Diego DELBECQ

Chef : Rozó After training under Marc Meurin and then Christophe Saintagne, Diego Delbecq now runs the restaurant Rozó (4 toques) in Marcq-en-Barœul, near Lille, alongside Camille Pailleau. He has been awarded the Gault&Millau d'Or.

Presentation

“When I was fourteen, my aunt gave me a baking book—that’s how I got into cooking , ” recalls Diego Delbecq. A native of Hazebrouck (Nord), he began his career in Marc Meurin’s kitchen at the Château de Beaulieu in Busnes (Pas-de-Calais), first as an apprentice and then as a section chef. He stayed there for five years. “It was more than just a restaurant—it was a family; everyone looked out for one another,” he recalls.

Plaza Athénée, Le Meurice, Papillon: his years in Paris working with Christophe Saintagne

Diego Delbecq then joined Christophe Saintagne. From 2011 to 2017, he followed him to the Plaza Athénée and Le Meurice, where he met Camille Pailleau, and finally assisted him in opening the Papillon restaurant in Paris. “ He gave me a vision of cooking where you should never get bored—there always has to be a spark on the plate, ” says Diego Delbecq. “Even today, he still gives me advice.”

Rozó, from Lille to Marcq-en-Barœul: Diego Delbecq and Camille Pailleau’s restaurant

In 2017, Diego Delbecq opened his own restaurant, Rozó, on Rue de la Monnaie in Lille, with his partner, Camille Pailleau . “I wanted to feel at home… There was no business strategy behind it, but above all a desire to reconnect with my roots and share them with Camille. ” The name is inspired by La Fontaine’s fable, *The Oak and the Reed*, because “we’ve often bent, but we’ve never broken,” he explains. In 2022, the restaurant moved to Marcq-en-Barœul (Nord), into a former printing plant.

Young Talent, Rising Star, Gault&Millau d’Or: A Career Marked by Recognition

A few months after opening, Diego Delbecq was named a Gault&Millau Young Talent (2019 edition), while Camille Pailleau was awarded the Young Pastry Chef of the Year trophy. In 2022, the chef received the 2023 “Grand de Demain” award for the Hauts-de-France region. In 2026, Rozó earned its fourth toque, and Diego Delbecq was awarded the Gault&Millau d’Or.