From the stoves to the bakery, there is sometimes only a small step that many chefs have enjoyed taking in recent years. Whether they are star chefs or less well-known, motivated by pandemic-related restructurings or not, all have developed a passion for sourdough and openly express their joy in getting their hands in the dough
"I love bread!" Chef Glenn Viel enthusiastically exclaims when the subject of baking comes up. When he took over the Oustau de Baumanière estate in Les Baux-de-Provence in 2015, the three-star chef decided to implement an unusual bread and food pairing. "I noticed that some customers weren’t choosing the right bread to go with their dish." So, he enlisted the estate's three bakers to "assign" a specific bread to each of the dozen dishes on the tasting menu. For the chef, this represents a return to "the staple food of all civilizations," admitting that "some might do it better elsewhere, but it’s more rewarding to do it in-house and create craftsmanship within craftsmanship."
A sentiment shared by many of his peers, like the highly publicized Cyril Lignac, who led the way by opening his first Parisian patisserie in 2011. He now heads five other establishments, including one in Saint-Tropez. In 2016, stars like Thierry Marx and Georges Blanc also lent their names to bakery ventures. Three years later, multi-starred chef Mathieu Viannay—another tricolor collar—launched L'Épicerie-comptoir de la Mère Brazier, now with two additional locations in Lyon. Meanwhile, Alexandre Bourdas went as far as giving up his two Michelin stars to transform his fine dining restaurant in Honfleur into a hybrid space offering a wide range of options starting at breakfast.
In Menton, triple Michelin-starred chef Mauro Colagreco has also embarked on the bakery adventure with the opening of Mitron Bakery in 2020. For the Argentine-born chef, bread is closely tied to his childhood: 'My grandmother would welcome us with this bread, which we would dig into while it was still warm and steaming! I wanted to honor her by making bread an important part of the experience at Mirazur: it’s the first food that guests receive at the table.'
He has even taken the commitment a step further by acquiring a mill—where he works with ancient grains grown by Roland Feuillas in Cucugnan—and the old wood-fired oven from the village. 'The world of bread is absolutely captivating. I fell in love with this noble food and decided to focus on it more specifically and in more detail. The more I learn about it, the more intense my passion becomes.'
And although it was necessary to explain to the clientele of the old bakery in Menton the benefits of grains like Barbu du Roussillon, Blanc de Noé, or population wheat—which produce breads with textures and flavors different from what they were used to—Mauro Colagreco’s virtuous bread has managed to win them over. 'One of the most challenging things was finding people dedicated enough to be trained in making live bread, but I believe that people are increasingly aware of the benefits of such approaches, and the demand is constantly growing. Against industrial bakeries, we are the guardians of ancient know-how, the keepers of biodiversity.' This is a strong leitmotif for the chef, who places eco-responsibility on the same level as the rigorous demands of profitability.
In the provinces, street food offerings are
often limited to large chains. Here, it’s a way to be accessible to everyone, and perhaps also a
way to introduce people to our restaurant later on.
On the other side of France, in Brest, Romain and Charlotte Pouzadoux also undertook renovations and had to take out a new loan to transform L’Imaginaire into Peck & Co, their new street food venture. They reduced the restaurant’s dining area by half to increase the kitchen space. It was a major upheaval, but they are thrilled: 'Our lives have changed significantly since closing the fine dining restaurant because we no longer work evenings, we can enjoy time with our children, even though we wake up at 4 a.m.! Intellectually, it's incredibly exciting; it provides new ways to express ourselves, it’s great, and we don’t get bored.' The idea of a shop had been close to their hearts for a long time, and it was the experience of takeout during the lockdown that motivated them to start two years ago. 'We need to adapt to consumers who have many of their meals on the go, and in the provinces, street food options are often limited to large chains. Here, it's a way to be accessible to everyone, and perhaps also a way to later introduce our restaurant to customers.'
The need to control their production from start to finish with additive-free flours led them to train with local baker colleagues and then to learn from experts at the Foricher mill. Bao, hot dogs, focaccia, Madeira’s bolo do caco, and Japanese shokupan—at Peck & Co, they had fun recreating recipes discovered during their travels. 'We needed to do more and more things ourselves; it requires constant adaptation because gluten is always different, but we’re a bit of everything, and dough has a relaxing effect. We continue to discover, it’s fantastic.' And they don’t plan to stop there; they mention the upcoming opening of a store next door to separate takeout from on-site offerings and to be clearer to customers, as well as exploring new markets like events. 'It’s a heartfelt choice, the desire for new challenges to avoid the feeling of weariness when you've done everything with a restaurant,' adds the chef from Brest.
Recently, with Levain by Olivier Nasti at Chambard in Alsace and Faurn by Lebanese chef Alan Geeam in Paris, the list of bread-obsessed chefs has grown and will remain incomplete given this decidedly contagious bread craze.
By Maryam Lévy
Photos Romain Pouzadoux, chef de Peck&Co, in Brest
The bakery cuisine of Atelier P1 Bouche
Here, it’s the bakers who craft healthy and delicious dishes. The founders of Atelier P1, Julien Cantenot and Yasmine Djaballah, finally opened a dining spot in the summer of 2023, extending their bakery just a little further down the same sidewalk as their renowned artisanal bakery Tuer Marcadet in the 18th arrondissement of Paris.
Seated indoors in a green, plant-filled ambiance with a direct view of the kitchen (as they have a view of the bakery in their bakery, for transparency) and its central island serving as a dessert display, or on the terrace when the sun shines, you can enjoy homemade dishes from morning to evening. For breakfast, there’s a full spread with the house bread, granola, pastries, and soft-boiled eggs with mouillâtes. At lunchtime, there are sweet and savory tarts and toasts, available in vegan options, made with high-quality, as-local-as-possible ingredients. The menu was created by the trio of Julien Cantenot (baker, son of a baker, and grandson of a miller, founder of Atelier P1), Paula Lourenço (formerly of La Guinguette d'Angèle and chef at Atelier P1), and David Alfaro Quesada (formerly of Le Grand Café d'Athènes), offering three options ranging from 22 to 25 euros, depending on whether the customer chooses the full entrée/entrée/dessert option or a simpler choice.
On the day's menu, we choose the P1 tartine with smoked trout and goat cheese and the buckwheat chocolate tart for a quick snack. The bread, crispy, doesn’t weaken under the moisture of the cream and the fat of the trout. It is as hearty as it is delicious.
Atelier P1 Bouche
151 bis Rue Marcadet,
75018 Paris
