A post shared by Le Cordon Bleu Paris (@lecordonbleuparis) on May 23, 2018 at 4:50am PDT

PARIS — French hospitality education institution Le Cordon Bleu will launch its first bachelor degree program in the Philippines in September after years of long-standing relations with Ateneo de Manila University.

“It’s a long story because it took quite a long time to start our agreement with this famous institute Ateneo… We have been there many, many times and now it’s on the way to open. We are delighted,” said European alumni and events and communications coordinator Catherine Baschet.

In 2013, Ateneo president Fr. Jose Ramon Villarin and Le Cordon Bleu director and president Andre Cointeau signed an agreement to establish the Ateneo-Le Cordon Bleu Institute, which will specialize in hotel and restaurant management programs.

“We are very, very happy to have our first campus in the Philippines, opening up in partnership with the Ateneo de Manila University in Loyola Heights campus which will open in September,” said Le Cordon Bleu’s Asia director Charles Cointreau.

Cointreau will head to the Philippines to spearhead the first open house to launch its very first program in partnership with Ateneo -- the Bachelor of Science in Restaurant Entrepreneurship.

The university's creative hub, The Arete, will house the facilities in its ground floor. Le Cordon Bleu will install several kitchens and a cafe to teach not just French but Western cuisines in general.

Cointreau said a second campus in Rockwell will open in 2019, where there will be "specialized kitchens that can do just beyond Western and Asian cuisines."

Fabrice Danniel, assistant culinary arts director and head of Le Cordon Bleu's Pastry Department, looks forward to returning to the Philippines.

“I will represent Le Cordon Bleu there. It’s a great pleasure all the time to be in the Philippines... for the culture, for the food, for everything," he said.

Ambassador Ma. Theresa P. Lazaro, the Philippines' representative to France and Monaco, stressed the importance of the partnership of Ateneo and Le Cordon Bleu.

“Maganda ito kasi hindi lang ito nagbibigay ng education that we learn… but it’s really 'pagkakaintindihan,' a better understanding between Philippines and France," she said.