78 local life 79 \ ALTITUDE Last summer, a little café like no other opened its doors in Crans-Montana. At the helm was Géraldine Bach, an entrepreneur from the Valais who has managed to combine her two passions of hospitality and craftsmanship. L'Atelier, Café Créatif is a welcoming place, an ideas laboratory and a stage for the region's craftspeople. After drawing up a business plan, the young manager seized the opportunity to move into the premises on the outskirts of the funicular station in Montana. Géraldine drew on her visual arts background and combined it with her passion for hospitality to design the space which is welcoming, creative and authentic. She trained at ECAV in Sierre and Vatel in Martigny and has drawn on the visual arts, macrame and catering to create a space that reflects her image. “I put everything in a magic box: my passion for customer contact, my studies in visual arts, the encounters I had at craft markets and my training in hotel management”, she says. The result ? A living space that's as inviting to savour a latte in as it is to create a bouquet of dried flowers. A PLACE FOR EVERYONE Géraldine organises “apéros créatifs” on two Thursday evenings a month. She offers workshops led by local craftspeople. Origami rubs shoulders with essential oils and terrariums. Each event is designed to appeal to different types of people. "I'd like men to feel as welcome as women. Leather, for example, aims to attract a more mixed audience. That's important to me," she says. The charm of L'Atelier is largely down to its atmosphere. The premises are small but very welcoming. With its antique furniture, meticulous detailing and soft lighting, everything is designed to make you feel at home. The founder of this atypical establishment is also banking on an accessible menu. You can have a coffee for four francs or a matcha latte for around six francs. This deliberately varied range of products attracts both locals and visitors. "My core clientele are the locals. Tourists are a plus, but above all I want the locals to want to come back", she says. A NATURAL NETWORK To find the people who work in her workshops, Géraldine tours the summer markets where she meetsahost of passionatedandexcitingdesigners. Word of mouth and Instagram does the rest. As the place is very visual, people spot it or contact the establishment directly. In this way, L'Atelier is becoming a showcase for the region's craftspeople. Although the furniture is not yet ready for sale, Géraldine is still toying with the idea, and would like to see everything on sale. But the logistics are complicated at the moment. What do you do if you have to part with a table you've been using for service ? How do you organise transport ? These are all questions that need to be resolved. A PLACE TO TELEWORK With the boom in teleworking, Crans-Montana is attracting more and more city dwellers looking for a peaceful place to live. Géraldine quickly realised that there was an opportunity here. She created a “study day” package, specially designed for teleworkers. Even though her original package was a little too targeted, she quickly adapted it to include, for example, unlimited drinks. Many visitors now live permanently in CransMontana, whereas before they only came up at weekends. Some have even left the big towns where they used to live to settle permanently in the resort. The benefits in terms of quality of life play a huge role here. INSPIRING PIONEER Géraldine admits that her café-atelier concept is not totally new. We've seen them in Lausanne and Geneva. However, Crans-Montana clearly lacked a place of this type. She has filled the gap with intelligence, taste and a sense of community. Today, she is happy to share her experience with other project owners. They come to her to talk about their ideas. She always encourages them as much as possible. KEEPING TO THE LINE The success of L'Atelier is down to Géraldine's clear focus. She wants to remain consistent, faithful to the DNA of the place. Two workshops a month, a controlled atmosphere, an attentive welcome and a varied programme - that's her winning formula. And when asked what guides her, she replies with disarming simplicity that her ultimate aim is to the cafe the perfect spot. Nothing more, nothing less! This is undoubtedly the secret recipe of this little place, which is increasinglymaking a name for itself.
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