A Mediterranean bakery a stone's throw from Paris

10/13/23

There's no need to head south to enjoy the pleasures of the Mediterranean, just to Montrouge (Hauts-de-Seine). David Batty, a former food journalist, has founded a neoboulangerie there, drawing on his father's memories and southern recipes.

It's a bad day for a walk, with the rain soaking every inch of skin. A few metro stations down, and here's the end of my journey: Mairie de Montrouge. We zigzag between the raindrops, looking for the much-vaunted bakery, and there it is, a white halo of comforting promise.

Once through the front door, you discover an atmosphere radically different from the outside. The place is warm, bright and welcoming. Surprising for a bakery. What you need to know is that La Boulangerie Méditerranéenne is not just another baguette and eclair address. Here, everything is handmade, inspired by the southern origins of the owner, David Batty.

A revelation, his profession

Long before becoming a baker, he studied international relations. He ("fortunately ") failed to pass his Capes in history, and went on to do civilian service with an association radio station in Marseilles. " I'd always had a passion for cooking, so I asked them if I could do a cookery column," he recalls. It was a revelation, and he made it his profession. Fifteen years of journalism followed, first as a freelance food writer, then as editor-in-chief of Sport & Style, a supplement to L'Équipe.

Then 2020 arrived. Covid, confinement, shutdown of the magazine, redundancy plan, reappraisal... It was a tough year, but a salutary one. "I'd always wanted to set up a cooking project. A restaurant or a bakery. With the pandemic, I decided that the first option was too risky", he confides. After a CAP in bakery from the Ferrandi school, two internships and entrepreneurial coaching, he's ready to take the plunge.

November 2022: La Boulangerie Méditerranéenne opens its doors. Designed by architect and artist Louise Morin, the place has nothing in common with a traditional bakery. Inside, floors and sand-colored zelliges highlight earthenware carafes and antique objects. "My father was born in Algeria, and he was always telling us stories about his life there. I grew up in this Mediterranean atmosphere, and I've traveled a lot in this region myself," explains the man who considers himself the editor-in-chief of this establishment with eight employees.

So, on the walls as well as on the stalls, you'll find a variety of southern specialties: pan-bagnat, pissaladière, oven-preserved vegetables, tropézienne revisited with orange blossom, maritozzo (a small filled Roman brioche), montecaos (Algerian shortbread), and more. The bakery also gives pride of place to breads made with natural sourdough, such as this Khorasan loaf. Once you've placed your order, all you have to do is enjoy an assortment of these little pleasures on one of the comfortable benches, and watch the 300 or so customers pass by throughout the day.