On A Sugar High- A Q&A With Pastry Chef, Laplace Mathieu

Following Laplace Mathieu, the insatiably creative pastry chef of Café Arsène, on social media will most likely lead to you becoming a size bigger. Why? Because just looking at his clever, beautiful sugary confections will surely have you craving desserts.

In a conversation with Terrene, the talented chef shares his childhood memories and his culinary journey and even divulges his creative process.

Describe your path to where you are now.

 I was born and raised in the French countryside, in Saône-et-Loire specifically.  After graduation I decided to move to Lyon since there were more job opportunities there. I spent 3 years working at different restaurants there but I still wanted to see more, so I moved to Paris. I stayed in Paris for 10 years, working at many restaurants with different chefs and experimenting with different pastry styles. I worked at a brasserie, a one-Michelin-star restaurant and a fancy restaurant and finally moved back to Lyon, my first love.

But tell us why you decided to become a chef in the first place?

 I decided to become a chef pretty naturally. When I was young my mother baked a lot. In fact, she still bakes a lot and seeing her make cakes, biscuits, mousses etc., made the idea of becoming a pastry chef just grow in my head. So when it was time, I went to a culinary school and graduated with a ‘dessert de restaurant’ specialty.

You mentioned you went to culinary school. Was it helpful? Do you recommend culinary school to aspiring cooks who want to make it in the culinary world? 

 Yes, it is a good way to learn the basics.  It teaches you the necessary vocabulary, educates you about culinary history, helps you understand HACCP principles, etc. Obviously, it is not the only way to become a chef, but in my opinion it gives you a lot of the ingredients to do it and it also give you more credibility.

 How does living in Lyon, France, influence the work you do, and is it important to you to be part of a creative community?

Living in the gastronomy capital of France inspires and influences me all the time.  There are so many incredible restaurants, places and chefs.  Every day I see something new that inspires me, unconsciously or consciously. I am proud to be a part of the Lyon culinary scene and it is very important to me to be a part of French gastronomic culture.

What is the biggest risk you’ve taken to get where you are?

I don’t know if it was a risk, but every time I felt bored at a job or I felt I was at the end of the line and wasn’t learning anything new, I quit and I went to a new place to learn more and do something different. 

How did ‘Café Arsène’ come about?

Funny story, I was moving to Lyon after 10 years in Paris so I was looking for a job. I started to check different interesting looking restaurants on Instagram and that’s how I found Café Arsène. It looked exactly like the kind of place I’d like to work at, a small sustainable restaurant, which uses fresh and local product and has a menu that changes daily. So, I followed the restaurant on Instagram and Fabrice, the owner, sent me a DM and asked me if I was looking for a job. Of course, I said yes, we spoke on the phone, we met, and we started to work together!

I am assuming he offered you the job because he saw your beautiful desserts on your Instagram. Please reveal your creative process. How do you develop your dishes? What inspires you?

 Well, sometimes I start with the ingredients. I decide the fruit or the chocolate I want to use in my recipe, then I imagine the association of taste and texture, the different flavours and finally, I think of the design of the dessert. I think about how I can put all the ingredients in a plate and make it work. Other times, I have a specific idea in my mind of what I want my dish to look like visually, but no idea of the flavours and ingredients, so I start looking at seasonal fruits and vegetables or chocolate etc. and I make the recipe and the dessert according to the visual result I want.

For inspiration, I spend a lot of time scrolling through Instagram. I think it’s a wonderful place for creative inspiration. Also, at Café Arsène the entire team talks frequently, we share our ideas and we feed of each other’s ideas. Sometimes at the end of the week, in the kitchen it’s like a Ping-Pong party of ideas! 

We enjoy the sketches on your Instagram. Where does illustration come into the picture? Is it a hobby or is it more?

I have always enjoyed drawing. During the lockdown our café was shut because of COVID-19 so, I was no longer cooking and I started to miss it. As just another way to express my creativity I decided to sketch, sometimes everyday, sometimes not. Now work has restarted, I have less time so I draw less but it’s definitely not the end of me sketching.

Describe your food style in five words.

Colourful, tasteful, seasonal, minimalistic and extravagant.

What do you want to explore or work on in the next few years that you are not already doing? 

I don’t know yet, for now I am very happy at Café Arsène. I am enjoying the moment without thinking what’s going to come next.

What advice would you give other chefs starting out in the food business?

Don’t be afraid of the hard work and the long hours. Also, be patient. The recipe that doesn’t work the first time is not a failure, but a way to acquire experience and get better.  

Insider’s pick:

Favourite local chefs and restaurants?

My Favourite restaurants in Lyon are Sapnà and Café Arsène. In Paris, I love Contraste & Colorova. My favourite French chefs are Nicolas BACHEYRE, Tess Evans-Mialet and Pierre Hermé.

Favourite international chefs and restaurants? 

I really enjoy Running Goose in Los Angeles and my favorite international chefs are Sebastian Pettersson and David Vidal.

Where do you find inspiration?

Mostly on Instagram.

Words by Srishti Jindal