Destination of the Week: Bernadette

Photo courtesy of Bernadette

This week’s Destination of the Week takes us to Salem, Massachusetts, where Bernadette brings together French-inspired cooking, seasonal New England ingredients and warm, personal hospitality. Co-owner Shanna Chambers shares how Salem’s creative character shapes the restaurant, what first-time guests should order and why Bernadette offers travelers another way to experience this historic coastal city.

Bernadette is located in Salem, Massachusetts, a city known for its history, character and distinctive culture. Why did you choose Salem for the restaurant, and what are some of your favorite parts of the city and its culture that visitors should experience while they’re here? 

We opened Settler in Salem in 2020 and what we found there was a community that was really hungry for something local, handcrafted and thoughtful, without feeling like you had to go into Boston to get it. People wanted to know who made their bread, where their vegetables came from, who was cooking their dinner. They wanted a restaurant that was ambitious about food but still felt like it belonged to them.

Bernadette grew out of wanting to keep building that here. Another place for people to gather, another outlet for the incredible ingredients we get from our farmers, fishermen and other partners, and an opportunity to explore a cuisine that can sometimes be misunderstood as formal or fancy and make it feel generous, relevant and approachable.

And that's also what I love about Salem. Obviously people come here with a very particular idea of what they're going to find, and yes, there are plenty of witch hats and broomsticks, but I think the best parts of the city are often the things you weren't looking for. You turn a corner and find a tiny shop filled with beautifully made objects, someone's hand-drawn art, handmade jewelry, something strange or wonderful that clearly came from an actual person rather than a buying department. There are these little discoveries everywhere.

Bernadette is French-inspired but locally grounded, with an emphasis on seasonal ingredients. How do Chef Aaron Chambers’ background and the flavors of New England come together on the menu?

Aaron grew up in England and spent his career cooking in some extraordinary kitchens around the world, from Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons in Oxfordshire to the Burj Al Arab in Dubai, and later with Daniel Boulud in New York and Boston. What stayed with him from those kitchens was an enormous respect for the ingredient: source incredibly well, use everything, understand your technique, and have the restraint to let the ingredient be the star.

That philosophy translates beautifully to New England because our seasons give us so much to work with, lobster coming off the docks in Marblehead, corn and peppers at the end of summer, locally foraged mushrooms. Rather than deciding what he wants to cook and finding ingredients to fit, Aaron tends to work the other way around. What’s coming through the door shapes the menu. His French training gives him this incredible vocabulary of techniques to draw from, but ultimately, the ingredient gets to lead.

For someone visiting Bernadette for the first time, what dishes, drinks or flavors would you recommend to really get a sense of what the restaurant is all about? 

I always think the best way to understand Bernadette is to order a little bit of everything we are. I’d start with the tarte flambée. It’s very traditional at its core, with pancetta that we cure in-house, and it’s one of those seemingly simple dishes that tells you a lot about how Aaron cooks.

Then steak frites. We use Niman Ranch beef, make the sauce au poivre from scratch and cut the potatoes by hand. There’s nowhere to hide with a dish that classic, which is exactly why I love it. For dessert, the Profiteroles au Chocolat. The pâte à choux is made and baked that morning, filled with chocolate ice cream we make in-house, and right now served with fresh blackberries from a local farm. It’s classic French pastry, but it changes with what’s growing around us.

And to drink, Turn Soonest to the Sea, a cocktail featuring tequila, mezcal, tomato, peach and agave. It uses end-of-season tomatoes and peaches, which sounds a little strange until you drink it. I love that it takes ingredients we’re seeing in the kitchen right now and finds another way to use them behind the bar.

And then order something you didn't plan on ordering. Let us guide you a little. That's half the fun.

What can guests expect from the atmosphere, hospitality and overall dining experience, and what do you hope they remember after their evening with you?

I hope people remember how they felt when they were here. Bernadette is beautiful and the food is serious, but the experience is warm, generous and fun. Our team genuinely loves taking care of people - helping you find a bottle of wine you might not have tried, talking you through the menu, remembering you when you come back, or simply recognizing that you’re having a great night and letting you have it.

Aaron and I are here every evening, and our team is made up of people who live in the communities around us. There’s a real sense of ownership and pride in what happens here. This isn’t hospitality performed at arm’s length; it’s personal to us.

Ultimately, this is our home, and I think there’s something meaningful about welcoming people into it. Whether you’ve traveled to Salem for the first time or you live down the street, I hope you leave feeling like you were genuinely welcomed, had a really great dinner, and were truly taken care of.