The co-founders of Ganache are pouring everything they have learned from working around the world into providing high-quality chocolate and patisserie made with sustainability and taste at its core. Emily Moore reports
AS Glenn Noel talks about his early love of food, a Saturday job in the café at Le Quesne’s Garden Centre, a Project Trident placement at The Royal Yacht and a placement at The Atlantic Hotel during his Highlands College course, I suddenly stop him when he says, “and then I went to Noma”.
The co-founder of Ganache says it so casually, barely drawing breath before going on to list his next workplace, that I have to interrupt to find out more about how he managed to get through the door of what is widely acknowledged as one of the best, if not the best, restaurants in the world.
“I’ve always liked cooking,” reflected the former Grainville and Hautlieu student. “When I was growing up, I would always help gran in the kitchen, so it was a natural choice to opt for a restaurant when I had to choose my Project Trident work placement. I went to The Royal Yacht and they said that if I wanted to become a chef, I could have a job there when I turned 16.”
With that offer running in his ears, it was an easy decision for Glenn to enrol on the catering course at Highlands College, during which time he joined the Yacht team and also spent one day a week at The Atlantic Hotel, working under the guidance of Michelin-starred chef Mark Jordan.
“I worked at The Atlantic on and off for about six years but, during that period, I left the Island for a while to gain some experience in different restaurants, the first of which was Noma in Copenhagen.”
At this point, the former Channel Island Young Chef of the Year was 19 years old and, although naturally modest, he admits, when pressed, that in securing a place in the kitchens of this prestigious restaurant, he achieved what 7,000 people each month were trying to do.
“That’s the number of applications they were receiving every month for their six-month internships,” he said.
As he reflects on those six months now, Glenn admits that the challenge was somewhat daunting.
“Not only was it the first time I’d lived in another country, but I was instantly exposed to the top of the top when it comes to cooking,” he acknowledged. “As well as learning new culinary skills, you were also instantly disciplined in refinement, time management, responsibility, how to manage pressure and how to work as a team.
“To give you an idea of the quality and attention to detail required, it was a 40-cover restaurant and there were 40 chefs in the kitchen.”
And it was not just fine dining to which Glenn was exposed during that stint.
“I was in the kitchen when they filmed the documentary Noma: My Perfect Storm,” he said. “Even now, I get calls from people when they watch it, saying that they have just spotted me in one of the clips.”
At the end of his internship, Glenn moved to Tom Kerridge’s The Hand And Flowers before returning to The Atlantic, where he specialised in pastry, a path which led him to France, where he met his partner and fellow Ganache co-founder, Constance Claperon.
“I went to L’Ecole Valrhona in Paris, which is known as one of the best pastry schools in the world,” he said. “That was where I really developed my understanding of chocolate, and I would say that Valrhona is the Noma of the pastry world.
“I started as a teaching assistant and was then promoted to a teacher, delivering classes to some of the most skilled chefs in the world.
“Many of them are world champions in pastry or ice cream, while many have been awarded a Meilleur Ouvrier de France designation, which recognises them as one the country’s best craftsmen.”
But it was not just chocolate with which Glenn fell in love during his time in Versailles.
“At that time, Constance was working behind the scenes on Le Meilleur Patissier, the French equivalent of Great British Bake Off,” he said.
“I was working on the amateur version of the show, helping the contestants to prepare their dishes and talking to them about what they were making,” Constance explained.
“The same production team are also responsible for the professional version of the show, and they asked me whether I would be interested in entering the next series.
“I wasn’t working for a hotel or patisserie at the time, so they put together a team of solo bakers. We were the only team who didn’t know each other, which added to the challenge. We also didn’t have anywhere to practise, which is why we ended up using the kitchens at L’Ecole Valrhona.”
While enjoying the experience, French-born Constance admitted that “competing in a television show is a bit like playing a game”.
“It’s all about timing; you have to be so quick,” she said. “We were too focused on the detail and trying to ensure the quality, so we didn’t finish all the challenges.”
Constance’s love of patisserie and baking started from childhood.
“I grew up in a rural area near Lyons, and we were always picking fruit and making jam,” she smiled. “I studied pastry and baking when I left school and then started work in Bernachon Chocolatier, a bean-to-bar family-run business where everything was made from scratch from the raw ingredients.
“It was a brilliant place to work but, after a few years, I decided to move to Paris to learn more about modern pastry techniques, and I joined La Patisserie by Cyril Lignac. It was a small company and didn’t have a huge range of equipment, so we learnt to do a lot by hand.”
Keen to learn as many skills as possible, Constance then undertook several short-term contract roles with specialist businesses.
“There are a lot of festivities in France for which we make particular pastries,” she said. “I worked for one shop, which recruited me just to make galette des rois, which are traditionally eaten at Epiphany. I made about 1,000 of them.”
When Valrhona offered Glenn a position in Dubai, looking after the company’s pastry activity across the Middle East, Africa and India, Constance joined him in the emirate city.
“It was a great experience and interesting to learn about their tastes but, by 2022, we were ready to move closer to our families again,” said Glenn.
After debating whether that meant setting up home in France or Jersey, the couple moved to the Island where, inspired by some friends, they opened Ganache, an artisanal chocolatier and patisserie on the lower-ground floor of Coopers at Castle Quay.
“We’d spent a lot of time working for other companies and when some friends took the plunge and opened their own business, we decided to follow suit,” said Glenn. “We wanted to bring something new to the Island, and that meant creating artisanal products using the best ingredients that we could find.
“By using good-quality ingredients with a known provenance, not only are we confident that we are giving Islanders a high-quality end product but we are also staying true to our values of sustainability. To this end, we use Valrhona chocolate, all of which is 100% traceable and is sourced from farmers who the company is supporting to diversify their crops so that they enjoy a better quality of life.”
“We also use the absolute minimum amount of plastic,” said Constance. “All our goods are presented in craft boxes, made from recyclable and compostable material, or bags made from corn.”
While Glenn makes all the chocolates, Constance is responsible for the business’s patisserie side, which includes a range of 12 macarons as well as brownies, marble cake, a blueberry clafoutis and a weekly “Saturday special”.
And her inspiration and approach are very much rooted in the skills learnt from her early artisanal employers.
“From those early childhood days of making jam and pastry, I have always wanted to make the best products possible,” she said. “I was always buying recipe books and trying things out, and that was reinforced by my time working for small businesses where the focus was always on quality.
“Reflecting that, all the macarons are made from ganache, rather than butter cream, and we use real vanilla beans, really intense chocolate and 100% pistachio paste, so that the flavour really comes through.
“We also use as much local produce as possible including eggs, milk, cream and butter to show our gratitude for this local product. In the same way, we are grateful to the customers who buy from us and help us to grow our company because that enables us to increase our support of farmers and growers. In a small community, that link is so important.”
And although their Genuine Jersey business is still only a few months old, Constance and Glenn are already thinking about growth.
“We opened this shop in August, and the response has been really positive,” she said. “I love what we are doing but I also miss the Viennoiserie pastry, which I made in Paris. I would love to expand, so that we could add croissants, pain au chocolat and other similar pastries to our range.
“Running and building the business has become something of an addiction for us both. We never stop making things, and while people are often surprised to discover that everything we sell is made here, they love the fact that they can see us working, and talk to us about the ingredients, when they come in.
“And I think you can taste the fact that everything is made with love. This food represents our childhoods. It tells a story and not only is it filled with our emotions, but it speaks to everyone and its taste fills people with emotion as well.”
