Nina Métayer
For Nina Métayer, pastry is akin to a heartfelt gift. Her collaboration with The Ritz-Carlton, Tokyo brings a collection of delectable hand-finished masterpieces to the heart of the city. Witness the evolution of French tradition through a lens of modern innovation and timeless elegance.
Continue readingAbout Nina Métayer
Nina Métayer was born in La Rochelle, France, on May 2, 1988. Born into a family that appreciates the pleasures of good food and fine restaurants, nothing predestined her to become a pastry chef. At the age of 16, she spent a school year in Mexico as part of Rotary Club International's Youth Exchange program, an experience she believes was the starting point for the woman she is today.
Back in France, Nina is already dreaming of returning to Mexico one day, to live and work there. As baking is a French know-how that is recognized worldwide and exported well, she decided that opening her first bakery in Playa Del Carmen or Tulum, two booming tourist destinations, was a great personal and professional project, and she already imagines developing her business far beyond.
She first went back to high school, gets her literary baccalaureate (A-level / high school diploma…), and then trained in bakery. For a young woman, finding a company for her apprenticeship was not easy, she was offered positions as a saleswoman, but there was no question of accepting her into the bakery until Denis Baron opened the doors of Chez Paillat bakery in La Rochelle.
Nina left after for Australia for a year, working in a French bakery-pastry in Melbourne, then making pizzas and desserts in restaurants while traveling.
On her return to France, she decided to continue her training in pastry-making at the École Ferrandi in Paris, before starting her career in the Parisian palaces. At Le Meurice, under the direction of Yannick Alléno, she joined Camille Lesecq's brigade. Appointed head pastry chef at the Le Raphaël hotel by Amandine Chaignot, she managed five outlets, including the sweet menu of the gourmet restaurant, and created her first signature dessert, L'île flottante exotique, which received rave reviews in the press.
She then joined Jean-François Piège, who entrusted her with the creation of the dessert menu for his new Parisian establishment, Le Grand Restaurant, which was awarded 2 Michelin stars six months after opening.
Invited by the Franco-Russian group Café Pouchkine, she developed a range of sweet creations for the international market, from China to Russia, via France and Qatar.
Luxury hotels, Michelin-starred restaurants, patisseries shop and bakeries have forged her insatiable curiosity about taste as a vector of emotion. She began giving masterclasses all over the world, joined the juries of prestigious competitions, took part in various TV shows and, before the age of 30, was awarded Pastry Chef of the Year twice: in 2016 by the trade magazine Le Chef and in 2017 by Gault & Millau.
In 2019, she felt the urge to undertake new projects, both in France and internationally. After contributing to the opening of three establishments in London, she signed the desserts for Chaoyi Buer in Shanghai, two exclusive collections in 2021 and 2023 for Jaeger-LeCoultre's 1931 Café that are traveling the world, and for several establishments around the world.
In 2020, Nina has also taken a beet on the future by inaugurating its first patisserie, initially 100% digitalized at delicatisserie.com. This agile, flexible concept is consistent with Nina's conviction that excellence, environmental commitment, and social responsibility are values that are as necessary for a sustainable future as they are economically viable. The sweet tooths, seduced, give her reason, and follow her! She will open her first point of sale and collection in 2021 in Paris at Printemps du Goût, then in 2022 at Halles Biltoki in Issy-les-Moulineaux. After several years of commitment and reflection on her project, Nina returns in 2024 to her home town, La Rochelle, to open two new stores: Le Fournil and Chez Paillat. The latter was not chosen by chance, as it is Monsieur Baron's bakery, where Nina took her first steps as an apprentice. A symbolic, emotionally-charged return to her roots, it allows her to bring together her two professions of baker and pastry chef, illustrating her attachment to the region, to passing on and to craftsmanship.
An artisan at heart, Nina Métayer is now at the head of a group whose core business is dessert creation. She and her teams put their expertise in haute pâtisserie and business development at the service of professionals, both in consultancy and in design, creation, events and R&D services.
Her recipe book La Délicate Pâtisserie, published in 2021 by Éditions de La Martinière, is now a reference work.
