Le Cordon Bleu

Le Cordon Bleu([ləkɔʁdɔ̃blø];French: "The Blue Ribbon";LCB) is a French hospitality and culinary education institution, teachinghaute cuisine. Its educational focuses arehospitality management,culinary arts, andgastronomy. The institution consists of 35 institutes in 20 countries and has over 20,000 attendees.
The origin of the school name derives, indirectly, from the French Royal and CatholicOrder of the Holy Spirit. This was a select group of the French nobility that had beenknighted. The first creation of Royal Knights at the French Court was performed in 1578. The French Order of the Holy Spirit was for many centuries the highest distinction of the French Kingdom. Each member was awarded theCross of the Holy Spirit, which hung from a blue silk ribbon.  According to one story, this group became known for its extravagant and luxurious banquets, known as "cordons bleus". At the time, of theFrench Revolution, the monarchy and the Order were abolished, but the name remained synonymous with excellent French cooking. By the nineteenth century the blue ribbon had become synonymous with excellence.The name was adopted by a French culinary magazine,La Cuisinière Cordon Bleu, founded byMarthe Distelin the late 19th century.The magazine began offering lessons by some of the best chefs in France.
The magazine developed into the originalLe Cordon Bleuthat Distel andHenri-Paul Pellapratestablished in 1895 inParis, France.In 1945, after the end ofWWII,Madame Elisabeth Brassartpurchased what remained of the struggling school from a Catholic orphanage which had inherited it after Distel died in the late 1930s.Brassart managed the school until 1984; at the age of 87 she retired and sold the school toAndré J. Cointreau,a direct descendant of the founding family ofCointreauliqueur andRémy MartinCognac.
In 1933, former studentDione Lucashelped to open a school under the Le Cordon Bleu name inLondon, Great Britain.
In the United States, 16 schools used to operate under the "Le Cordon Bleu North America" name through a licensing agreement withCareer Education Corporation(CEC), a for-profit education company based in Chicago, Illinois.In 2009, the license was estimated to be worth $135 million.In 2014, Le Cordon Bleu North America generated $178.6 million in revenue and $70.6 million of operating losses.However, in light of the gainful employment rules implemented by the US Department of Education in 2015, CEC made the decision to sell the 16 campuses. When CEC failed to find a buyerit announced on 16 December 2015 that all 16 campuses in the United States would close by September 2017, giving enrolled students time to finish their programs.The last new students were accepted in January 2016.In June 2016, theSecurities and Exchange Commissionrequested documents and information regarding Career Education's fourth quarter 2014 classification of its Le Cordon Bleu campuses.
Le Cordon Bleu has continued to maintain a presence in the United States through its New York office, Le Cordon Bleu Inc., which places students in the locations abroad.
Le Cordon Bleuplayed in central role in the 2009 American filmJulie & Julia, which was partly based onJulia Child's  memoirMy Life in France.In addition, central protagonists in other films attended or were graduates ofLe Cordon Bleusuch asAudrey Hepburn's character in the 1954 American filmSabrina, Huo Ting En in the 2017Taiwanese television seriesThe Perfect Match, Dev D in the 2017Bengali filmMaacher JholandHervé Villechaize's character Nick Nack in the 1974 James Bond filmThe Man with the Golden Gun.
The school also plays a central role in publications by its students. For example, American writerKathleen Flinn's 2007 bookThe Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry, is the first insider's account of attending the modern Paris flagship school.Flinn's best-selling memoir recounts the day-to-day trials of the contemporary program and provides a further history of the school. The book was translated into several languages.