Chefs and... bakers

Mauro Colagreco, in Menton, Olivier Nasti, in Kaysersberg, Jacky Ribault, in Noisy-le-Grand, Thierry Marx and Julien Duboué, in Paris, have decided to take the plunge and put bread back at the center of the table. A universal and living nourishment, a symbol of sharing and simplicity, bread no longer tolerates ready-made mixes or ultra-short fermentations.

Here, gestures and long fermentations are the order of the day, as are homemade sourdough, kneading and baking, all of which contribute to the flavors of these long-lasting loaves. With passion and patience, each of the chefs has set about restoring this foodstuff to its former glory, by returning to its original essence: the earth.

Their aim is to work with 100% natural flours, quality wheat and ancient varieties, freshly milled to preserve all the bread's nutritional properties. Far from being a fad, they are all committed to restoring meaning and taste to bread in a virtuous ecosystem.

• Mitron Bakery, Menton

By opening Mitron Bakery in 2020, 4-Toque chef Mauro Colagreco aims to rehabilitate bread as a universal food with essential nutrients. In addition to taste, his approach calls into question production and consumption methods, with the aim of offering bread that respects the environment and those who eat it. To complement this approach, the chef has acquired his own mill in Menton to produce his organic and natural flours. As for baking, it's done the old-fashioned way in the 1906 wood-fired oven. A special place to discover!

8, rue Piéta, 06500 Menton

• Levain, in Kaysersberg

"I think deep down I've always wanted to work with bread, to have my own bakery. But, as with everything I do, I had to achieve excellence," confides Olivier Nasti, our Chef of the Year 2023. His meeting with Luc Roux, a baker in Digne-les-Bains, was decisive. Rémi Vanoverschelde, one of his former cooks, joined the adventure and became head baker to Luc Roux before joining Levain. All the flours are organic, and the natural sourdough is homemade. The chef's aim is to offer products with incomparable taste. Every week, since its opening in summer 2022, the 120-year-old wooden kneading trough is used to knead a dough made with khorasan flour, whose nutty butter flavors delight the village.

9, rue du Général-de-Gaulle, 68240 Kaysersberg

www.lech ambard.fr

• Suzanne & Lucien, in Noisy-le-Grand

"I started making bread in 1984 as an apprentice, and immediately loved the contact with dough."After opening his brasserie Les Mérovingiens, Jacky Ribault (2 toques at L'Ours, Vincennes, and Qui Plume la Lune, Paris) had the opportunity to take over the premises of a former florist a stone's throw from the brasserie. The choice was made: he would turn it into a bakery in homage to his mother, and a butcher's shop in memory of his father and his childhood years on the farm. "Today, I'm living the dream. Here, everything is made on site. The loaves are made with homemade sourdough, and fermented for a long time to bring back the breads of yesteryear, which could be kept for a week and were often the centerpiece of the meal."To revive these traditions, he bought a 1971 2CV van to deliver bread to his restaurants, which are now self-sufficient when it comes to bread.

28, avenue Émile-Cossonneau, 93160 Noisy-le-Grand

• Thierry Marx Bakery, Paris

All breads are made with organically grown cereals and flours from mills located in the Paris region. Here, cooking and bread go hand in hand. "My passion for bread goes back to my childhood. I've made a wish hundreds of times: one day, I'll have a bakery where there'll be good bread", confides the cathodic 4-toque chef. Wish granted. The bakery also offers street food, with homemade sandwiches made by the minute. Let's try it!

51, rue Laborde, 75008 Paris

www.thie rrymarxbakery.fr

• Julien Duboué, B.O.U.L.O.M. The bakery where you eat, in Paris

One place, two concepts. At B.O.U.L.O.M., Julien Duboué (1 toque) has succeeded in combining a front-of-house bakery with a restaurant featuring an all-you-can-eat buffet, accessed through a small door at the back of the bakery. His inspiration was the village bread oven, in which dishes were simmered once the bread was baked. Here, the concept is the same: dishes are baked in the extinguished ovens while awaiting service. As for the breads, they're made the old-fashioned way, with sourdough, from organically grown wheat selected in the South-West and crushed in the region's last windmill. Since April 2018, when it opened, the place hasn't been empty.

181, rue Ordener, 75018 Paris

www.boulom.net