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Nicole Plue
James Beard Award winner
- Discipline
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i. Biography
Nicole Plue's work sits in the exacting space where pastry technique becomes a management language. As Director of Pastry Arts at San Francisco Cooking School in San Francisco, she brings restaurant discipline into teaching, with a practice shaped by control, consistency, and the demands of the pastry station. Across her career, the emphasis has stayed on process: how organized, how timing holds a service together, and how baking techniques are carried cleanly from one setting to the next.
The Path
The pastry line demands timing, coordination, and standards that leave little room for drift, and Nicole Plue built early experience at One Market and Hawthorns Lane in San Francisco within that framework. At Eleven Madison Park in Manhattan, the work would have required the same composure under a faster, more polished restaurant rhythm. She then moved to Cyrus in Healdsburg, California, where she became executive pastry chef. Each step added range without changing the core of the work: pastry as a discipline of patience, control, and applied imagination. Today, she is director of Pastry Arts of San Francisco Cooking School.
The Work Today
As Director of Pastry Arts at San Francisco Cooking School in San Francisco, Nicole Plue works in the zone where technique becomes curriculum. The classroom replaces the pass, but the standards remain familiar: repeatable method, precise execution, and a clear understanding of how one step leads to the next. In that setting, the knowledge built in restaurant kitchens is translated into instruction that can be used by pastry cooks and bakers moving into the trade. The role asks for both technical command and the ability to break that command into something others can practice.
Acclaim
Nicole's honors include James Beard Award for Outstanding Pastry Chef (2010). In a field where precision is measured in the finished result, that recognition places her work among the most respected in pastry. It marks a career defined by technical discipline and the kind of consistency that earns the attention of peers.
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of Nicole
What is Nicole Plue's current role?
As of 2026, Nicole Plue is Director of Pastry Arts.
Where did Nicole Plue work before?
Nicole Plue's earlier career included One Market and Hawthorns Lane, Eleven Madison Park, and Cyrus.
What recognition has Nicole Plue received?
James Beard Award for Outstanding Pastry Chef (2010).
