We recently connected with Maud Jean-Baptiste and have shared our conversation below.

Maud , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. So, what do you think about family businesses? Would you want your children or other family members to one day join your business?

Family business isn’t a long quiet river like French would say! Such o rollercoaster of emotions, interrogations, doubts, surpises, joy and tears! We have learned so much since we created Maison Porcella in 2018.
The whole process took years as we were both working side jobs, raising a baby and learning the rules of opening a meat related business.

Our son grew up seeing us working hard, late, weekends and holidays, it will surely be a learning experience for him and if his father (Chef Marc-Henri) doesn’t wish for him to follow his steps as it is such a hard work, I believe on the other end that it is amazing to transmit such a beautiful knowledge to our kid. Feeding people will always be a thing so it is a great future to aim at.

We have family pictures and furnitures everywhere in our store. We love to tell the story of the italian grandparents, french mother, haitien father pointing at the different pictures and telling our customers how the passion for food was transmited to Marc from his mother and grandmother.

Maud , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

When Maud & Marc-Henri met in France in 2013, they were eager to start a business independently.
Maud was born and raised in Jura, in the French countryside. From Palaces
in Monaco to family hotels in Paris, Maud spent 12 years
working for renowned hotels throughout France. She grew up surrounded by
hard workings entrepreneurs with different backgrounds, from farming to
more specialized industries. From a very young age, she learned that
being independent was one of the keys to happiness, and she always kept
in mind that one day she would start a business on her own.

Marc-Henri grew up in NYC, raised by a French mother and a
Haitian father. He first envisioned a career in economy & political
sciences but soon realized his passion was for gourmet cuisine
and charcuterie. His Italian roots from his grand-parents
allowed him to travel a lot as a child and open his mind
and senses to these different cultures, American and
European. Moving back to his country was always
part of his plan; the rest is history.

After spending a few years in France, patiently waiting
for visas and paperwork, they were finally able to
touch their dream from closer.

Maison Porcella was created in 2018. Marc-Henri & Maud Jean-Baptiste were ready to bring their passion for French food and hospitality to Sonoma County. Starting at local farmers markets, we make and sell charcuterie, sausages, savory pastries, and deli offer in Sonoma County and the Bay area.
We recently opened a French bistro in Windsor California and welcome guests for lunch and dinner in a very French and warm ambiance, We also have a beautiful retail section with a selection of French and local wines.
We promote local small vendors like us and sell their products in our retail.
Our best sellers are Parisian-style ham, all made by hand, and Croque-Monsieur, named best on this side of the Atlantic by a local newspaper!

We offer catering and partner with local wineries for their events. Our restaurant can also be privatize.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

When we started Maison Porcella, we were not initially looking to become a restaurant. We both had worked in high-end restaurants before and knew how hard it can be to live the restaurant life, with a kid, far from family. When we found our actual space with a perfect production space and retail, it also came with a bar and restaurant space. We instantly said we would not be a restaurant and only use the dining space for events and private dining, well, that was before customers started coming in. We had designed that amazing little piece of France and yet we would not allow people to dine in. We were not staffed nor ready for it, but after months of refusing a few customers every day, we realized we had maybe made a mistake.
We have since reinvented ourselves and come up with our lunch offer. It was one step back in the restaurant industry.
We are now about to open full lunch and dinner service as our lunches are not enough to sustain all the latest costs increase. We have learned a lot and had to be very resilient to accept this comeback into the restaurant industry.

We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.

Marc and I met in France while he was looking for a position in Charcuterie in Lyon. I was working in a hotel and restaurant. We both had a different vision of what we wanted as a business but we knew we were ready to fly solo! We came up with the name Maison Porcella together and since have been working on developing our baby!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.maisonporcella.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maisonporcella/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/maisonporcella/
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/maison-porcella-windsor-2