This is a journey of two chefs, Eric and Lise, to discover the abundance of France through sustainable farming and French savoir-faire.
We chose the name Bon Fond Because it has a few meanings for us:
bon fond
ADJECTIVE
To be good at heart: colloquial expression meaning that someone is a good soul.
Good stock: delicious bouillon made with farm-fresh ingredients.
Solid base: you need a strong foundation to build a sturdy house; or, in our language, a good stock to cook a great sauce.
We want to show you how traditional, artisanal methods of organic agriculture, animal husbandry, butchery, cheese-making, baking, smoking, and preserving are being used today.
These time-honored French techniques combine to create a deeply rooted gastronomic culture, bound together by incredibly generous, hard-working, passionate individuals: all the ingredients for a bon fond, in every sense of the expression.
A little about Lise:
Having grown up all over the world, Lise learned early in life that food is an international common language - we all share the integral human desire to laugh, love, and eat together.
Her family's Danish background in agriculture instilled an eternal appreciation for farmers, local ingredients, their talents and the hard work that goes into making artisanal products.
It was Gay Beery at A. Pimento Catering in Charlottesville, Virginia, who showed Lise that cooking with local and organic ingredients, prepared simply and shared with great joy, was her calling. At the age of 15, Lise started cooking in professional kitchens and worked her way up the ranks while studying. After graduating from the University of Virginia and Sciences Po, she realised that sitting behind a desk on Wall Street was not her destiny and returned to France to hone her culinary skills.
Upon graduation from Ferrandi, she worked at Astrance (*** Michelin, San Pellegrino Top 50 restaurant) and helped open Holybelly (say hi to Sarah & Nico!).
In 2014, Lise started teaching at La Cuisine Paris, a charming cooking school along the Seine, and where she and Eric fell in love.
A little about Eric:
Whether it be with family, friends or strangers, Eric's strongest memories always have a commonality: food! Not the kind that fills stomachs but the kind that brings people together, that nourishes one's soul.
When he was a little boy, he used to delight in tasting the bon fond of the pots that his mother used to cook in the small restaurant that belonged to his father's theatre. It was there that Eric discovered his love for cooking and trained at Ferrandi. He brought his love for food and travel together, cultivating his knowledge in bourgeoisie and traditional regional gastronomy in France, in restaurants such as Le Kiosque, Le Carré des Feuillants (** Michelin) and Le Relais de la Poste (** Michelin), and worked in Washington D.C., Montreal and Sydney.
Cooks have a moral contract to share skills that we've learned and so, upon his return to France in 2012, Eric became a teacher at La Cuisine Paris. After dedicating the time to teach others, Eric found that he, too, wanted to learn again. The call to rediscover his country, its regions, specialties, traditions, and the men and women who are making a difference on a daily level began to ring stronger and stronger.
We quickly realized that we shared the same ultimate dream:
to discover artisanal French traditions, to teach others the knowledge we will gain, to live sustainably, and get hands-on lessons on small-scale, organic agriculture from the French people with a bon fond.
