Charlotte BROCHARD

Chef de service : 1 restaurant Jeune Talent en Salle 2024 for the Brittany region, Charlotte Brochard is flourishing at La Petite Ourse, the restaurant she opened in Rennes with her partner.

Presentation

Sparkling, cheerful and professional - these are the adjectives that spontaneously spring to mind after meeting Charlotte Brochard, who lights up the dining room of the Rennes-based restaurant she runs with her partner, Germain Caillet.

Even though I've just turned 40, I'm still very young in the business," explains Charlotte Brochard. I only really started working in the dining room in 2018." At the time, the woman who grew up in Mayenne and obtained a double degree in Arabic and language sciences before earning a master's degree in communications in Rennes had just left Les Inrocks magazine , after eight years as compilations manager, press officer and events manager.

A first try at the Pantruche

"My partner, whom I met in Rennes, had been chef at Pantruche, Franck Baranger's restaurant, for eight years. I wanted a new experience. I tried out working in the dining room at Le Pantruche for a few weeks, then took a training course in management and administration for the hotel and catering industry, and another in room service. I didn't want to start out in the unknown."

The couple, who were then about to welcome their first child, wanted to settle in Rennes and bought the emblematic Crêperie du Couesnon in early 2019. "With Germain, we naturally redecorated and fitted out the establishment to our taste, in a very sober but still Breton spirit. It was a beautiful story of transmission with the previous owner, who had run the crêperie for seventeen years."

La Petite Ourse only opens for lunch on weekdays

Since opening, the restaurant has only been open for lunch on weekdays. It's a choice that the couple have taken on board. "There are only two of us, Germain in the kitchen and me in the dining room, and we provide two services every lunchtime. The playlist? It's a joint job, but obviously very important for both of us. Germain is also a musician, he's a fan of Bob Dylan and the blues; I love Juliette Armanet and Bertrand Belin." Her enthusiasm and professionalism earned her the Jeune Talent en Salle 2024 award for Brittany.