Master chef delivers world class baked goods directly to St. Johns doorsteps

They are aromas more closely associated with the Champs Elysees than Crosswater Parkway.

But twice a week, hundreds of Nocatee residents wake up to steaming satchels of oven-fresh baked goods delivered to their door.

The croissants, sourdoughs and baguettes are the loving handiwork of master chef Paulo Sebess, a heavily medaled culinary powerhouse with a resume fit for royalty.

“There is something very unique and special about bread,” Sebess told The Citizen. “Especially when it is prepared correctly and eaten when it is fresh.”

A veteran of famed Michelin-starred restaurants from Monaco to Strasbourg, the proprietor of Le Pain de Paul crafts the creations inside  a specially-outfitted home bakery.

Born in Brazil and raised in Argentina, the Nocatee resident trained in an elite culinary arts school in Lyon, France, after completing college.

Sebess’ mother, an accomplished chef herself, founded a culinary school that remains in operation decades later.

After graduation, Sebess quickly earned his stripes at some of Europe’s most distinguished houses of haute cuisine, working with the “Pope of Culinary Arts’ Paul Bocuse at L’Auberge du Pont de Collonges in Lyon, France and at Alain Ducasse’s legendary Louis XV in Monaco.

“They gave me an apartment overlooking the Mediterranean,” he recalled of the latter assignment. “I was a bachelor in my 20s. It was a perfect life, a dream.”

Eager to test his skills, Sebess routinely entered top international competitions, earning a bronze medal at Luxembourg’s prestigious Culinary World Cup in 2002.

Moving deftly from pan to pen, he later wrote several successful cookbooks, including well-received tomes on baking (2010), beer brewing (2016) and the art of the hamburger and sandwiches (2019).

At one point, Sebess returned to Argentina to help run the family cooking school.The enterprise thrived for many years until the pandemic forced its closure.

Sebess said the business was able to pivot online, and continues to thrive.

But suddenly, he found himself hovering over a glowing laptop instead of a simmering pot. He longed for a return to the burners, and growing economic and political unrest in Argentina spurred thoughts of emigration.

Able to secure a visa to the United States thanks to his unique talents, he and his wife eventually settled in Ponte Vedra after first visiting upon the recommendation of a friend.

“We instantly fell in love with the area,” he said. “It is such a beautiful place.”

Hoping to continue with his culinary career, Sebess weighed his options. At one point, he volunteered to provide baked goods for a fundraiser at his kids’ school, Pine Island Academy.

When the crumbs had settled, dazzled parents began to ask Sebess for more of his product. The requests grew so resounding that the baker and his wife decided to hatch Le Pain de Paul.

The baker spoke of the top-tier appliances in his kitchen the way a car collector discusses the contents of his garage.

Italian-made pasta machines. A German oven he described as the “Ferrari” of its class.

“This is a professional kitchen,” he said with pride. “Everything is really high quality.”

But the modest operation has since outgrown its environment. Orders are beginning to stretch capacity, and Sebess said he has been actively searching for a brick-and-mortar space that would allow him to scale up.

Demand, he said, is not an issue. The slightly underground mania for his items is on regular display at the Nocatee Farmer’s Market, where the Le Pain de Paul table equals long lines and emptied inventory.

“It is difficult,” he said of his search for a stable commercial home. “Sometimes they say we are too new, we’re too small. But there is a demand here for different types of businesses, not just the same old thing. That is part of what makes a community. We are hopeful.”

Until then, Sebess said he will happily continue making his crack of dawn deliveries — and bringing the authentic flavor of a European morning to local kitchen tables.