Cocorico! The world champion of pâté en croûte is French. Thibault Gonzales won the supreme title on December 1st, surpassing the Japanese competitors who had ruled the competition for five years.
Born in 2009 from a challenge between friends, the pâté en croûte competition has gained recognition year after year. Long neglected by cooks and overshadowed by uninspiring industrial production, this dish has regained its former prestige. And for good reason. Once perceived by some as a hearty but inelegant starter, this dish requires delicate and perfectly mastered preparation. Today, it is back in the spotlight, between high-end caterers and renowned chefs who dare to take on this specialty that is far more complicated to make than it seems. And indeed an international competition was needed to honor the best pâté en croûte on the planet.
For 16 years now, the competition has attracted great Houses, chefs, and the most prestigious charcutiers from around the world. An exceptional jury, composed of emblematic figures of gastronomy, is assembled to evaluate them. For the 2025 edition, the competition was chaired by Franck Giovannini of the Restaurant de l’Hôtel de Ville*** in Crissier (Switzerland), and the jury included, among others, Meilleurs Ouvriers de France: Fabien Pairon (MOF Charcutier), Christophe Roure (MOF Chef), Joseph Viola (MOF Chef), Mathieu Viannay (MOF Chef), Gilles Reinhardt (MOF Chef), Michel Roth (MOF Chef), as well as gastronomic personalities: Yvonne Christenssen, owner of Géranium***, Melissa Djabourian, President of the Charcutiers of Greater Paris and working at Maison Delaye, and the journalist Vincent Ferniot.
The leading competition in the culinary world honors a French chef
Thibault Gonzales impressed the audience on December 1st, 2025 by winning the famous competition. This 42-year-old artisan butcher-charcutier becomes World Champion of pâté en croûte. The Frenchman distinguished himself with a precise, delicate creation, balanced in flavors and cooking. Entitled Pâté-Croûte façon Vannier, his creation combines Kintoa pork, free-range duck, and a stuffing made of Basque pork belly, duck breast, Landes duck foie gras, and veal sweetbreads.
“This represents months of work and many sleepless nights. I worked and trained relentlessly to concoct a pâté en croûte balanced in textures and flavors, with crunch and tenderness… and above all with high-quality products. Nothing was left to chance; I rethought my recipe tirelessly until I achieved the one that satisfied me the most,” says Thibault Gonzales.
A tricolor pride, given the Japanese domination of the past five years. In 2024, 2022, 2021, and 2019, Japanese artisans and chefs had won the competition, leaving the French behind. Only Frédéric Le Guen-Geffroy of Club TP 90 had managed to put a halt to this supremacy in 2023.
A double win for Thibault Gonzales
Thibault Gonzales even achieved the feat of making it a double victory, also winning the Mumm Prize of the Pâté-Croûte Brotherhood. A first in the history of the competition. The title of vice-champion also went to a Frenchman, Jonathan Dudek of charcuterie Arnaud Nicolas, already proclaimed French Champion of Pâté en Croûte during the first French Championship, which took place in Paris on November 5th, 2025. The bronze medal was awarded to Seigo Ishimoto of the restaurant Le Coeur in Chiba, Japan.
Other distinctions: the Elegance Prize was awarded to Nicolas Delaroque, representing Maison Nico in San Francisco; the Terroirs Prize went to Sho Ito of the restaurant Dominique Bouchet in Tokyo; and the Best Hope Prize highlighted Arthur Dehaine of the Daniel Boulud Group in New York.
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Featured photo : Jodi Hinds
