In her acceptance speech, Métayer humbly shared her joy in representing France and her determination to promote the quality of work produced by artisan bakers and pastry chefs worldwide.
ADVERTISEMENTFrance's Nina Métayer has achieved a historic milestone by being officially crowned the World's Best Pastry Chef, marking the first time a woman has received this prestigious accolade.
The title of World Pastry Chef of the Year for 2023 was awarded to her by the International Union of Bakers and Pastry Chefs (UBIC) during a trade fair hosted in Munich.
Expressing her gratitude, she took to Instagram: “On this day of honour, I would like to thank the artisans who accompany me on a daily basis, the enthusiasts who work with me and for whom it is much more than a profession”she wrote on Instagram.
"This award touches me all the more because my career began in baking. I am delighted to represent France and to contribute to promoting the quality of the work of artisan bakers and pastry chefs around the world,” she said in her acceptance speech.
Her journey to becoming the world's best pastry chef
The La Rochelle-born pastry chef, now 35-years-old, honed her skills at the esteemed Ferrandi School in Paris, where she graduated top of her class.
She then joined Yannick Alleno’s team at the prestigious Le Meurice in Paris, starting off as a clerk but quickly climbing up the ranks.
In 2015, French chef Jean-François Piège, who was aiming to snatch two Michelin stars for his new venture, the Grand Restaurant, handpicked her as the head pastry chef.
And unsurprisingly the restaurant snagged those two coveted stars just a year later!
Since then she's been crowned with the titled of "Pasty Chef of the Year" in 2016 by Le Chef magazine, then the following year, "Pastry Chef of the Year" by the Gault et Millau guide.
On the social media front, she's got quite a following: more than 220k fans on Instagram and 25k subscribers on her YouTube channel, where she passes on her pastry know-how.
Métayer is currently the mastermind behind "Delicatesserie," her online pastry and consulting business, with two locations in the Île-de-France region.
