Pauline Gachet-Froidurot

Were you comfortable with the discipline required?

Yes, because I had a strict education, so in a sense I was already used to it. I’ve never been a rebel. On the other hand, I sometimes had a hard time with the fact that I couldn’t give my opinion. I had certain ideas but no room to express them… I was forced to do things in a way I wouldn’t have. I started to feel bad about it and told myself that it was time to move on, to change job, to take on more responsibility so that I could have more freedom in my relationship with guests.

What you learn at school is one thing; the reality in the field is another. I really loved my studies, it was great. The teachers were very good at communicating their passion to us. But before you actually go on an internship, it is difficult to understand what it means to work in an establishment. I think that’s why a lot of young people drop off after a while… They don’t necessarily realise how difficult this job is, how physically demanding it can be.

Is your job compatible with couple and family life?

I met my husband (Louis Gachet, assistant chef at La Chèvre d’Or) during our BTS training, and since the start of our respective careers, we’ve always worked in the same establishments, him in the kitchen and I in the dining room. We didn’t plan for it, saying that we absolutely wanted to work together. But we realised that it was undeniably convenient to experience the same things at the same time. We understand each other, we understand the challenges of certain situations, and this way we can help each other. Whenever one of us is tired or has doubts, the other is there to say: “It’s going to be okay. Don’t worry, and don’t forget why you chose this job”.

As for family life, yes, it is possible. After leaving Bernard Loiseau, we moved to Chantilly. There we met Chef Arnaud Faye, and ultimately joined him at La Chèvre d’Or in 2016. We weren’t parents yet and, like everyone else, we were working countless hours. In 2017, I got pregnant and worked until the end of the season. I was supposed to start again in August 2018, but I didn’t see the point in going back for just three months (the restaurant closes from October to March). I went through a period of doubt. I wondered whether I should continue, whether I was still capable… We didn’t have any family there, so we didn’t have anyone to look after our daughter in the evenings and during weekends. I really thought that, for a few years at least, I had to stop…

But La Chèvre d’Or called me back, saying: “You have experience, you know the establishment, you can make a big contribution here. We would like you to come back, but in a new role”. I said yes. I would no longer work in the dining room but at the reception, managing the team of hostesses. It was a bit hard for me to leave the service aspect behind. My superiors understood this, and the following season, they offered me the chance to return to my previous position as assistant maître d’. It was such wonderful news! But since I was the only one not working in the evenings, I had to endure people’s prejudices… I tried not to listen to them and kept my head down, focusing on my work. Of course, I was working nine hours a day instead of twelve, but I still had a role to play with our guests and the teams. The following year, I became maître d’ and I think I’ve managed to find my place.

Where did you get the desire to participate in competitions?

We arrived in Chantilly in January 2015. At that time, Chef Arnaud Faye was competing in the finals of the Meilleurs Ouvriers de France competition. But he wasn’t the only one from the team, the restaurant manager and head sommelier were also involved. All three were MOF finalists that year. They were training like crazy. We were only starting off in our careers and we said to ourselves: wow, this is incredible! Maybe one day we could be MOFs too. It prompted us to dream big. After that, my manager and the maître d’ suggested that I take part in the Georges Baptiste Cup, as they thought I would learn a lot from this competition. Especially if, later on, I was to compete for the MOF. So I did it in 2016, I reached the finals, but sadly I didn’t make the podium and finished sixth. I said to myself: OK, I lost. But it doesn’t matter, I learned so much, I received so much advice, I met so many great people from the industry. I gained both in general knowledge and gastronomic culture. So I promised myself that I would try again one day. After the birth of my daughter, I thought I couldn’t do this job anymore, but I kept believing I was capable of winning the Baptiste Cup. This meant that, by going back to work, I would gain credibility. I did six months of intensive training on my own, (I was training whenever my daughter was sleeping) and three weeks after I started working again, in March 2019, I made it to the finals and won it all. Not just the Baptiste Cup, I also gained in confidence. I’m always afraid I’m not good enough… I always think I can be replaced by a man who doesn’t have a child… I competed for myself, to enrich my knowledge, but I must admit that I also did it a little to prove a point to others.

 What kind of personal touch do you bring to service?

What I didn’t like in service is that it could be a bit stuffy at times. For instance, whenever I had a good feeling with a table and I knew I could pull it off, colleagues would come up to me and say that I shouldn’t talk to the guests for so long. I was often told: “Imagine you’re in a play, you come on stage and play a role”. Well, I’ve never liked that idea! I always try to put myself in the guests’ shoes. I have often felt uncomfortable in gourmet restaurants. And yet, I work at one! I used to feel like an outsider, like I didn’t belong. So that’s what I set out to change. Some guests come in a little stressed: they don’t know the étiquette, they don’t know what cutlery to use… I always tell my teams to be natural! Be respectful and polite, but don’t offer the same experience and the same service to everyone. Adapt to the guest in front of you. Yes, we can make jokes, we can have a laugh if the guests want to. Of course, our primary role is to showcase the chef’s cooking. But if we sense that a table is in its own bubble and doesn’t want long explanations about a dish, we simply say a few words and off we go! By trying to apply the same template in every situation, we could easily end up losing our identity. And that would be a shame because everyone has something to contribute. At the beginning of the season, I love to see the diversity in the teams’ profiles. Some have experience, some are just starting out, there’s always that one very talkative waiter…. And we tell ourselves we need to handle him. But most importantly, we need to find out what kind of table he can match with! There are those who are shy, very reserved, so it’s up to us to tell them: “Go ahead, just try and do you own thing!”. I think everyone can be suitable, with the right support. And that includes introducing them to the table: “This is our new chef de rang. She’s a bit shy, but don’t worry, we’re counting on you!”. In a team, everyone can fit in, according to their skills and desires. And in the end, this diversity is beneficial for everyone.

What are your plans for the future?

My husband and I don’t feel ready to have our own business. Not right now. Because we know that, for the time being, it would come at the expense of our family life. In the near future, he would like to become a chef, and I would like to continue fighting for my job! We are tied in our career decisions because we are a family, but I have no desire to impose and for him to only accept a position if his wife is also hired for instance… I want to earn my place on the same footing as he does, and above all, I don’t want anyone to say: “Oh yes, she’s the boss’s wife, of course she got the job!”. We have been in the industry for 10 years, we have worked at La Chèvre d’Or since 2016, we truly love this place, it is so dear to both our hearts. But it’s true we want more. If an opportunity presents itself, we might leave. We don’t know when, we don’t know where, but it’s a desire in the corner of our minds – and our boss is well aware of it!