J'AIME JULY 2020

CROISSANTS AND PASTRIES
ARE DUE BACK ON THE MENU
THIS MONTH
cookery at University College Birmingham, showing
dedication to his ambition of becoming a pastry chef.
And after leaving school - where Sebastian admits he
wasn’t a good student - he enrolled at UCB to study
professional baking.
“I left UCB and had a year out; I had this goal that I
wanted to own my own business before the age of 25
and I wanted to go to Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, but
you have to be able to speak French, and my French
is non-existent,” says Sebastian.
“Paris was the place I wanted to go, because it’s
the home of patisserie and Le Cordon Bleu is the
number one place in the world to study.”
While debating whether to jump straight into the
world of work or take some time to follow his other
passion of travelling, Sebastian came across the
prestigious French Pastry School, based in Chicago
- and he immediately realised it was the answer he’d
been looking for.
“I love the US, it’s where we go on holiday, but I’d
never been to Chicago - so I applied,” he says.
A Skype interview followed, and in November 2015
he discovered he’d won a place at the school, ready
to start the following July.
“Chicago was amazing; it wasn’t just growing as
a pastry chef, it was growing as a person,” says
Sebastian. “I was 20, turning 21 over there, and the
experience of living in another country at a young
age was fantastic. I was there for about eight months,
and if I didn’t have the dream of owning my own
business I wouldn’t have come back!
“The chefs were so good, they worked one-to-one
with you, and there was no speaking of failure, it
was all about success. It opened so many doors and
taught me so many skills that I hadn’t yet thought
about, like chocolate sculptures, sugar
sculptures and confectionery.
“And it was a really diverse class with
people from all over the world, and of
all ages. I was the youngest, and there
were students who were already working
in world-class kitchens and wanting to
expand their skills, and people who were
looking at complete career changes. It
was such a different experience.”
But the ambition of owning his own
business brought Sebastian back home
once his course had finished. And it
turned out that home was the perfect
place for him to set up.
After looking at units to rent, and not
finding anything suitable which would
work financially, Sebastian saw the opportunity
which was there right in front of his eyes - at his
family home.
Converting an unused garage and a stable into two
kitchens gave Sebastian the space to work, while a
wooden garden building makes for a quaint shop.
OnTheBreadLine has also become something of a
family affair. Sebastian’s sister Rachel J runs the shop
while his mum Martha helps out in the kitchen in the
mornings and dad Neil pitches in with the extensive
amount of washing up. Dad was also responsible for
the OnTheBreadLine name, landing on the clever
moniker after extensive brainstorming.
“It’s been interesting to get my family involved too,”
SUTTON COLDFIELD BAKER
SEBASTIAN CLOUGH
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