As Clementine Bell has learned, running a successful NYC patisserie is tougher than it looks. Even with training in classical French baking from the best school in the world, getting people to walk through the doors to the Clementhyme Bakery proves...
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She didn't know how he did it. They were only five years out of school and after landing a position under the executive chef at Ladurée, USA, Adam Li eventually left to open his own bakery "Apple of My Pie" under his mentor's guidance. Only a year later he opened "Last But Not Yeast Bakery and Toast Bar" on the Upper East Side. She understood the miniature pies, but how he managed to sell bread by the truckload to carb-conscious New Yorkers, she had no idea.
As Clementine scrolled through Adam's Instagram feed of golden, flour dusted bread and him with an arm around every world class chef in the Michelin Red Guidebook, she
almost missed the sight of the chateau from the road. It was three in the morning in New York but nine a.m. in France. Though she was every bit as exhausted as she probably looked, the sight of the chateau and the rising mountains behind it took her breath away.
Of all the places to shoot a baking show this was probably the least fitting, but she wasn't going to complain; her flight and lodging at the chateau were comped by the studio.
A pair of wild horses watched the taxi's progress up the long drive, and for a brief moment Clementine forgot about trivial things like overdue rent and how Adam had told her, in a YouTube comment no less, that her food was juvenile. Once inside the chateau, she didn't have time to admire the towering ceilings, or the gleaming scrollwork on the wrought iron railing of the winding staircase before Brie found her with keys to her room and a schedule for the first day of filming.
After a quick shower to wash off the plane, Clementine headed straight to set. When she reached the makeup trailer, she got her first look at the competition. Five women sat in front of mirrors, each in various stages of readiness. As a whole, they were not quite what she had expected.
A woman with white streaks in her grey hair smiled up at Clementine and patted the open chair next to her for Clem to take a seat. The three other women that looked closer to Clementine's age gave her wary glances. The fifth contestant looked much younger — like she might have just squeaked past the 18-year age cutoff. None but the red-lipped blonde in the chair to her right looked like professionals; home bakers was more likely, but Clementine knew to never doubt a homemade chef.
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