Growing up the daughter of this respected food icon, and with a life defined in so many ways by food, Fanny has an aptitude for honouring ingredients, savouring seasonal flavours, and most importantly, sharing those culinary experiences with others. Immersed in traditions and rituals at home from an early age, Fanny chronicles her unique perspective across vignettes paired with recipes, beautifully. “The recipes are extremely simple, making the most out of ingredients in a rustic way,” explains Fanny, before adding that “people are realizing now, for the first time, that if there wasn't local production of vegetables and bread and so on, they wouldn't have anything fresh to eat, so to actually support local producers is really important.”
More than an ethical commitment or a lifestyle, Fanny observes that her shared philosophy with her mom has, more recently, become about survival. “We have wanted for nothing in Berkeley, because we have so many local producers,” she says. “Whether it's honey, goats milk, bread, eggs, people raising chickens in their gardens. There’s a network of incredible farms that exist here, in part because of Chez Panisse,” she enthuses, “because Chez Panisse has been committed to sourcing local, sustainable, regenerative produce from a network of friends for nearly 50 years.”
Fanny’s passion, which no doubt echoes that of her mother’s, is deeply rooted in a sustainable, community-driven outlook; from the produce, of course, but also in her focus on educating and even her approach to fashion. Her design brand Permanent Collection co-founded with Mariah Nielson, is a curated edit of timeless objects and garments made in collaboration with craftspeople. “The guiding ethos was this idea of creating products based on historical pieces that had a lot of aesthetic and design value and making them again,” she explains. Each understated yet indispensable piece becomes an “instant heirloom”, an approach that aligns closely with TOAST. “We began to transition a little bit more towards home and are working in collaboration with my mom, sourcing some of her favourite pieces from her collection,” adds Fanny. Alongside an indispensable mortar and pestle, Fanny and Mariah have refabricated ‘Alice’s Egg Spoon’, based on a 17th century iron tool that she discovered in a book.
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