On October 25, Nina Métayer was honored by her peers as World Confectioner Mondiale 2023, becoming the first woman to be awarded this title by the International Union of Bakers and Confectioner, which operates worldwide. Each member country chooses two candidates, one baker and one pastry chef, to represent it. The French nationale confederation nationale of bakery and pastry has entrusted her with the task of defending the colors of France. The jury takes into account various criteria, from training to running one's own business, to innovation, transmission, national and international influence... To determine the finalists, then the winners.
With this title, which is particularly dear to her heart because it recognises more than her career, the day-to-day work of her teams, Nina Métayer is proud to represent France and the quality of the work of French bakers and pastry chefs around the world.
On June 5 in Las Vegas, Nina Métayer received yet another global accolade by named World's Best Pastry Chef 2024 by the demanding jury of the Academy of The World's 50 Best Academy, which brings together over a thousand professionals, enlightened gourmets and independent experts from the restaurant industry.
Those accolades also highlight what she considers the most important about pastry-making: emotion and the awakening of the senses. For the chef: "My patisserie is above all a story of indulgence (gourmandise in french), that simple pleasure that is almost familiar, that awakens childhood memories, that invites sharing, that evokes joyous moments with loved ones, family and friends. It's to pass on and share these little gourmet pleasures that my team and I are so happy to sublimate the elegant simplicity of our cakes, making them with delicacy, lots of love and beautiful products that respect the land and people who produce them.
Distinctions:
- Entrepreneur 2025 (Who's Who d'Or)
- Knight of the Order of Agricultural Merit 2024
- Best Pastry Chef in the World 2024 (The World’s 50 Best Restaurants)
- Knight of the National Order of Merit 2023
- World Pastry Chef 2023 (UIBC)
- Talent de l’Audace 2022 (Centre du luxe et de la création)
- Pastry Chef of the Year 2017 (Gault & Millau, France)
- "Éclaireur" 2017 (Vanity Fair)
- Pastry Chef of the Year 2016 (Le Chef, professional vote)
Awards & Recognition
2024
World’s Best Pastry Chef 2024: The World’s 50 Best Restaurants.
2023
World Pastry Chef 2023: UIBC International Union of Bakers and Confectioners.
2022
Winner of the ‘talent de l’audace’ award 2022: Centre du luxe et de la création.
2017
Pastry Chef of the Year 2017: Gault & Millau / The French avant-garde under 30 years: Vanity Fair.
Yoshie Kato
As the local custodian of Nina Métayer’s vision, Yoshie Kato brings a profound understanding of Japanese refinement to the patisserie. With a career defined by impeccable poise and cultural fluency, she ensures that every creation resonates with the legendary grace of The Ritz-Carlton, Tokyo. For her, service is its own form of art: a seamless dance that honors both the pastry and the guest. She is the essential link in this dialogue of masters.
CONTINUE READINGYoshie Kato
Yoshie Kato’s childhood experiences—enjoying teatime with her grandparents and baking sweets while poring over her grandmother’s baking tools and recipe books—served as the foundation for her decision to pursue a career in pastry. From a young age, she had a strong fascination with foreign cultures and driven by a desire to explore uncharted worlds through pastry, she enrolled at the Tsuji Culinary Institute’s France campus. While a student there, she gained experience as an intern at "Château de Noirieux" a prestigious restaurant in France’s Loire Valley, where she was exposed to authentic French gastronomic culture and the philosophy of desserts.
After returning to Japan, she worked on dessert creation and product development at French restaurants, patisseries, and members-only club restaurants in Tokyo. She then spent approximately 10 years building her career at a company specializing in wedding and restaurant services, where she created around 200 wedding cakes annually and was involved in product development for dessert platters and dessert buffets for weddings and banquets. She also gained experience in store management, customer service, and launching new locations, and in 2023, she earned her Sommelier certification from the Japan Sommelier Association. She values the subtle sensations drawn from everyday scenes and the changing seasons, channeling the atmosphere of each moment into inspiration for her confectionery creations.
Appointed as pastry chef in January 2026 at The Ritz-Carlton, Tokyo, Yoshie Kato worked tirelessly to open Nina at The Ritz-Carlton, Tokyo. She deeply resonates with Nina Métayer’s ethos, having trained alongside the World’s Best Pastry Chef herself, and continues to take on new challenges to bring their vision and sensibility to guests in Japan.