When cooks become pastry chefs

For decades, patisserie has been overshadowed by the success of the world's greatest kitchens, yet it has been a breeding ground for great chefs. Alain Ducasse didn't start his career roasting carrots, but making croissants under the watchful eye of Gaston Lenôtre. Michel Guérard didn't become a pioneer of "nouvelle cuisine" until he was head pastry chef at the Hôtel de Crillon. And of course, Cyril Lignac began his career as a pastry chef. A training that the Aveyronnais was quick to point out at the launch of the TV show"Le Meilleur Pâtissier" on M6 in 2012. Mastering savoury dishes when you're initially a sweet virtuoso is no longer surprising, given how many talented chefs have swapped aprons.

But a chef who becomes a pastry chef is less common. And yet, in a context where pastry-making is in its turn being starified, more and more chefs are launching new businesses based on sugar, especially since the end of the health crisis. Here's the proof.

Maison Mathieu Pacaud in Paris

The launch took place discreetly in the autumn of 2023. While Mathieu Pacaud was working on the details of the reopening of Le Laurent restaurant, alongside Laurent de Gourcuff, the entrepreneur was embarking on a new business unlike any he'd run before: a patisserie/bakery! In the heart of Paris' Golden Triangle, the man who has dusted off the capital's gastronomic institutions such as Divellec and Apicius is now experimenting with puff pastry, brioche dough and loaves of bread. Behind his shop window are pastries inspired by his restaurants. The palmier, whose size has been adapted for nibbling in a few bites, is already a signature pleasure. However, Mathieu Pacaud has not forgotten the savoury side of his business, with a catering and delicatessen formula integrated into his neighbourhood concept.

• Where? 180 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, 75008 Paris
• www.maisonpacaud.com

RomainRicard , ©Julien Knaub

Tapestry in Paris

What better idea than a paronym to make a lasting impression with a concept we didn't expect, at least not from Bertrand Grébaut and his Septime team? With the help of his faithful sidekick Théophile Pourriat, the chef who has made the eleventh arrondissement of Paris his gastronomic home has surprised everyone by opening his Tapisserie patisserie without waiting for the Covid-19 page to be turned. At the beginning of 2021, Grébaut and his brigade found a suitable setting to serve the maple syrup tart that has become a must-have at the Clamato counter. You can savor the few recipes that fill the display window as you bake at this neighborhood pastry shop, whose range is deliberately short, and made with organic flours and quality ingredients such as chocolate from the Plaq factory. Its success has since been duplicated in the seventh arrondissement, on avenue de la Motte-Piquet.

• Where? 65 rue de Charonne, 75011 Paris
• www.tapisserie-patisserie.fr

L'A Pâtisserie KG in Fontainebleau

Japanese chef Kunihisa Goto opened L'A Pâtisserie KG in 2021, when space became available next to his gourmet restaurant l'Axel, on land acquired from the desserts of the great pastry chef Frédéric Cassel in 1994. "At thetime of the health crisis, I wondered about the feasibility of opening a patisserie," says the chef from Oita on Kyushu Island. He recalls: "When I was little, I loved making cakes. I tried to make tiramisus, even though it wasn't easy to find mascarpone in Japan. I also made pancakes.

In Fontainebleau, rue de Paris, the Japanese chef, who trained with Philippe Etchebest during his time at Hostellerie de Plaisance, had already begun to solidify his presence with Fuumy. to solidify his presence with Fuumi, a counter serving okonomiyaki, the famous traditional Japanese cabbage pancake from Hiroshima. Now he's moving into pastry-making, with traditional French recipes given a Japanese twist. There's this black sesame cabbage with a heart of banana, mango and passion fruit. Kunihisa Goto has entrusted the creation of his desserts to chef Ayako Kishi, who has worked in the kitchens of Le Bristol:"She has carte blanche to think up the collection, but we taste the recipes together before putting them on display. We're keen to combine French pastry traditions with certain hallmarks of Japanese culinary culture" .

• Where? 41 rue de France, 77300 Fontainebleau, France
• www.lapatisserie-kg.com

©SimonDetraz

SaQuaNa in Honfleur

We've known it in the pool of toques that have fueled the good reputation of Norman tables. But then Covid-19 came along! Alexandre Bourdas has taken a 180° turn, preferring to serve a more accessible culinary concept, in a more bistronomic style. Even daring to make sushi, this "reconversion" is not the only novelty: the chef has become a baker/pastry chef while keeping his restaurant hat on. In 2021, Alexandre Bourdas opened Sa.Qua.Na, a neighborhood shop he imagined as a place to live. Locals come to buy their sourdough bread, which is fermented for 24 hours, as well as croissants, brioche, kouign-amann... This new address is no less a table than it is a tea room, starting at breakfast.

• Where? 22 place Hamelin, 14600 Honfleur
• www.alexandre-bourdas.com

Grain de Vanille in Cancale

This is a pioneering address for this new breed of pastry chefs. In Cancale, Olivier Roellinger has entrusted the keys to a pastry shop under the Maison de Bricourt label to Yannick Gauthier, his former pastry chef. Since February 2001, at Grain de Vanille, you can nibble on the desserts that have fueled the gourmet restaurant's menu, but also salivate over Rocher de Cancale, a sort of Norman revisitation of the marvellous ch'ti with a meringue, a hazelnut almond praline crunch and a blond chocolate mousse. Now associated with his illustrious boss, Yannick Gauthier continues to delight the whole of Cancale with his Bourbon vanilla millefeuille.

• Where? 12 place de la Victoire, 35260 Cancale
• www.grain-de-vanille.com