He has worn the rainbow collar since 2022. The world champion of sweet arts Alexis Beaufils chose Dreux (Eure-et-Loir) to launch his first pastry shop. The Percheron who grew up in La Loupe (Eure-et-Loir) is located in the heart of the Durocasse city, just opposite the town hall, on the banks of the Blaise. “I fell in love with the place. It's a Haussmann-style building, it reminds me of Paris. It’s very classy, it will go hand in hand with the somewhat luxurious style that I want to achieve,” explains the craftsman.
The love of baking was passed on to him by his paternal grandmother. The person who made it is called Bernard Holder, whose shop is located right next to the church of La Loupe where the apprentice spent two years to obtain his CAP. “It was two years of learning with great values, of passing on the classics. It was he who pushed me to go to Paris at 17,” the artisan recounts with nostalgia.
For six years, he worked in Dalloyau Paris, before joining the kitchen of Thierry Marx's Mandarin Oriental, then being pastry sous-chef at Pavillon Ledoyen, alongside Yannick Alléno. The Bristol then the Brach follow, and here is Alexis Beaufils at a turning point in her professional life. He chose to leave the capital to launch his own house. “The first reason is family. I have had this dream of having a business for a very long time. I left my position as pastry chef at Brach in June. I have a child and family life requires solid foundations. I would have spent sixteen years in Paris, it’s time to settle down,” explains the 32-year-old Eurélien.
Initially, the world champion thought of setting up his future workshop in Chartres (Eure-et-Loir). “I searched a lot, but I didn’t find what I liked,” he regrets. Her future in Dreux was thus decided one evening in 2023, during the election of Miss Centre-Val de Loire at the town theater. The pastry chef and the mayor, Pierre-Frédéric Billet, are members of the jury. The first whispers his project to the ear of the second. Last June, the councilor got in touch again to offer Alexis Beaufils this atypical place. “With the town hall, we had quite strong links. They believed in me, and I believed in them,” insists the world champion.
The price set by the State, for the 420 m² building which previously housed the Public Treasury and the municipal police, is 274,000 euros. But the artisan will have to invest 1.5 million euros to build the pastry shop of his dreams. “You will find my signature pastries there, but not only that! The idea is that there is something for everyone. I want to create memories and emotions, so there will be lemon tarts, Paris-Brest, Saint-Honorés, classics that everyone knows… But when we taste it, we have to say to ourselves wow, it's been a long time since I ate this », assures Alexis Beaufils. The opening is hoped for before the end of 2025. Eight employees should initially be recruited.
