Michel Allex

Coming Up

Training began at 14, with Michel Allex apprenticing at Kolmont in Bourgoin-Jallieu as a pastry chef, chocolatier, confectioner, and ice cream maker. That early entry into the trade set the terms of the work: pastry, chocolate, sugar work, and ice cream each require their own tempo, their own thresholds, and a strict sense of control. In that mix, technique is not separate from discipline; it is the discipline.

Where They Are Now

Since 1991, bean-to-bar chocolate has been the working method at Maison ALLEX in Chalon-sur-Saône, where Michel Allex makes and transforms chocolate from cocoa bean to bar. The phrase names the full sequence, but the craft itself is in the handling of each stage, from raw material to finished bar, with no break in attention. Over decades at Maison ALLEX, the work has stayed focused on process as much as product: chocolate understood from the inside, shaped through repetition, timing, and exactness. Municipal councillor of Chalon-sur-Saône is the other role Michel Allex has held alongside the chocolate work. It keeps him tied to the same town that anchors his atelier, and it places civic responsibility next to daily production. The through-line is local continuity: begun in Bourgoin-Jallieu, carried forward in Chalon-sur-Saône, and sustained through both public service and craft.

FAQ What is Michel Allex's current role? As of 2026, Michel Allex is Municipal councillor of Chalon-sur-Saône. What recognition has Michel Allex received? Meilleur Ouvrier de France, pâtisserie-confiserie (1982). What is Michel Allex known for? He practiced a bean-to-bar chocolate approach, making and transforming chocolate from cocoa bean to bar since 1991.