Bernard

I was raised in a family of farmers. My two uncles were a baker and a butcher. I grew up on the coast of Brittany with my grandmother who was a fantastic cook. We had a garden and raised rabbits, chooks, and geese. I learned a lot from her. Every Friday we made crêpes and galettes for the family. I loved cooking, baking, and butchering (but not so much cleaning). At the age of 15, I decided that cooking was my calling because it came naturally to me. I thought it would be a great craft, as well as an excuse to travel the world. I made the decision to skip culinary school and do an apprenticeship at Le Bretagne with my mentor, Georges Paineau. The artistic aspect and hands-on opportunities were appealing to me.

As a youngster, my family traveled every summer. I remember running wild with my sisters in the souks of Morocco and picnicking on St. Brelade beach on Jersey Island. At age 19, I moved to French Guyana to work at a Breton restaurant in Kourou at the basin of the Amazon River. For three weeks, I lived in a local village in the heart of the jungle. Talk about going back to the grassroots! Fishing on the river bank brought the true meaning of �out of the water and into the pot.� Or out of the jungle and onto the spit roast!

Pierre Chambrin, former chef of The White House, brought me to The United States, which was a dream come true. This is my home now and the starting point for all my travels. On Prince Edward Island, I gathered mussels that reminded me of my childhood. In India, I cooked goat on a sabre in a tandoori oven. In Australia, I fell in love with the Adelaide Central Market�s artisanal cheeses and outback honey.... read

Ron

As a child, my family’s obsession with tasty food and our habit of gathering in the kitchen inspired me to cook. Years before I was tall enough to see above the counter tops, I would spend hours absorbing the sounds, aromas, and orchestrated movements surrounding me. Those experiences sparked the curiosity and excitement I still feel. every time I step into a kitchen. I often close my eyes and revisit those very first impressions of cooking�the rhythmic tapping of efficient knife work, the steel-on-steel swoosh of hand-whipped cream, or the clinking of dishes as the table is prepared in anticipation.

I encourage people to see cooking as a multi-sensory activity. Saut�ed onions passing through the goldenbrown stage to the threshold of caramelization can be judged purely by smell. With a little awareness, you can establish the stage of reduction in a saucepan behind you by using your ears. To have a successful relationship with the foods you are cooking, it helps to be a great listener.

I don�t think this is a mysterious craft. We are all born with the intuition that makes a great cook. All it takes is some confidence. My mom was the best cook I ever met until she took culinary classes. Then she started questioning herself too much in the kitchen... read