently learn from a master chef. It must feel validating to know that Amaury Guichon believes in your abilities so much that he will personally help you learn to be better!
Guichon also encourages risk-taking, demonstrated by the lessons for each project where he showcases specific tricks and tools to use to create incredible pieces of dessert and works of art. I love that this show isn’t about gatekeeping, it’s about knowledge sharing. Guichon is showing these techniques that, I imagine, some chefs would keep close to the double-breasted jacket to avoid competition (because capitalism has poisoned us to have a scarcity mindset and see everyone as competition). It’s clear that he loves to teach. He enjoys walking through each technique, he enjoys helping along the way if needed and desired, and he enjoys watching students improve over time, as I know any good teacher does.
It’s also clear that Guichon and the students are passionate about art and using chocolate as a medium. Each project and lesson is met with curiosity, fascination, and an excitement to try something new. Students, for the most part, aren’t frustrated for having to work outside their expertise or their personal style. They’re also willing to work with one another.
As noted earlier, every other project is a team project. Sometimes the students choose their own teams, sometimes they are assigned to them, but the show makes sure that everyone has an opportunity to work with everyone else. While it’s apparent that some work better together than others, it’s nice to avoid cliques or imbalanced teams. Moreover, it’s brilliant to make effective teamwork a requirement to have a chance at winning this competition. It doesn’t embrace the fierce individualism that is so prevalent in our culture.
It’s beautiful to see art and creativity unfold in any capacity, and to watch it coupled with learning and teamwork is just *chef’s kiss*. I recommend this show as a nice respite from the existential dread that can accompany These Unprecedented Times™️, and I sincerely welcome any and all recommendations for reality TV that will match (or come close) to the delight I’ve found with School of Chocolate.