- By Charlotte Brown
- February 10, 2026
FABIEN NOLAY WAS CROWNED WORLD CHAMPION BAKER IN 2024, AND WORKS AS A (YOUNG) BAKERY INSTRUCTOR AT THE ÉCOLE DE BOULANGERIE ET DE PÂTISSERIE DE PARIS. MENTORING? A PASSION THAT GOES HAND IN HAND WITH CREATIVITY!
Texte de Charline Gatinel - photos ©Ludobfood
A Passion for Mentoring
Shaping the Great Chefs of Tomorrow
At just 27 years of age, this native of northern France is training newcomers to the bakery trade.
But Fabien Nolay had a long road ahead of him in pursuit of this profession. He was 15 when he began his apprenticeship at the C.F.A. in Arras. After three years' training, he obtained his C.A.P. in pastry-making and then in bakery. He soon turned his attention to baking, joining the Compagnons du Devoir when he came of age. "This enabled me to do the famous tour of France: first Lille, with a company, then Labbeville (95) where I worked for one year. After that, I went to New Zealand for six months and was able to learn my trade in a Franco-Japanese bakery in the heart of Auckland."
I'm passionate about what I do, but I can't see myself becoming a craftsman for now
A globetrotter at heart, he continued his journey in Thailand and Australia before returning to France and settling in Bordeaux, again through the Compagnons du Devoir. There, he practiced with several companies and cut the reception, this decisive period when future members have to produce a "masterpiece" to prove they are competent craftsmen. He finally completed his training with the Compagnons in Pantin. In 2019, he joins the École de Boulangerie et de Pâtisserie de Paris (E.B.P. PARIS) and obtained his Brevet Professionnel. Finally, he studies for a Brevet de Maitrise at the Institut National de la Boulangerie Pâtisserie (I.N.B.P.), which he will pass in 2022. With his diploma in hand, he returned to the E.B.P., this time not as a student but as a bakery instructor. "I'm passionate about what I do, but I can't see myself becoming a craftsman for now. I get the impression that when you're a craftsman, you do a lot of things, but you get sidetracked from your core business, between management, service management and other tasks. As a result, there is much less room for the bakery profession, which is only to be expected since a craftsman- entrepreneur wears many hats. And I have to admit that currently, this doesn't appeal to me."
Mentoring is something that the Compagnons place a lot of focus on
What attracts and motivates him above all else, however, is passing on his knowledge. "It's something we place a lot of focus on in the Compagnons. We help and support each other enormously. I think that's what gave me this passion for teaching. Also, the opportunity to give what I wasn't able to receive in my years of apprenticeship, such as sound advice that I learned later in life or through failure, is very rewarding. This saves my students time.” Last but not least, teaching gives him the opportunity to express his creativity. "Training also means creating, which is sometimes more complicated to set up in a company, quite simply because there is a productivity policy to keep a boutique running that is sometimes so intense, that it's hard to find the time to create and as a result develop special products."
Fabien Nolay draws his inspiration from social networking sites to help him develop his creativity and propose new projects to his students. "I love to scroll and I look at absolutely everything: whether that’s recipes from chefs or ordinary people. The most important thing is that I like the end result! However, I never copy and paste, I simply take elements from one place or another and modify the colors and method of making a product. I also suggest that students revisit products such as pain au chocolat topped with a stick of orangette, for example. They really enjoy this because they're hyper- creative, they have good ideas to develop and fire in their bellies." Highly professional, the students astound even the trainer: "When people tell me that young people don't want to work, that hasn’t been my experience at all at the school. They love what they do, and some of them are incredibly hard-working. I'm always impressed because, given their young age, they could prioritize going out, but no, they remain very focused on what they're achieving and I'm always very admiring of that."
As for his relationship with students, the teacher also seems highly satisfied. "They are very well mannered, hard-working and highly motivated. There’s very little age difference between us, yet I've never had any issues with respect. There's a familiarity that can be created that can be beneficial for students. They can see that at my age, I'm in a job that's normally done by older people, which can be unifying because the distance between trainer and students is less marked".
So it's only natural that Fabien Nolay enjoys helping his students prepare for competitions. Every year, two or three of them embark on this very demanding adventure. "We let them come and train on the premises, we support and guide them as best we can. It's worth noting that this represents a lot of sacrifice, as they generally spend all their vacations training. There are regularly very good results, and I'm often blown away by the manual acuity of certain students."
I'm often amazed at the manual acuity of certain students
The students may be gifted, but they haven't yet surpassed the master! And with good reason: in January 2024, accompanied by two of his peers, Fabien Nolay helped France to top the podium, ahead of South Korea and Japan, at the Bakery World Championship. "France hadn't won for 16 years! We worked hard for a year and a half to get this result, and we've really enjoyed the experience." Something to make his students proud!
