Agathe BAULU
After a career with Michel Guérard and Les Bras, in 2024 Agathe Baulu opened Café Bélardi in Saint-Jean-de-Luz, where she and her partner offer fresh, local cuisine.
Agathe Baulu, like many of her peers born in the 90s, didn't join a hotel school straight out of ninth grade. "I wanted to become a photographer - it was, and remains, a passion for me. But I also loved cooking. The young woman dreamed of becoming a food photographer, and joined the Ecole Hôtelière d'Avignon, the only one at the time to offer training in culinary design."But the profession of food photographer was still in its infancy then, whereas it's jam-packed today, and in the end it was my passion for cooking that got the better of me. "
From culinary design to the opening of Café Bélardi
She managed to get into Les Prés d'Eugénie where, working alongside Michel Guérard and Olivier Brulard, she stayed for a year and a half before moving on to Les Bras in Laguiole. "I then worked in Biarritz, at the Epoqrestaurant , now closed, and it was during this period that I met Quentin Pierre-Antoine, my partner, with whom we moved to Toulouse and gained experience running temporary restaurants. It was an enriching period, which enabled us to try out many different catering formulas. "
On the strength of these experiences,the young couple decided to set up on their own in 2024, opening Café Bélardi in Saint-Jean-de-Luz during the summer. "We offer simple, fresh cuisine with well-sourced products (most of the fish comes from the excellent Fagoaga fishmonger ) and a fine selection of wines, selected by Quentin" .
