Between the palaces of the Côte d’Azur and the town of 1,178 souls, in the very south of Charente-Maritime, on the edge of the Gironde, the contrast is dizzying. It recounts the diversity of the journey of this 25-year-old young woman, who knows what she wants. Born in Libourne, she grew up in Belgium before returning to the Bordeaux region at the age of 14. She passed a technological baccalaureate and then an additional chef in restaurant desserts at the hotel school in Talence, while multiplying internships with starred restaurants.
Maylis and Monika, still in the running before the July 14 show, form a natural and complicit duo.
Guillaume Mirand
“Huge challenge”
“My first house was the Pressoir d’Argent, opened by Gordon Ramsay in Bordeaux. For a year, I learned a lot with the chef, Arthur Fèvre. But I couldn’t find my place. My parents worked for the biggest caterer in Aquitaine, Arom, which collaborated with all the restaurants. I was seen as the chief’s daughter. I took two suitcases, my car, and I left for the Côte d’Azur. Maylis Dindin officiates for two seasons at the Château de la Chèvre d’Or, in Eze, then four summers in Antibes. In winter, she is in the kitchen at the Hôtel Hermitage in Monaco.
“My parents worked for the biggest caterer in Aquitaine, Arom, which collaborated with all the restaurants. I was seen as the chief’s daughter. I took two suitcases, my car, and I left for the Côte d’Azur”
“When my parents started the hostel, I came in the winter to help them. My last season, I said to myself: what am I doing? I was getting bored, learning less. And then there was a huge challenge at the hostel. My parents motivated me. There is an infinite possibility of progression, of development. I also wanted to open my business. »
Diet cakes
Maylis makes the cakes for the Auberge’s gastronomic table, Le Silène, and those for the adjoining grocery store, “La Vache qui toque”. She also launched a brand of take-out cakes, Lizard, sold online and distributed throughout France. “These are healthy, dietetic pastries, without butter or refined sugar, to treat yourself without frustration. »
The passage on M6 was a way to offer “a publicity stunt” to the family business. The pear-shaped art piece designed in the second week sits in the middle of the restaurant. All recipes “seen on TV” will gradually be available on site, promises Maylis, more impressed by the cameras than by the technical requirement. “There are so many baking contests where you have to come up with something crazy. The challenge for me was to show off. Monika put me at ease. She won the Best Pastry Chef competition in Bulgaria, at not even 18 years old. From this experience, there is also a beautiful relationship forged with the Saintais duo, eliminated in the third week.
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