ABOUT CHEF ROMAIN

My culinary journey began at a young age growing up in my family’s winery and constantly being surrounded by food and wine. As a kid, our trips to France to visit my grandparents gave me a different perspective on food, experiencing France’s long tradition of farm to table dining where every family would go to the village market to buy fresh produce, meats, cheeses, and breads directly from the producers. This was the impetus for becoming a chef.

After graduating from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in Food Science, I entered into an apprenticeship with an experienced, classically trained French chef. In the spring of 2017, I moved to France and started my formal training at the highly regarded Institut Paul Bocuse in Lyon where for over four months we intensely developed the knowledge and techniques needed to become a chef. After completing my training at the institute, I had several restaurant and bakery internships across France and Italy and travelled throughout Europe and Asia to experience the intertwining of local food specialties, cultures, environments and people. Food is the international language, where any person can connect with another human being and find common ground over a shared meal. From seeing the colorful, fragrant spices piled high in the markets of Istanbul or the fresh octopus drying on wooden racks on the Greek islands, to visiting the early morning fish markets in Tokyo or spending the wee hours of the morning in front of stone hearth bread ovens in Rouen, France, these experiences were invaluable to me in forming myself as a chef and giving me a treasure trove of food experiences that I want to share with others.

That is my mission – to make delicious and wholesome food using high quality, locally sourced ingredients and sharing it with others. Food is not just something you eat, it is so much more, sharing, caring, loving, learning, teaching, helping, history, culture, tradition, community, health, power, energy, happiness, satisfaction, friends, family… life. I hope I can share some of this with you and in the process, you will share with me. When not cooking, eating, or drinking, I enjoy spending time outdoors hiking, camping, hunting and gathering mushrooms or other wild edibles in Wisconsin’s fruitful and varying landscapes. I also enjoy taking a spin on my Harley sportster or vintage VW dune buggy and cruising the local lakes in my small sailboat named Coco. Santé!