Jewel of a French Bistro
While many of our favorite restaurants succumbed to the Covid pandemic, other businesses were born because the timing was right. Chef Marc-Henri Jean-Baptiste launched Maison Porcella, his hand-crafted brand of classic French pâtés, rillettes, sausages, and charcuterie in 2018. Undeterred by Covid-era restrictions and the demands of new parenthood, Marc and his enterprising wife, Maud, became a fixture at Marin and Sonoma farmers markets, building an appreciative audience that helped to successfully grow their business in the first year.
When friends brought Maud and Marc to the vacant site of a former catering operation near downtown Windsor in 2022, the couple took on the space long before they had anticipated such a dramatic move. In the small outdoor mall not far from the Windsor Green they found a home for Maison Porcella, opening a cozy French bistro with a small store for selling French culinary specialties and a commercial kitchen large enough to support the continued production of their namesake products. The food is a slice of the French countryside, made only from the highest-quality local ingredients and always by hand.
In addition to their charcuterie offerings, Maud has gathered an array gourmet items such as jarred goose fat, true harissa, caviar and Boonville’s unique piment d’ville as well as takeaway French and local wines. Refrigerator cases are stocked with freshly made merguez, their popular croque monsieur sandwiches to heat up at home, and a selection of charcuterie traditionally crafted by chef Marc.
Inside the cozy interior, a long, tile-flanked bar invites single diners and those looking to stop for a drink and nibble to pull up a stool and check out the local and French beers on tap. A specials board reflects what chef is finding in the market and a reasonably priced three-course menu.
With Marc in the kitchen, Maud went to work on the décor. She brought French antiques and family heirlooms to the classic bistro appointments, fostering a wonderfully intimate environment their customers love. “I knew I’d spend a lot of time at the restaurant and needed to feel at home myself,” says Maud. “We both love the ambiance we’ve created.”
Working together, the couple has curated an intimate French café and retail experience that is uniquely their own. Marc brings decades of culinary experience in the art of traditional French charcuterie, while Maud offers a background in hospitality and an appreciation of French style.
Marc was born on New York’s Roosevelt Island to a Haitian father and a mother from Bordeaux. Summers spent in rural France with an Italian grandmother spurred his love of cooking. Marc first discovered his passion for meat while working at the famed Blackberry Farm in Walland, Tennessee, in 2009.
“Michael Sullivan taught me how to transform and sublimate pork product, sparking a desire to create artisanal charcuterie that has never left me,” he says.
He continued his training under some of the top chefs in the world: Daniel Boulud in New York, Alain Ducasse in Monaco and Gilles Verot in Paris, and the high-end butcher shop Dierendonk in Belgium, where he learned the art of butchering whole pigs, beef and lamb.
The two met at a bar in Lyon when Marc had taken a few days away from the Ducasse kitchen to visit a world-famous charcuterie market in the city. He was immediately smitten by the outgoing Maud, herself a well-traveled native of the hospitality industry. The two were soon inseparable, finding ways to spend time together while Maud worked at her favorite hotel, Hotel des Arts in Paris, and Marc continued his culinary education, moving from kitchens in France to Belgium and Italy.
“Finally, I traveled to Tenuta di Spannocchia, perched in the hills of Italy’s Tuscany,” said Marc. There, “I observed the breeding, feeding, slaughtering and finally the manufacturing of Italian charcuterie using ancestral traditions. I owe my utmost gratitude to Maestro Riccio, who passed on to me his vast knowledge of traditional Tuscan charcuterie.”
Marc was familiar with Sonoma County after discovering the area during an internship in San Francisco. When the couple traveled here for a friend’s wedding, they began to contemplate a longer stay.
“Here, we found a European mentality of respect for the environment and traditional agriculture practices,” he says. After 10 years of perfecting his craft with French, Italian and American chefs, Marc was ready to bring his work back to the States. The adventurous Maud was a willing partner.
Maud was born in the Jura area of eastern France and spent much of her time on a family farm. There, she developed a love of animals and nature, becoming an avid horsewoman. She entered into the world of hospitality, where her outgoing personality (and command of four languages) was an asset. She traveled often, only putting aside a planned backpack trip through North and South America after meeting the charismatic Marc.
“That’s when I became more reasonable and saw the great story ahead of me with a handsome French-American chef, impressing me with his cooking skills since the very beginning,” says Maud.
Now, with 4-year-old son, Henri (check out the restaurant’s French kids’ corner), and a successful start in farmers’ markets and catering, the retail and restaurant space that formerly housed a French caterer has transitioned into a French bistro, in the style of a French grandmother’s home, serving the freshest cuisine and true traditional French charcuterie. Maud and Marc’s story has only just begun.
Visit them in Windsor and escape life into a cozy world of wine and food in a well-kept strip mall that feels far from a shopping center and closer to Maud and Marc’s beloved France.
8499 Old Redwood Highway, Windsor
Tuesday through Saturday, noon–2 pm, 5:30–7 pm
Barbara Barrielle is a long time publicist and Sonoma County resident, making Healdsburg her base for travel, wine writing and film production of both documentaries and feature films. barbarabarrielleproductions.com
