susan gardner - check back soon for her photo and bio!
aileen goodwin randall co-leader, teen journeys
aileen goodwin randall was born in san francisco, and grew in in texas, nebraska and pennsylvania. after high school, she spent a year schussing and learning french in switzerland while visiting her family in germany. she returned to a pennsylvania college, but for her junior year switzerland's yodel was louder, longer and clearer. she spent a year studying at the university of neuchatel. after graduation and a year of teaching, aleen spent a year in austria working as an au pair and studying at the university of vienna. she then settled in north carolina, where she did graduate studies at the university of north carolina at chapel hill and had a career teaching french and german at apex high school. while there, she traveled abroad with students on numerous occasions. she retired to be mom to her 15-year-old daughter, who has attended c'est si bon! cooking school for the last five years. as much as possible, aileen enjoys pursuing various volunteer opportunities and when time permits, is a avid gardener.
emily wipper co-leader, teen journeys
emily is a culinary enthusiast, expert fruit picker and airport rendezvous coordinator, and has worked with dorette since last summer in france , but first began washing dishes at c’est si bon in north carolinain 1997. emily is a 2007 graduate of saint lawrence university in northern new york and has studied at the university of the west indies in trinidad and the university of north carolina at chapel hill. she has lived and studied in east africa, the caribbean and europe . she has a french mother and a crazy french family from the anjouregion in the loire valley, which she frequents as often as possible to explore all of the linguistic and cuisine possibilities. emily loves to travel, taste different regions, hike& bike and has ridiculous adventures wherever they can be found.
chef erick vedel was born and raised in arles, france. impassioned by the richness of his region, chef vedel has devoted himself to bringing the forgotten delicacies of his native cuisine to light. in the last 15 years, his research has gathered him over 1,000 dishes ranging from those favored by the ancient romans, to the specialties of the 19th century. chef vedel has been teaching his recipes and his culinary know-how since 1995, first through videos, then in his own kitchen in arles, and in others abroad. currently working on a book of his recipes, research and recollections, chef vedel delights in sharing his know-how with many amateur chefs. he and his wife, madeleine, were featured presenters at the 2000 annual conference of the international association of culinary professionals in rhode island.
chef madeleine vedel is an american who arrived in arles in the summer of 1995, where she met erick, enjoyed his cooking for a week, and opted to stay. before arles, she lived and worked in seattle as a photography gallery director, in japan as a conference coordinator, and in paris assisting with a paris-tokyo photography exhibition. educated in the united states and paris, she is fluent in english, french and japanese, and a tiny smattering of italian. in her years in provence, she has come to love and treasure the bounty of the region, and the skills and passion of its many artisans. a featured speaker at the international association of culinary professionals' meetings in both 200 and 2004, she revels in sharing the glories of her adopted land.
