Bernard and Sarah Bouissou will be opening their new business in early May.
Bernard and Sarah Bouissou
RIDGEFIELD — In the Bouissou household, when a meal is ready, a family member calls out in French “à table” — pronounced ah tah-bluh — a phrase that means “come to the table.”
“In French culture, gathering around the table to share a meal with family and friends is a cherished tradition,” said Sarah Bouissou, whose husband, Bernard Bouissou, grew up in Saint-Etienne-de-Tulmont — a region of southern France.
Article continues below this ad
“It’s the sense of community that you get, being at the table. It’s a time for bonding, socializing and celebrating life’s simple pleasures,” said Sarah Bouissou, 58, who owned Bernard’s Restaurant for over 20 years.
The rest of the community will soon learn the phrase when the couple’s new gourmet prepared food business, “A Table,” opens next month with that name.
“It was always our plan to have the restaurant for 20, 25 years and then open up a gourmet prepared food store and continue with the catering — just to work a little bit less but still cook,” Bouissou said.
Make CT Insider a preferred source on Google to see more of our journalism when you search.
Add Preferred Source
The couple closed Bernard’s on New Year’s Eve in 2022, and moved from their two-acre home on the property, to Sherman. Norwalk-based restaurateurs will take over the property.
Article continues below this ad
They’ll be opening A Table, at 109 Danbury Road, in early May.
Buying prepared foods grew in popularity with the start of COVID-19, she said, adding so many families are now accustomed to eating meals in the comfort of their homes that it’s now become a trend, she said.
“You may have been home during COVID and cooking, and now you’re back to work and your kids are back to school and activities … but you still want wonderful, organic dishes,” Sarah Bouissou said. “You just don’t have the time to be cooking now.”
While running Bernard’s, they were offering takeout services, so they’re well prepared “for this next chapter” of making and selling prepared foods at À Table, she said.
Article continues below this ad
“Our hope is to help people be able to have that time to be with each other at the table without having to go to the grocery store and prepare everything,” she said.
‘A little French market’
At À Table, customers will purchase meals and heat them up at home.
Many of the meals, including duck confit, cassoulet with wild mushroom risotto and pumpkin seed-crusted cod, came right from Bernard’s menu
Article continues below this ad
À Table will also offer new selections, including rotisserie chicken and duck and porcetta sausages, as well as French pastries, fresh flowers and tabletop items such as French linens.
“I love setting a table. To me, part of the meal is to set the table,” Bouissou said. “That was always something that was very much in the culture in France.”
With A Table, she and her husband are trying to create the feeling of “a little French market,” she said.
The new store will be in the location formerly occupied by Sucre Sale, a French creperie that has moved to Main Street. But the space will be entirely different, she added.
“We literally gutted the place and we’re starting from scratch so everything is all brand new,” she said. “I’m excited about creating this space. It’s a clean plate and now we’re going to hopefully make something beautiful.”
Article continues below this ad
The complex is also home to 109 Cheese & Wine, Ross Bread Shoppe & Coffee House and Ridgefield Organics & Specialty Market.
“It’s really a nice little marketplace and we’ll be kind of rounding that out with having the gourmet prepared foods,” she said.
‘Make something beautiful’
Bouissou said she and her husband worked long hours for many years at the restaurant and now want to enjoy some down time along ith their new venture.
Article continues below this ad
“We bought the restaurant when (our children) were 3, 4,7 and 8,” Bouissou said. “We worked six days a week.”
She said she and her husband want to have “a little bit more of life, have Sundays off and be closed at 6 o’clock. In the restaurant business, you’re often not done before 11 or 12 o’clock at night.”
She said she hopes to spend more time with friends and family and go out on Saturday nights with her husband.
The couple’s four daughters have all inherited their parents’ love of cooking and preparing meals, Bouissou said.
Article continues below this ad
“They’re all wonderful cooks and entertainers and love setting a beautiful table,” she said.
Dining and Cooking