Makenna Held

MAKENNA HELD is an author, founder, culinary educator, and host of La Pitchoune: Cooking in France on Magnolia Network and Max.

In 2015, she bought Julia Child’s former summer home in France—sight unseen—and moved her life abroad to open the Courageous Cooking School. There, she developed the first proven teaching method for seasonal, recipe-optional cooking—designed to help people become confident, curious, and capable cooks.

Her latest venture, RecipeKick, expands on that mission by helping home cooks break free from dependency on strict instructions and instead learn how to make smart, flexible choices with what they have on hand. It’s about building skill, not just following steps—and making cooking more sustainable, affordable, and joyful in the process.

Makenna is a graduate of Smith College, NYU, and Le Cordon Bleu. She lives in Grasse, France with her husband, Chris, and their daughter, Magnolia. Her restaurant, Detour, will open August 1, 2025.