NICK PEYTON
Maître d'Hôtel / Owner

Nick Peyton has been perfecting the art of fine dining service—no small feat in this demanding realm. His role as Maître d’Hôtel/Owner of Cyrus marks the culmination of wisdom and expertise garnered over the course of his 40 year illustrious career. Cyrus has emerged as one of those rarefied environments in which the fine arts of cooking, winemaking, design and service all converge.
Born in England and raised in British Columbia, Peyton’s storied career in the restaurant business began as a teenager, working in an eclectic assortment of nightclubs, bars and cafés. He received a degree in Restaurant Management from City College of San Francisco but his finesse was developed on the job, primarily in San Francisco’s most renowned dining establishments. His expertise in the subtle art of service became legendary in the city where elevate the Fairmont Hotel's Squire Restaurant, where he worked through the 80’s, into one of the most celebrated venues in the Bay Area.

Peyton next moved to Masa’s as General Manager and Maître d’, where he and acclaimed chef Julian Serrano set a new standard for fine dining in the city. During his tenure, Masa's earned numerous accolades, including several nods as “Best Restaurant in the Bay Area” from San Francisco Magazine. From 1991 to 1997, as Manager and Maître d’ of the Dining Room at the Ritz-Carlton in San Francisco, he took service levels to previously unheard of heights. With an uncanny ability for training his staff to be attentive but unobtrusive, Peyton and Chef de Cuisine Gary Danko made the Dining Room one of the nation's most prominent restaurants, earning both critical and popular praise. Together they opened Restaurant Gary Danko in 1999, an instant success due in no small part to Peyton's remarkable ability to inspire his staff to take personal care of each guest in the restaurant. His increasing command of artisanal cheese—a subject about which he has offered his insight for several books and articles—truly came to the forefront at Restaurant Gary Danko, It’s formidable cheese cart reinvigorated an interest in the cheese course in restaurants across the country. It was here that Peyton forged a friendship with future partner Douglas Keane, Danko’s Sous Chef at the time.

In 2002, Peyton and Keane opened Market in St. Helena, a dramatic departure from the bastions of haute cuisine to which both professionals were accustomed while planning their luxury restaurant in Sonoma. Cyrus is more formal, luxurious and serves sophisticated cuisine, but Peyton stresses, “I don’t believe in temples of gastronomy; I believe in great dining experiences.”

Peyton has served as a consultant, lending his considerable expertise to several notable restaurants. He helped refine the front-of-house techniques at Laurent Gras’ Fifth Floor and Ron Siegel’s revamped Masa’s in San Francisco. He also worked with chef/owner Guenter Seeger to perfect the Mobil five-star restaurant, Seeger’s, in Atlanta. In addition, Peyton has conducted service seminars for such enterprises as American Express, the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone, City College of San Francisco’s Hotel and Restaurant Department and Service Arts Corporation.

Peyton’s philosophy for Cyrus is to provide service that is formal in its mechanics, but tailored to the individual. If guests are there for a romantic occasion, the service will encourage romance; if it’s a business meeting, it will foster the appropriate atmosphere.. “The experience relies on what the people want,” he insists, adding, “the only constant is that the service be caring, intelligent and personalized.”

:: Contact Nick Peyton