Two Pâtés in Two Hours

A new granddaughter brought Bernard to Bainbridge Island in 2020. A native of France, Bernard met his American wife at a hotel management school in Glion, Switzerland, where he was able to entrench himself into his inner culinary self, and he hasn’t stopped since. He was a cook in Paris before joining his father-in-law cooking and managing restaurants in Connecticut and then owning a restaurant. In 2012, he moved to California where he was a cook at the University of California at Santa Barbara. Most recently, he cooked at Madison House Senior Living on Bainbridge and is currently in the wine and spirits department at Town & Country Market. He can be seen walking, hiking, biking, and playing pickleball around town. He's frequently in Seattle helping out his daughter and their young family. Fun for him is a night around the dining room table enjoying good food and wine.

Robert Ross is a landscape architect, garden designer, and committed home cook who has traveled to and worked in many places, absorbing local cultures, history, and terroir. A Loeb Fellow at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design, he spent a few years in North Africa working on a project that afforded opportunities to travel and explore Europe, eventually leading to a passionate connection with central Italy, its people, food, and gardens. He shares a unique perspective that blends simple Tuscan cooking, renaissance gardens, and ornamental terra cotta.