Nicolas PACIELLO

Known to the general public for his CinqSens shops—now called Nicolas Paciello Pâtisserie—located in Pantin and Boulogne, the pastry chef has an impressive résumé. Learn more about him here.

Presentation

Nicolas Paciello’s earliest memory? His mother’s chocolate marble cake. So when, in middle school, he told his parents he wanted to become a pastry chef, they sent him to work with Christophe Gre in Forbach to see if his enthusiasm was genuine. “I loved it. I went there every vacation, and he took me on as an apprentice for five years.”

A Thirst for Learning

After earning his CAP, a complementary certification, and his BTM, his teacher sent him to Paris, to Fauchon. He stayed there for five years. “I already loved my craft, but that experience instilled even more discipline in me.” Just as Chef Christophe Adam was leaving the company, he learned that a position was opening up at the Crillon. Though he had never set foot in a luxury hotel before, he landed a job there as sous-chef pâtissier until it closed for renovations in 2012.

Good news: Benoît Couvrand contacted him and offered him the chance to open Cyril Lignac’s first pastry shop. “I thought to myself, ‘Here’s yet another new facet of the profession.’ I signed on right away.” Then, the desire to return to the hotel industry took hold of him. That’s how he came to be part of the reopening of the Prince de Galles, working alongside Stéphanie Le Quellec. “She’s like a mother to me in this business; she taught me the essentials.”

Learning from the Biggest Names

January 2015: Jérôme Banctel called him to help launch La Réserve – Le Gabriel. “I clicked with him—he’s tough, and I like that. I figured I’d learn a lot.” Once the project was complete, Nicolas Paciello took over as pastry chef at the Prince de Galles.

Three years later, while visiting Fouquet’s, he met Pierre Gagnaire. “I knew right away that I wanted to work with him.” And so began a two-year period during which he also co-founded the brand CinqSens Paris. The pastry chef has since ended those collaborations and is focusing on his own brand, Nicolas Paciello Pâtisserie, launched with his partner Lucille Jasmin. “Today, all I want is to make cakes and bring joy to people, just like when I was a kid.”