Au Revoir: Nicolas of Maison Boulud Leaves Beijing

Nicolas Socquet, General Manager of the award-winning Maison Boulud, is bidding us au revoir as he moves back to Europe. Read on to find out where he's headed and who will run the ship at MB in his absence. And let's face it, we'll also do a little reminiscing, because this guy is all class and we'll miss him.

You've no doubt had the pleasure of his attentive, steady service at Beijing's landmark French restaurant. Nicolas took the reins as General Manager at Maison Boulud when Ignace Lecleir moved on to open Temple Restaurant Beijing. In his time, he managed an effortless transition that maintained world-class standards of service not only for the restaurant, but arguably, for our city. And he built a rapport with Chef Brian Reimer that has them working as one of the best dynamic duos in Beijing's dining scene.

Maison Boulud has been collecting our Reader's Choice award for the Best Service category for three years running now (through the whole of his tenure), and you nominated Nicolas as one of your favorite Restaurant Personalities of the Year in our 2012 awards.

As for where he's headed? A boutique hotel in Geneva will be lucky to have Socquet as their new F&B manager. We'll miss his quiet yet warm demeanor and those Hermès ties, but wish him the best in his next steps.

In his absence, Maison Boulud have brought on young gun Kevin Crow as the interim manager. He hails from the Big Apple, speaks fluent French and has an impressive F&B track record so far with Dinex Group (Daniel Boulud's umbrella group for his restaurant empire), including acting as Captain at Restaurant Daniel in New York. He has some big, very well-shined shoes to fill, which we don't envy. Best of luck.