Chef Alix Loiselle combines pastry classics with Franco-Manitoban favourites

It's not often that Franco-Manitoban treats intersectwith traditional European pastries, but that's how Alix Loiselle combines his Mtis heritage with his classic French culinary background at his St. Boniface bakery and caf.

The 29-year-old chef, baker and entrepreneur runs La Belle Baguette, which has been serving delicious treats on Avenue de la Cathedrale since 2015. A second location is in the works in Winnipeg's St. James area.

"We just opened two years ago our anniversary is just coming up in July so as of last year we didn't even think that we would open a second location. We're just kind of letting the business grow and evolve as we're going by," he told CBC's Information Radio.

"I'm definitely here to stay in Winnipeg. Opening the second one is just to allow us to expand to make more products and to have it more readily available in other areas of the city. My dream is just to keep doing what I love ... and to just bring on more people on board that have the same passion and to help them with that."

Loiselle is among more than 100 Manitobans nominated by their peers, friends and families for CBC's #IamMB project, which is sharing the stories of people who have shaped our province's past, lead us in the present or will create our future.

• Read about the other nominees in our photo gallery

'Love at first cake'

Loiselle embarked on his current career path after an injury put his original pursuit music on hold. While he was taking a year off from his studies at Brandon University to recover from tendinitis, he took a pastry arts course at the Louis Riel Arts and Technology Centre in Winnipeg.

"After that, well, I just didn't look back," he said. "I fell in love with it again and won a gold medal in a little cake competition, and it was love at first cake."

Loiselle then earned an advanced pastry diploma from Le Cordon Bleu Paris in Ottawa and worked at a number of eateries, including the Chateau Lake Louise in Alberta, and bakeries and restaurants in Montreal, before returning home to Winnipeg.

"I knew the market, I know the people, I grew up in St. Boniface, so it was kind of a really good fit," he said.

"I came back first for family there [were] a few things going on that I really wanted to be around and then one thing led to another and the perfect opportunity came about to open up in St. Boniface."

The offerings at La Belle Baguette range from tarts and eclairsto cinnamon buns and baguettesto treats long enjoyed among Mtis and French-Canadian families, like pets de soeur, sometimes politely referred to as "nun's pastries," but commonly translatedto "nun's farts."

"It's just traditionally made with leftover pie dough, rolled up with a little bit of brown sugar and cinnamon," Loiselle explained.

"Everyone's grandmother has made them at one point. Those definitely came from my family."

Loiselle said he supports other Manitoba businesses by using local ingredients as much as he can.

"I think that's one of the big responsibilities as a business ownerto be in touch with the community, to be in touch with your surroundings, and to do as much as you can can with it," he said.

"I think a lot of people appreciate and connect to that."