French celebrity baker Gontran Cherrier does not have a sweet tooth. He’ll pass on cake, far preferring to eat his feather-light, flaky croissant daubed in butter direct from the cute wire basket and board he’ll serve them from in his first eponymous Australian bakery, located on Melbourne’s Smith Street, Collingwood.
That explains the twist on the apocryphal words associated with the doomed Marie Antoinette, spelled out on one wall in backlit, cut metal letters: “Let them eat… croissants”.
Back in Paris, Cherrier honed his craft in some of Paris’s finest restaurants, including three-Michelin-starred L’Arpège, penned multiple best-selling cookbooks and has appeared on the French version of MasterChef. He has also hosed his own shows, including La Meilleure Boulangerie de France (The Best Bakery in France).
It has been a lifelong obsession, having learned the tricks of the trade at his 95-year-old grandfather’s ankles, spending many a year helping him and his father in the family-run bakery in Luc-sur-Mer, a small town in the north of France, helping out long before he was officially old enough to start his traineeship. “I fell in love with the textures and flavour and the crunchiness,” he says.
Chef Gontran Cherrier at his Collingwood bakery. (Picture by Hayley Benoit)
Cherrier’s hunt for the best bread has taken him all over the world, picking up inspiration wherever he lands, from Russia to Korea, Italy to Japan, and he has a wilfully playful approach to his flavours that helps his baked brilliance stand out in Melbourne’s already bulging crowd. Those influences are present in delicious twists on old classics, like his green tea and white chocolate scones or the sharp tang of his miso and rye bread, which he favours with oysters or blue cheese.
Australian pastry chef Kayte Perdrisat alongside chef Travis Welch, formerly of Pope Joan and Circa, the Prince, will help Cherrier fold in Australian flavours. The trio have been playing around with lemon myrtle and pepper leaves and have already added a cheesymite baguette for little nippers.
So how do Australian bakeries stack up? “It’s my third time in Melbourne and I’ve been really impressed with the high quality and good competition,” he says, insisting he’s no diplomat. “There are a lot of cultures here all mixing together, with many inspirations and I think that’s the reason the quality is so high.”
There are some noticeable differences, however, with Perdrisat helping him play with the crunch factor of his baguette crusts. Parisians apparently favour a much harder bite. “If it’s too crunchy, I understand it’s maybe not the best way for Australians, but I will try and adapt the thickness and texture of the dough.”
A selection of scrumptious pastries at Gontran Cherrier. (Picture by Hayley Benoit)
One thing he won’t back down on is importing his favourite flour from France, Label Rouge, sourced from Auvergne, where 50 of the region’s farmers work hand in hand with millers to produce a rich, natural and high-quality flour that is used by France’s best bakers.
And will the family be visiting? “My grandfather is really proud, but it’s quite far for him to travel at 95.”
Gontran Cherrier opens Saturday June 18 at 140 Smith Street, Fitzroy, Melbourne
