In San Francisco’s Jackson Square, where historic brick buildings meet the city’s enduring love of craft, chef Nicolas Delaroque has quietly built one of the Bay Area’s most respected French food destinations.
From perfectly laminated croissants to intricately constructed pâtés en croûte, his Maison Nico has become a favorite among locals who value quality, technique, and authenticity over spectacle. That dedication recently earned Delaroque international recognition. On one of the world’s most demanding culinary stages, the San Francisco chef recently took home the Elegance Prize at the 2025 Pâté en Croûte World Championship in Lyon, the gastronomic capital of France.
Delaroque's elegant pâté en croûte(Augustin Houle)
Chef Nicolas Delaroque grew up in Rueil-Malmaison, between Paris and Versailles, in a household where meals were a shared ritual. Food was never about performance; it was about connection. Long family lunches, conversation, and the pleasure of eating together shaped his early relationship to it and eventually guided him, at 15, toward professional cooking.
Delaroque enrolled in a vocational hospitality school, where learning happened through practice rather than theory. He earned the equivalent of an associate degree and quickly found his rhythm in professional kitchens, where structure, teamwork, and responsibility felt natural.
International experience sharpened Delaroque’s ambition. Time spent cooking in Australia taught adaptability, while a formative role at the Fairmont in Québec City deepened his discipline. Starting as chef de partie and later becoming sous-chef, the chef committed fully to excellence. “That’s when I told myself I needed to take my career seriously,” he says.
In 2008, after an introduction to Dominique Crenn—then a chef at Luce at the InterContinental—Delaroque’s journey led him to San Francisco. “She wasn’t the Dominique Crenn everyone knows today,” he recalls, “but her energy was already there.” The city made an immediate impression, too. “I didn’t know San Francisco at all,” he says. “But I fell in love with it.”
Chef Nicolas Delaroque (center in hat) at the 2025 Pâté en Croûte World Championship(Lyons People)
Delaroque went on to work at Le Garage in Sausalito, helped open L’Appart in Los Angeles, and eventually joined Manresa in Los Gatos, the acclaimed three-Michelin-star restaurant led by chef David Kinch. The experience proved pivotal. “Manresa gave me what I had been missing,” he says. “The rigor of fine dining, but also real fraternity. That’s when I knew I wanted to build something of my own.”
That vision became the French restaurant Nico, which opened in Pacific Heights in 2013 before relocating to Jackson Square. For seven years, Nico allowed the chef to refine his culinary voice. When the pandemic forced a reset, he embraced a long-held idea rather than clinging to the traditional restaurant model. In 2020, Maison Nico was born.
Part French bakery, part charcuterie, part épicerie, Maison Nico centers on craftsmanship at every level, from croissants and pastries to pâtés, terrines, and seasonal creations, all produced in-house.
“I always wanted a place where we could make everything,” Delaroque says. “Sweet and savory, no separation. Just food.”
Running the business is a daily discipline. The chef starts his days around 5am, fits in an hour of sport, and arrives at the shop by 7am to review the morning bake and do a quality check.
“Consistency is everything,” he says. “If you lose that, people feel it immediately.” The rest of the day, Delaroque moves between teams, reviews prep lists, and keeps communication tight.
Passion fruit choux at Maison Nico(Vanessa Yap Einbund)
Evenings are reserved for family—and Maison Nico is very much a family business built on trust and shared responsibility. It’s no surprise that, at the side of this talented chef is a great woman, Nicolas’ wife Andrea Delaroque. A former attorney, Andrea has been part of the journey since the early days and now oversees operations, administration, and long-term strategy.
“I focus on the kitchen,” says the chef. “Andrea takes care of everything else. We truly run this together.” That sense of family extends to the team as well, each of whom Delaroque makes a point of checking in with daily.
Delaroque’s dedication to French culinary traditions goes beyond the walls of Maison Nico to the international stage. In December, he competed at the 2025 Pâté en Croûte World Championship, one of the most exacting contests in French charcuterie, which begins with a North American preselection in Montréal before culminating in the final in Lyon. Each entry is evaluated by a panel of 15 chefs and artisans for precision, balance, and technical execution.
At the championship final in France, Delaroque’s entry earned the Elegance Prize, for its finesse, restraint, and technical clarity. Judges singled out the precision of his crust, a hallmark of his work.
A slice of Delaroque's elegant pâté en croûte(Augustin Houle)
The award has been a source of motivation for Delaroque as he moves into the next chapter of his culinary career. “It pushes you to come back better,” he says.
Delaroque has a second Maison Nico in the works for Marin County, planned to open in late spring or early summer 2026 in San Anselmo. The expansion will provide more space and allow long-awaited additions like bread and housemade ice cream, while savory operations remain anchored in San Francisco.
// Maison Nico is open Tuesday through Friday from 8am to 5pm and Saturday and Sunday from 9am to 4pm; 710 Montgomery St. (Jackson Square), maisonnico.com
