Benoit CHARVET

Pastry Chef : 1 restaurant Pastry chef Benoît Charvet has worked in some of France's finest establishments. Today, he has found his place at the Paul Bocuse restaurant in Collonges-au-Mont-d'Or (Rhône).

Presentation

"Inevitably, at first, I wanted to cook, like my father," recalls Benoît Charvet. But during an internship, the Parisian discovered his passion: pastry-making. First an apprentice, then a commis pâtissier, he spent three years learning the basics of the trade at Potel & Chabot, perfecting his skills in frozen desserts, chocolate and drawn sugar.

In 2002, he was appointed head pastry chef at Lucas Carton, in the Alain Senderens era. He was only 19 years old..."It was very useful because I learned to be autonomous and to manage. But that's not where I discovered myself."

It was at the Relais Bernard Loiseau, in Saulieu, that the pastry chef's real transformation took place, three years after the great chef's death. "There was this wound, a need for renewal and to continue the story. It was a house that gave me the means to express myself, to find my own style."

After eight years at Le Relais, the pastry chef joined the Georges Blanc group in Vonnas (Ain). "It was totally different. It was a palace configuration that demanded a lot of management, teamwork and maturity." A substantial amount of work, but one that motivated him to take part in some major competitions, including the World Frozen Dessert Championship, which he won in 2018.

Since 2019, Benoît Charvet has officiated at the Paul Bocuse restaurant in Collonges-au-Mont-d'Or, as executive pastry chef. "I've always had an emotional bond with the Bocuse house. Alain Senderens, Bernard Loiseau... They were his friends. It was the next logical step to work for him." His goal from now on: to continue to make this house of excellence shine.

I. B.