Discover the Heart and Passion Behind Chez Maryse
(Sam, Owner & Chef Antoine pictured left)
In the 1980s, a young Hmong girl fled war‑torn Laos and found refuge with a loving French family in Toulouse who introduced her to the beauty of French cuisine and the simplicity of a life centered on kindness, connection, and shared meals. Their generosity shaped her understanding of what it means to belong — and what it means to give back.
At eighteen, she began a new chapter in the United States. Through determination and hard work, she earned a masters degree in Psychology and Social Work, turning her lived experience into a calling to uplift others. In 2007, that calling became a reality when she founded a nonprofit dedicated to supporting and empowering adults with disabilities.
Her mission didn’t stop there. Inspired by the family who once opened their home to her, she created Chez Maryse where community, inclusion, and opportunity come together. Adults with disabilities are not only supported through her nonprofit — some also work at the café, contributing their talents and helping shape the warm, welcoming atmosphere.
Just as she was once embraced and given a chance to thrive, she now strives to do the same for her community — offering meaningful work, fostering independence, and encouraging others to join in building a place where everyone has the opportunity to grow and belong.
Meet Maryse
Maryse grew up with a profoundly unique family history, marked by the courage and sensitivity of her mother, Léontine. Born in a small village in the Pyrenees, Léontine carried within her a difference that caused her suffering for a long time, as she was born of a forbidden relationship with an engineer from Vietnam. She never knew her father, but this wound forged in her a great strength of heart and a rare humanity. From this history was born in Maryse a way of loving without judgment, of welcoming unconditionally, and of making family a refuge stronger than one's origins. It is this legacy of love, dignity, and tenderness that would later give full meaning to her encounter with Lixia (for context; Lixia was the way the French pronounced Sam's legal Hmong name).
For nearly seven years, from the age of 7 to 16, Lixia, a young girl from Laos who arrived in Toulouse with her family and her seven siblings, found a true chosen family in Maryse. In this French home, bustling with three boys, holidays and weekends were filled with laughter, shared meals, and the wonder of discovering each other's cultures. They learned to live together, to understand one another beyond language barriers, and to cherish every moment. It wasn't unusual to prepare a hundred spring rolls for six people, and they were always devoured with gusto, so delicious were they. Between cooking, affection, and the passing down of traditions, a simple yet profound bond of adoptive love developed over the years between Maryse and Lixia.
Then life moved on, and Lixia joined her family in Fresno, USA, leaving behind a precious story that time would suspend for nearly thirty years. Despite the distance and the silence, the connection had never truly faded, and when she decided to reconnect with her French mother on social media, the emotion of the reunion was overwhelming. This unexpected return deeply moved Maryse, as well as her three children, who were touched by the enduring strength of their rediscovered love. Trips to France and then the United States allowed them to relive their story, sharing tears, smiles, and family moments that no border had erased. This reunion reminded everyone that some bonds are stronger than time, greater than differences, and more faithful than forgetting.
It was in this spirit that the project to create the restaurant "Chez Maryse" in Fresno was born in October 2023, a natural expression of the heart and a desire to pass on a legacy. Alongside her, her grandson, Chef Antoine, a graduate of a culinary school in Bordeaux, naturally continued this family story, bringing to life the same spirit of love, hospitality, and sharing, echoing the relationship between Maryse and Lixia and the one that now unites Lixia and Antoine. The project is exciting, fueled by a demanding, generous, and profoundly human vision of French cuisine. Significant investments have been made to offer a high-level gastronomic experience, true to French elegance while remaining imbued with the spirit of this extraordinary story. More than a restaurant, this place has become a meeting point for memories, a family, and a love passed down from one generation to the next.
Click the links below to see Chez Maryse in the Media:
