Chef returns to Llanelli to start new business

A pastry chef who left Llanelli to learn his trade is returning to his home town and will be bringing a flavour of France with him.

Benjamin Condé is setting up a new bakery and coffee venture at Llanelli Market called Saint Hugo, which references a street in Nice, France, he frequently visited while honing his skills there.

Mr Condé said he has been in discussions with Carmarthenshire Council for a while about a unit in Llanelli and was finally handed the keys last weekend. He is refurbishing and fitting it out and plans to open in the first week of February next year.

Ovens, temperature-controlling proofers, benches, refrigeration, and coffee-roasting equipment will be installed and a new floor laid.

A former Bake Off: The Professionals quarter-finalist Mr Condé has worked at various top-notch hotels in and around London including a stint as executive pastry chef at a Dorchester Collection hotel in Ascot, Berkshire. Before that he was executive pastry chef at Bristol and Bath-based Mokoko Coffee & Bakery. He has also trialled a pop-up bakery in Cardiff called Sablé, which he said has “morphed into” his new venture.

“The main focus will be the quality and precision of the product itself,” said the 31-year-old, who grew up in Llanelli and got the cooking bug as a boy from his late grandfather Keith Court, a French-trained chef. “And the coffee has to be the same standard as the food.”

Mr Condé said there would be breakfast, brunch, and lunch takeaway options while the business would also seek to cater for hotels, restaurants, and coffee shops in the area. He said: “There is quite a strong food culture here and a lot of high-end hotels and restaurants.”

He said finding the right price point for his croissants, cardamom buns, and cakes would be very important. “It has to be accessible,” he said of his food. A croissant might be nearly £3, he said, but “it will be the best croissant you will have ever eaten”.

As someone who felt he had to leave southwest Wales to immerse himself in his trade and learn from the best Mr Condé plans to train prospective pastry chefs at Saint Hugo. He envisages the business having a team of five or six staff. Longer term he said he would like to run evening courses. “We’ve got 24-hour access to the building at the rear,” he said.

Mr Condé is currently living with his mother and stepfather in Cynheirdre, a few miles north of Llanelli, and investing his savings into Saint Hugo.

His career could have taken a different direction as he studied law after school. “I focused on international relations – I really enjoyed it,” he said.

But he realised he enjoyed cooking more. Speaking two years ago he said: “Growing up I was surrounded by great food. My mum and grandfather used to cook amazing dishes – I was baking on and off my entire childhood with him.” In his early 20s he did some street food events, and began to really apply himself. “In 2019 I became obsessed with techniques, methods, and the science behind breads, pastries, and cakes,” he said. “A stint in France on and off helped a lot.”

Mr Condé said most ingredients for the Saint Hugo bakery would come from the Carmarthenshire area but two were “non-negotiable” – French flour and lamination butter, which would arrive by pallet from across the Channel.

“High-end food is demanding,” he said. “It’s not for the faint-hearted. It’s really difficult to make a good pastry.”