Carole Lesquer, Gault&Millau's Pastry Chef of the Year 2021, has opened Alegria, a vibrant new patisserie in Luxembourg City that blends creativity, local ingredients, and a touch of her Spanish heritage.

Carole Lesquer, Gault&Millau's Pastry Chef of the Year 2021, has officially launched her own pastry shop in Luxembourg City. Alegria – 'Happiness' in Spanish, a nod to her origins – opened at 19 Rue des Capucins, just opposite the Théâtre des Capucins, replacing a winter sportswear shop at the end of November. "I'm beginning to find my rhythm in all this mess", the 38-year-old recently explained in conversation with RTL Infos, who spoke to the former pastry chef of Michelin-starred restaurant La Villa de Camille et Julien about her new venture.

Her ambition is to serve desserts by the plate all day long, just like a regular restaurant does with savoury dishes. Lesquer is passionate about being creative and using almost exclusively local products. "I'm not necessarily going to invent new pastries, but I will work differently with textures. For example, everything is light. I remove as much sugar as possible", she explains.

Her lemon tart has already become the shop's star pastry.

Despite focusing on the sweeter end of the spectrum, there is also a savoury aspect to the shop with a lunchtime offer of original sandwiches – including vegetarian ones – which should soon be expanded. "People are very keen to eat healthy food", according to Lesquer. Theme evenings based around plant-based cuisine are therefore part of her concept.

At the time of the interview, parts of the shop interior were still undergoing work, with a large counter, tables, chairs, and a space for private events being set up over the weekend.

"It's a project that's been growing inside me for the last fifteen years or so", says Lesquer, who was destined to become a Spanish teacher before taking a u-turn after seven years of studies in Grenoble. "Since then, every choice I've made has been motivated by this ultimate goal: to open my own patisserie shop."

Her beginnings still make her smile today: "For three years I worked in Christophe Aribert's two-starred restaurant in Uriage-les-Bains, near Grenoble. It was a particularly high level for me, but it was a formative experience."

The pastry chef came to Luxembourg four and a half years ago with Camille Tardif and Julien Lucas, straight from the Auberge du Jeu de Paume in Chantilly. She then joined the kitchen of the Tricentenaire group, where she produced pastries for the 'Chocolats du Cœur' initiative and meals for the elderly and people with disabilities. Then she took up the challenge of Flûte Alors, a champagne bar in the capital that was looking for a head chef.

"I'm not a trained chef, but I had some ideas for a vegetable-focused cuisine. I embodied something new that appealed to them, because cooking meat and fish was out of the question for me. Knowledge of fruit and vegetables is part of my background as a pastry chef", Lesquer explains.

Lesquer has already teamed up in her new patisserie withEmma Schmidt, former head pastry chef at restaurant Les Jardins d'Anaïs, and will soon be joined by another young chef from the Tricentenaire group.

"My Gault&Millau award made me realise that I could exist as a sole pastry chef and not necessarily a pastry chef working for another chef", Lesquer argues. "It took away the impostor syndrome I could sometimes feel, and it validated my career change. I think it reassures people to know that I've won an award. Today, it probably means more to them than it does to me."