Sébastien Chevallier

Sébastien Chevallier is a 2011 Meilleur Ouvrier de France Baker, a Baking instructor at CMA Formation in Vesoul, and an international trainer.

He discovered the profession at the age of 15 through a pre-apprenticeship programme, before beginning his apprenticeship the following year and earning his CAP in Baking. During his military service in Brest, he spent two years aboard a combat vessel. As the baker during periods at sea, he prepared bread and viennoiseries on board. When the ship was docked, he worked as a provisions assistant and helped manage the kitchen and raw materials.

Once his military service was complete, he returned to the company where he had completed his apprenticeship, then continued his career with another artisan baker to deepen his knowledge of sourdough starters and fermentation. This discovery strengthened his passion for the profession and his desire to keep progressing. At the age of 30, he earned his CAP in Pastry as an independent candidate, before going on to complete a master craftsman qualification in baking.

This new qualification opened the door to competitions. After taking part twice in the French Cup, he won first place in the artistic decoration category and joined the French national baking team. The following year, the team took first place at the European Bakery Cup in 2010.

That same year, he took part in the qualifying rounds of the Un des Meilleurs Ouvriers de France competition and reached the final. In May 2011, he was awarded the title of Meilleur Ouvrier de France Baker.

Alongside his competition career, Sébastien Chevallier joined the CFA in Vesoul in 2009. There, he trains apprentices from CAP level through to the master craftsman qualification, placing knowledge-sharing at the heart of his work. Also a trainer in France and internationally, he shares his passion, techniques and experience while continuing to expand his own knowledge through exchanges with other professionals.

In 2015, Sébastien Chevallier also published a book dedicated to Pain Party, "Mes techniques de décor pas à pas", featuring 95 pages of templates, masks and stencils. In it, he presents the techniques, equipment and recipes needed to create a wide range of decorative pieces in bread dough.

For VoilaChef, Sébastien Chevallier shares his vision of baking based on mastering fermentation, precision of technique and creativity. He presents four creations: a traditional French baguette made with liquid sourdough starter, a sandwich bread made with milk sourdough starter, an Auvergne rye loaf made with stiff rye sourdough starter, and a pain party, an artistic piece made from leavened dough using templates.