Nominees in the 2027 Pastry Chef of the Year category
Jonathan Chapuy, Margaux Boisson, Clément Réauté, and Valentin Mille are in the running for the 2027 Gault&Millau Pastry Chef of the Year award. Four career paths, four ways of approaching dessert.
Each year, the Gault&Millau Gala honors a pastry chef whose work has stood out over the course of the months. For the 2027 edition, four names stand out: a former luxury hotel pastry chef now based in the mountains, a pastry chef who started out in the dining room, a French dessert champion, and the executive pastry chef of a major restaurant group. Profiles.
Jonathan Chapuy, of Benjamin restaurant in Megève
His grandfather and great-grandfather were bakers. Jonathan Chapuy, however, switched to pastry arts while at the CFA in Roanne, then joined Parisian luxury hotels, where he worked for nine years under Michael Bartocetti. In 2020, he set his sights on Megève. On the menu at Benjamin (3 toques), his desserts have the flair of a chic brasserie: generous, straightforward, and executed with flawless technique. Winner of the Pastry Chef Trophy at the 2026 Gault&Millau Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Tour, he has now moved up to the national level.
Margaux Boisson, of the Dialogues restaurant in Biarritz
Her first job was in front-of-house. After earning her high school diploma in the sciences, Margaux Boisson attended École Vatel in Lyon, then worked as a server until the day when simply presenting dishes was no longer enough for her: she went back to school to earn a vocational certificate in culinary arts. As an apprentice underAdrien Zedda at Culina Hortus, she was quickly put in charge of pastry before following the chef to Biarritz to open Dialogues (2 toques). Here, sweet and savory elements complement each other, and she embraces this: “It’s undoubtedly contradictory, but I prefer savory dishes to sweet ones. This approach is reflected in my dessert creations.” The result is desserts that are not overly sweet, inspired by the seasons, which earned her the Pastry Chef trophy at the 2026 Gault&Millau Tour Nouvelle-Aquitaine.
Clément Réauté, from the Fleur de Loire restaurant in Blois
The desserts he made on weekends for his loved ones shaped his career path. After studying at Ferrandi in Bordeaux, Clément Réauté joined Christophe Hay’s team as an intern and has been there ever since: today, he heads the pastry kitchen at the gourmet restaurant Fleur de Loire (4 toques). Crowned French Dessert Champion in 2025, he draws inspiration from the Loire Valley and the restaurant’s garden: apples from Château de Talcy, confit parsley and fennel, or Hardy butter pears poached in elderflower and served with a sage cream. Light and precise dishes, perfectly in line with the chef’s culinary style.
- See the Gault&Millau review of Christophe Hay - Fleur de Loire (4 toques)
- View Clément Réauté’s Instagram account
Valentin Mille, from the Yannick Alléno group in Paris and Courchevel
Valentin Mille, originally from Alsace, learned the trade at L’Auberge de l’Ill (6 toques) under Marc Haeberlin, then at Restaurant Guy Savoy (6 toques), where he started as a commis and rose to become sous-chef de pâtisserie. Next came stints in Brisbane, Hong Kong, and Madrid, where in 2022 he took over as head pastry chef at a major hotel. Back in France, he now oversees the pastry operations for the entire Yannick Alléno group: Alléno Paris (5 toques), L’Abysse (4 toques), and Pavyllon (3 toques) in Paris, as well as Le 1947 at Cheval Blanc (5 toques) in Courchevel. He also shares his expertise with students at the École Lenôtre.
- See the Gault&Millau review of Alléno Paris (5 toques)
- See the Gault&Millau review of Le 1947 at Cheval Blanc (5 toques)
- View Valentin Mille’s Instagram account
