In the heart of Bangkok’s century-old Nai Lert Park, something unique in Asia is happening: under one roof, you can learn to cook like a French chef in the morning — and taste wine like a sommelier in the evening. This is the natural complementarity between École Ducasse Nai Lert Bangkok Studio, the culinary school born from the vision of multi-Michelin-starred chef Alain Ducasse, and Wine & Spirit Academy (WSA) Bangkok, the wine and sommelier academy founded by a French sommelier, whose classes are held within the Studio itself.
Great gastronomy has never been about food alone. Here is why this address in Ploenchit has quietly become the most complete gastronomic education destination in Thailand.
Opened in December 2022 as the first École Ducasse Studio outside Paris, the Nai Lert Bangkok Studio is a collaboration between Thailand’s Nai Lert Group and Alain Ducasse, whose restaurant empire holds around 21 Michelin stars. Across 1,400 sqm and three floors, the purpose-built school houses professional culinary and pastry labs, a chocolate and ice-cream lab, an event space, a French café — and a marbled wine cellar designed for small-group tastings.
From one-day workshops to intensive professional programs, the Studio trains both passionate amateurs and future chefs in French technique, pastry arts and Thai cuisine.
Within this same address, Wine & Spirit Academy brings the other half of the gastronomic equation. Founded by a French sommelier, WSA offers wine tasting classes, beginner-to-professional wine courses, sake education, and the FSS (Foundation of Sommelier Skills) certification program, alongside HORECA training for hotels and restaurants, corporate tastings, and wine tours to France.
Where École Ducasse teaches you to build a dish, WSA teaches you to choose, serve and pair the wine that elevates it.
The Michelin Guide has long defined excellence on the plate. In 2026, it extended that same philosophy to the vineyard with the launch of the Michelin Grappes — a new 1-to-3 rating awarded to wine estates, unveiled first in Burgundy. The message is clear: in modern gastronomy, the cellar is judged with the same seriousness as the kitchen. https://wsa-bangkok.com/wine/what-are-the-michelin-grappes-michelin-awards-stars-to-wine-estates-for-the-first-time-in-history/
For aspiring professionals in Bangkok, this means one thing: culinary skills and wine knowledge are no longer separate career paths — they are two halves of the same profession. A chef who understands wine designs better menus; a sommelier who understands cooking makes better pairings.
Bangkok’s fine-dining scene is one of Asia’s most dynamic, with a growing number of Michelin-starred and Michelin-selected establishments. Employers increasingly look for hybrid profiles:
Training in both disciplines — cooking at École Ducasse, wine at WSA — within the same address is a shortcut that simply doesn’t exist elsewhere in the region.
Imagine a day in Nai Lert Park: a hands-on French cooking or pastry class in the morning at École Ducasse, followed by a guided wine tasting with a professional sommelier at WSA — learning why that Burgundy Chardonnay transforms your beurre blanc. For couples, friends or food lovers, it is a complete gastronomic day out in the middle of one of Bangkok’s most beautiful green spaces.
https://www.bangkok-ecoleducasse-studio.com/product-category/short-classes/
Both schools serve Bangkok’s corporate market: École Ducasse with culinary team-building and private events, WSA with corporate wine and sake tastings led by certified sommeliers. Combined, they offer companies a full “dinner-party curriculum” — teams that cook together, then learn to pair and taste together.
https://www.bangkok-ecoleducasse-studio.com/events/
Students pursuing culinary diplomas or Major programs can round out their profile with WSA’s wine certifications, gaining the food-and-beverage double competence that top hotels and restaurants in Thailand actively recruit for.
https://www.bangkok-ecoleducasse-studio.com/product-category/extended-classes/
What ultimately unites the two institutions is a philosophy. Alain Ducasse built École Ducasse on the idea that culinary excellence can be taught, structured and shared beyond the walls of starred restaurants. WSA Bangkok applies the same conviction to wine: that tasting, serving and understanding wine is a learnable craft — not a privilege reserved for connoisseurs.
Both bring French savoir-faire to Bangkok. Both teach in English and Thai. And both believe that Thailand’s gastronomic future will be written by locally trained talent with world-class standards.
WSA Bangkok’s wine and sommelier classes take place at École Ducasse Nai Lert Bangkok Studio, 4 Soi Somkid, Ploenchit, in the heart of Bangkok — easily accessible by BTS (Chidlom Station).
Yes. École Ducasse offers culinary and pastry classes, while WSA offers wine tastings and courses at the same address, making it possible to combine both experiences.
No. Both schools welcome complete beginners: École Ducasse with introductory cooking and pastry workshops, WSA with beginner wine tasting classes requiring zero prior knowledge.
Yes. École Ducasse offers professional culinary programs, while WSA offers the FSS (Foundation of Sommelier Skills) certification and HORECA training designed for hotel and restaurant teams.
From the kitchen to the cellar, from the plate to the glass — Nai Lert Park now hosts the full spectrum of gastronomic education. Whether your goal is a memorable day of French cooking and wine tasting, a corporate event your team will never forget, or a professional career in Asia’s most exciting food city, the path starts at one address.
Explore wine classes at WSA Bangkok: Wine Classes | FSS Sommelier Certification: FSS Classes | Call 099-016-8838
The Michelin Grappes are the newest award from the Michelin
You have a team to reward, a client to impress,
Most people drink wine. Very few people actually taste it.
