Education & Classes in Birmingham

Chef Jean Evens Estinfort may as well have been born in the kitchen. As a student he attended René Auffrey culinary high school in Paris, affirming his career ambitions early in life. After graduation he never looked back, pan-searing his diploma to taste, then honing his culinary acumen on the job, and eventually opening his own Parisian restaurant in 2002. In 1996, chef Serge Pambo traveled to France to matriculate at Domaine du Gré culinary school, going on to cook for various French restaurants. In 2006, this duo of chefs packed their bags with recipe books and stuffed their hats with rosemary before embarking to bring authentic French cooking abroad.

And so Café de Paris was born, its walls peppered with reminders of France, and its square linen-clad tables frequently topped with seasonal entrees such as pan-seared tilapia and ham-and-cheese crepes. In conjunction with local schools, the chefs invite French classes to stop by to taste the cuisine that correlates to the language they're learning, which is more convenient than inviting a French meal to live in their homes for a semester.

Birmingham Flight Center’s skilled instructors equip pupils with aeronautical know-how through classroom, flight-simulator, and in-the-air training. Students blast off into the pixeled yonder in Redbird FMX simulators—equipped with 200-degree wraparound views, full-motion capabilities, and digital parachutes in case of lost dogfights—or pilot the center’s top-notch, genuine fleet. Offering levels of instruction from Learn to Fly private pilot-certification courses to FAR Part 141 expedited commercial training, the flight center prepares the pilots of tomorrow while maintaining its founders’ legacy of aeronautical excellence, which stretches back more than 70 years.

Chef and instructor Kelly Viall returned to her hometown of Birmingham after 15 years of whipping up fresh-fish dishes in Seattle and along the Gulf Coast. Now hundreds of miles from a coast, she still clings to her passion for ocean-fresh seafood and teaches students to master a variety of culinary techniques. She also offers catering options, giving food art lovers a chance to have a marine Louvre brought to them.

Painting classes with Uptown Art - Uncorked allow artists of all ages and skill levels to spend a few hours expressing their creative impulses. Each session focuses on a designated theme, based on the style of a particular artist, such as Monet, or a particularly beautiful still-life subject, such as gerber daisies or a puddle of spilled tabasco sauce. For groups of aspiring Picassos or people with more than three hands, the studios also host painting parties to accommodate birthday celebrations, bachelorette soirees, work retreats, and sorority events.

At more than 900 learning centers across the world, Sylvan offers kids a leg up through personalized, one-on-one programs prescribed by an in-depth skills assessment. Students build on past lessons to learn progressively, and sessions may hone in on different disciplines, granting kids the confidence to interpret literature and the rhetorical skills needed to negotiate a later bedtime. The positive mindset of personable, invested instructors helps to inspire kids to greater academic feats, as does a prize program that rewards hard work with CDs and gift cards.

The Woodcraft name stretches from coast to coast with locations peppered throughout the United States, ensuring that Americans are well equipped with the brand-name tools and woodworking supplies needed to pursue handyman endeavors. At Woodcraft of Birmingham, a collection of hand tools waits patiently to hammer down nails and saw brave magician assistants in half, and a variety of power tools—including drills, sanders, and grinders—adds electric oomph to construction projects. In addition to performing in-store demonstrations of new products, the shop’s wise whittlers call upon more than 80 years of collective knowledge to lead various crafts classes, in which participants learn how to carve sophisticated pens, assemble wooden step stools, and use table saws.