the founder
Nicole Walshaw
the founder
Nicole grew up in Victoria, where her understanding of food began with something simple: cooking as a way to care for people.
That idea has carried her around the world. Over the past three decades, she has cooked in places most kitchens could never exist, from the Arctic Circle to high in the mountains of Tibet, across Europe, China, and beyond. Working in extremes of climate, culture, and scale has shaped how she sees food. It does not need to be complicated to be meaningful. It needs to be thoughtful, adaptable, and rooted in where it comes from.
Her cooking draws from that lived experience. It is grounded in international comfort, shaped by many places, but always guided by a sense of balance, restraint, and respect for ingredients.
origin story
The NICO Kitchen
The NICO Kitchen is a reflection of everything Nicole has learned, brought back home to Victoria.
After years of cooking in constant motion, the focus is now on creating something steady and intentional. A space built on fewer, better things. Food that feels direct and honest. Ingredients that are chosen with care and meant to be shared.
Her work with Singing Bowl Granola led her to deliver over 80,000 bowls of organic porridge to food insecure students of Victoria's School District 61 and create a give-back model supporting the Rainbow Kitchen. It is not only about feeding people, but about supporting the community in a tangible way. That mindset continues through NICO, where the goal is to nourish both everyday routines and the wider community around it.
The NICO Kitchen is a way of bringing a world of experience into a single place. It is about connection, simplicity, and the kind of food that quietly speaks for itself.