About Sonia

THE STORY OF THE CHEF, SONIA BOVI

Born in Avignon in 1978, I was introduced to ‘home’ cooking at an early age, thanks to my mother, who made my own baby food. Later, when I was a teenager, I would return to my mother’s and grandmother’s homemade dishes at the end-of-year celebrations and on Sundays with the family: soupe au pistou, blanquette de veau, coucous, leg of lamb, gratin dauphinois, scallop gratin, homemade yoghurt, rice pudding, Norwegian omelette and so on.

My uncle and aunt were working at the Auberge de Cassagne in Le Pontet at the time, and their story made a career in the restaurant and luxury hotel business an obvious choice.

But it wasn’t until 2006, after a degree in psychology in Aix en Provence, that I enrolled in a BTS in hotel and restaurant management at the Avignon hotel school.

After graduating in 2008 and doing work placements in Michelin-starred establishments and luxury hotels (Alain Lorca’s Moulin de Mougins, the Les Trésoms hotel, lake and SPA resort in Annecy, the Excelsior Splendide hotel on Lake Como in Italy, the Domaine de Bournissac in Paluds de Noves), my first job as a kitchen assistant was for the Danone group, at the Hôtel Royal in Evian.

After a summer season, I moved back to Annecy to stay for 1 year, working at the Hôtel Les Trésoms, under the management of Michelin-starred chef Laurent Azoulay, second chef Boris Neples, chef at the French Embassy in Prague, and 2008 French Dessert Champion Nicolas Bichon. This time I’m no longer a trainee but a commis de cuisine.

I spent many years in Annecy, working and holding various positions in different establishments, including head chef at the Appart du 17.

I took my pastry CAP exam in Ajaccio as an independent candidate, before moving to Bonnieux in January 2020.

I continued to train, and it was with CECILE FARKAS in Nîmes, an international pastry chef, that I perfected my pastry skills.

In March 2020, the opening of the restaurant was cancelled because of the health crisis and the confinement.

So I decided to go and work for the Bienvenue à la ferme association, making baskets of fruit and vegetables delivered to people’s homes. It was there that I met the local producers and farmers with whom I now work.

These include David Aurand, a Ventoux pig farmer, and Marie and François from the Canta Cabra farm in Goult. In May 2020, we’ll open with takeaway sales, followed by the summer season, then we’ll adapt to the curfew with the Kosy afterwork, and finally end 2020 with takeaway sales again, as part of our reconfiguration.

Univers culinaire

It was at the hotel school that I learned the traditional basics of cooking. The different chefs I’ve worked with have taught me techniques and recipes.

The different people I’ve met and the different places I’ve lived have had a major influence on my current culinary universe.

Then there’s my inherent taste for sweet and savoury dishes, my boldness in blending land and sea, my strength of character and passion for learning and creating, which is reflected in my signature dishes and unique pastries.

Of course, my cooking follows the seasons and is made up of 90% local and French produce.

The menu includes Ventoux pork, goat’s cheese from Canta Cabra and soft, smoked tofu from Raul Montero in Goult.

From Savoyard influences with Arctic char, Lake Leman féra, risotto like a tartiflette, to Corsican influences with the famous fiadone, aubergines à la bonifacienne, savour our diverse, flexitarian specialities and discover the wide variety of our dishes.

You’ll also find Asian influences in the seafood cassolette with coconut milk and yellow curry, kosybowls with cashew nuts, sesame, soya, Chinese noodles and vegetable woks. You’ll be touched by the boldness of the rump steak with prawns, scallops and chorizo.

Let yourself be carried away on a culinary journey full of creativity, with beef picanha in chimichurri sauce, Corsican influences, charcuterie, wines and ewe’s milk cheeses.