Amandine SABOT

Pastry Chef : 1 restaurant Amandine Sabot and Guillaume Dercourt have brilliantly taken over the reins at Lou Caléou in Sommières. In charge of the sweet side, the young woman was awarded the Pâtissier 2024 Occitanie trophy.

Presentation

Although Amandine Sabot doesn't remember having a passion for cooking from an early age, she was determined to enter the world of work quickly. I wasn't a bad student," she confides, " but I wasn't attracted by long studies either. At the end of the third year of secondary school, I was encouraged by people I knew to go to the Saint-Chamond hotel school, which had an excellent reputation, and I enrolled for a BEP (vocational training certificate) in cookery."

It was while working for a few months with the famous Guy Lassausaie, in Chasselay (Rhône), that the young girl of the time turned definitively to pastry-making. "During my first internship in a hotel, I was fascinated by the dessert cart and spent more time in the pastry shop than in the kitchen. At Guy Lassausaie, I was given the opportunity to pursue this path, while also collaborating with the establishment's boutique pastry store."

Once she had obtained her BEP (with additional qualification in pastry), Amandine Sabot joined Yann Couvreur in Saint-Barthélemy. "I'd sent out CVs all over the place with the sole aim of being recruited, no matter what town or country. But it was on this paradise island, at Eden Roc, that I met my future partner, Guillaume Dercourt."

The two young people went on to enjoy a succession of experiences, including a few years at Les Cépages, in Thoiry - "we benefited from a great deal of creative freedom", she predicts - before joining forces with Guillaume Dercourt.before joining Guillaume Dercourt's parents, who a few years earlier had created the Lou Caléou restaurant in Sommières, in place of a former Cocci Market.

In 2022, the couple bought the business. "We've modernized the place and our customers are loyal. They appreciate Guillaume's cooking and my desserts, to which I always try to add a modern touch to classic dishes." Gault&Millau rewarded his talent with the Pâtissier 2024 Occitanie trophy.