I found my calling early, since I earned by pastry chef's diploma at a young age and went on to a series of enriching internships: with Gabriel Paillasson, whose patisserie not only taught me about the profession but gave me a taste for competitions; at the famous Belgian patisserie Wittamer that helped me perfect my skills as a chocolate-maker, and at the pastry shop Riederer in Aix en Provence, which showed me a different vision of patisserie: cakes as jewels, eccentricity, aesthetics first.

My taste for competitions led me to discover that I was capable of turning dreams and ideas into reality; I participated in 25 competitions, eventually winning the Meilleur Ouvrier de France title for ice cream and the Pastry World Championship in 1999.