Nina Métayer
Nina Métayer's fate was partly played out during a trip she took to Mexico while in high school: "I fell in love with this country and I wanted to live there and bring French knowhow through bread baking". She decided to train upon her return to France and followed a CAP in bakery in La Rochelle where she discovered a love for bread. Her original life plan, namely setting up a pastry factory in Mexico, gradually evolved with her trip to Australia where she discovered pastry. After returning home, she decided to join FERRANDI Paris, a school that had attracted her attention a while back: "For me, it was the best, it always fascinated me. I entered into the great world, the world of chefs. She keeps many good memories with beautiful meetings with teachers and students, some of whom have become her "best friends of the profession".
After graduation, she joined the Meurice as a clerk, then moved into the “chef de patrie” role: "that's where it all started, I discovered the pastry produced in the biggest establishments". She then joined the Raphael Hotel to become a sweet creative party chef, then pastry chef with Amandine Chaignot. In 2015, she decided to work, as a pastry chef, with Jean-François Piège on the occasion of the opening of her gourmet restaurant "Le Grand Restaurant", quickly awarded with two Michelin stars. Two years later, Nina joined a new restaurant, Café Pushkin, where she became the head of sweet creations.
Since 2019, she has been on her own and created a consulting firm, bringing her expertise to launch international institutions. At the same time, she trains for the competition of Meilleur Ouvrier de France (MOF or Best Worker of France). Every day, she puts into effect the rigor and knowledge that her teachers have passed on to her. Nina often returns to her old school, whether to be a jury in a competition, to intervene in front of a class or just to share a moment with her former teachers.
She confides to future students: "It won't always be easy to find your place as a woman. But working harder will also make you better," she smiles.
She has loved every step of the way she has come and recommends that everyone follow their path as they see fit: "I have made my own journey according to my instincts. And even today what makes me happy is why I work, and to be free to choose what I do. There are constraints, of course, but working in line with one's convictions is a luxury that deserves to be fought."
FERRANDI Paris:
- In 3 words: Transmission, Friendship, Excellence
- One main dish: A paris-brest because it is one of the well-made bases of pastry making, soft and comforting of the memories of yesteryear.