between Royan and Saint-Sulpice-de-Royan, two bakeries to be decided on the small screen

The two pairs of managers like each other. Julien and Sophie Malcurat, who took over the bakery located next to the central market, in Royan, are opposed this Thursday evening, May 23, in a friendly duel taking place on the show “La Meilleure Boulangerie de France”, broadcast on M6 from from 6:30 p.m., to Jérôme and Laetitia Dos Santos, supported by their son Antonin, who have been living at the entrance to Saint-Sulpice-de-Royan for three years. Whoever the winner is, since there has to be one, designated by the jury composed of Meilleur Ouvrier de France (MOF) Bruno Cormerais, French pastry chef Noémie Honiat and Michelin-starred chef Michel Sarran, everyone will ultimately emerge a winner. adventure.

At the beginning, Julien Malcurat was not very keen to participate. “Not ready,” he justified after receiving a phone call from the production company EndemolShine France. It was his wife, Sophie, who made him change his mind. “It’s a great spotlight for us, for the city and for artisan bakeries in general,” she says. This is how the film crew set up their cameras in La Nouvelle Boulangerie on February 7 before heading to the La Sulpicienne bakery and pastry shop just a few kilometers away.

Here, the members of the jury were notably welcomed by Antonin Dos Santos, 19, who embodies the next generation. Damn, we can’t lie, the young man has already finished fourth in the competition for the best croissant in Charente-Maritime. No wonder he was the pride of his parents who arrived on the Royan coast after traveling in the Paris region and then in Vendée. Placing their suitcases in the corner, it didn’t take them long to integrate. “Even if, here, we’re talking about chocolatine and not pain au chocolat,” jokes Jérôme, the father who has made the crepe and homemade cake essential at La Sulpicienne.

A first experience

With their team, the Dos Santos experienced a “pressure-free” shoot. » Jérôme was able to talk with Bruno Cormerais whom he had already met many years ago in the Paris region. Which is not the case for Sophie Malcurat, who is nonetheless a little impressed by the pedigree of the MOF. She and Julien discovered the underside of filming with curiosity, but also with a little stress. “We don’t know what it’s going to look like in the end on the small screen. There is a little apprehension,” admits the couple who decided to change their lives only a few months ago.

He was a trainer at the National Institute of Bakery-Pâtisserie, in Rouen, and she was a sales manager in a group that takes care of elderly people. “We wanted to start a new professional adventure together. This is our first experience,” explains Julien Malcurat. By taking the reins of La Nouvelle Boulangerie in peak season, at the beginning of July, they were immediately plunged into the deep end without a heating tower.

They decided to focus only on bread, pastries and a little snacking. They don’t regret. “Customers are responding,” they note. And the viewers too, certainly, in front of their television sets this Thursday evening.