His name may not ring a bell, but his gastronomic empire surely does: Breizh Café. For three decades, Bertrand Larcher has reigned over the market of modern, flavorful Breton crêpes.
Proudly born on a farm near Fougères in Brittany, surrounded by cows, pigs, and fields, Bertrand Larcher has always been deeply attached to his homeland. Trained in hospitality at a school in Dinard, he began his career in Geneva before flying to Japan in 1995 to introduce buckwheat crêpes to the Land of the Rising Sun.
From Brittany to Japan
Settled with his Japanese wife, Bertrand Larcher opened his first crêperie in Tokyo in 1996. After some adjustments and awareness-building, the Japanese quickly fell in love with the restaurant, aptly named La Bretagne. “We had to be educators to share the Breton art of living,” he explained to Le Nouvel Obs. Far from local cuisine, his concept was clear: authentic Breton galettes and crêpes in a gastronomic, contemporary version, paired with cider, and served with refined Japanese-inspired hospitality. The secret of success? Top-quality ingredients imported directly from Brittany.
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Buoyed by this first triumph, Bertrand Larcher returned to his roots to reintroduce his own version of the galette to the Bretons themselves. In Cancale, a small fishing port known for relaxation and oysters, he opened Trivabro in 2002. Yet, he didn’t forget his years in his adopted country and offered a few Japan-inspired recipes.
The Breizh Café Empire
Three years later, under a more meaningful name, Bertrand Larcher opened another restaurant in northern Brittany: Breizh Café. High-end galettes and an exceptional menu of artisanal cider revolutionized the market, which was mostly used to traditional crêperies. Larcher then swapped his chef’s jacket for that of a businessman. His instinct led him to build around the Breizh Café name, expanding his empire in Asia. Between 2005 and 2008, he opened no fewer than six establishments in Japan. Once again, ancestral Breton cuisine and Japanese influences fused to delight local palates and attract French tourists.
Back in France, Larcher also developed the brand in Paris, where the crêperie scene is highly competitive. In Le Marais, his chic crêperie quickly attracted discerning food lovers, true connoisseurs of a proper galette. In 2024, a British media The Telegraph even ranked this Breizh Café as the 6th most beautiful café in the world. Larcher, now widely seen as an ambassador of the buckwheat crêpe, was twice awarded the Fooding Honorary Prize.
In the early 2020s, supported by the Artémis group (the investment fund of billionaire François Pinault), Larcher accelerated his expansion. Rennes, Biarritz, Megève, Lyon… The goal: more than 30 locations worldwide by 2025. According to Entreprendre.fr (March 2024), the Breizh Café group has “seven crêperies in Japan, around twenty in France (including 12 in Paris), employs 400 people (100 in Japan and 300 in France),” and generated over €20 million in revenue in 2023.
Education and Transmission
In 2017, Bertrand Larcher turned to a new project: becoming a producer himself. The farmer’s son bought a farm near Cancale, where organic buckwheat and cider apples are grown. This came at a crucial time, since the buckwheat industry was in decline. “In the 1960s, 100,000 hectares of buckwheat were cultivated in Brittany. Today, only 5,000 remain,” he lamented in L’Express.
The farm also serves as an educational site focused on agroecology and sustainable cuisine. A stroke of genius, given the rise of eco-friendly labels and consumer demand for responsible products. “The goal is to highlight the work of farmers and the excellent products of the Breton terroir,” explains the website La Maison du Sarrasin, his concept of fine grocery stores selling his produce alongside artisanal goods (flours, salted butter caramels, ice creams, buckwheat cookies, etc.).
Concerned that the crêpier profession is too often chosen by default rather than passion, Larcher is determined to pass on his know-how. In 2018, he opened a school in Saint-Malo, L’Atelier de la Crêpe, offering a state-recognized diploma (CQP Crêpier).
More than just a restaurant empire, Bertrand Larcher has built a complete gastronomic ecosystem, with a true farm-to-table philosophy that perfectly aligns with new consumer expectations. And his enterprise—both fruitful and delicious—shows no signs of slowing down.
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Featured photo : © Breizh Café
