The word's context is when a pastry chef describes he once ai travaillé dans de belles maisons and he especially loved working in une maison parisienne, where recipe didn't live up to his expectation though. I have searched and figure out it should be a place or a firm in quite rare context, but I do not know if it should be some places where a pastry chef works. I would love to know more about this word, too.
1 Answer
Maison can be used indeed as a synonym for a firm or an enterprise. It carries a positive connotation, and some prestigious businesses take pride in being called a "maison".
It can be used for restaurants or caterers as you have found out, but also for some other types of business, such as in fashion (eg La maison Dior), or even for some "mom-and-pop" stores (this is where the shop is then usually named after the family, eg a grocerer named Dupont can christen his/her store maison Dupont).
Even outside of these usual areas of business, it is also common in phrases used to talk about years of service in a firm:
Il a vingt ans de maison (he has been working here for 20 years)
In large firms, the corporate seat can also be called la maison-mère.
Publishers can be also be called maison d'édition (ex: la maison d'édition Larousse)
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3In English compare to "software house", also perfume and fashion companies tend to refer to themselves as houses. Apr 1, 2020 at 23:01