Benoit Blin

Benoit Blin (born 17 October 1967) is a French pastry chef and food judge. After serving two apprenticeships and national service in the French Navy, Blin worked at the Normandy Hotel and the Hôtel Ritz Paris in Paris. In 1995 he was persuaded by Raymond Blanc to join the staff of his Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons restaurant in England and has remained there ever since. Blin has judged competitions including the Royal Academy of Culinary Arts' Master of Culinary Arts and, since 2016, has been a judge on the television show Bake Off: The Professionals. He published his first cookbook in 2024.

Early life Blin was born in Villedieu-les-Poêles, Normandy, France. He was apprenticed to one of the two bakeries in the small town he grew up in, before serving a second apprenticeship as a pastry chef. The first product that Blin learned to bake was a chouquette, an item he still produces regularly. Blin completed his year of national service as a chef in the French Navy, providing food to the officers' mess in Cherbourg. Blin persuaded the navy to allow him time to study for the Brevet de Maîtrise Pâtissier (master pastry chef's certificate) and completed it within the year. He was president of the British team in the 2011 World Pastry Cup.