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About Us

The Company

DOMAINES & TERROIRS was founded by Debbi Baron as a cultural, learning and culinary tour company, offering journeys which will discover regions in France, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and eventually the United States that are known for their regional artisanal products. For my partner, Jean-Paul Bignand and I, the ever mutable cheese has always been a shared passion. With cheese as our starting point, we began to investigate the people and their environment and cultures, which create this extraordinary foodstuff. In the process, our search expanded to the multitude of other specialities within each of these significant regions or areas.

For us, our mission has become one of discovery and learning and we found our fascination for the products and countryside shared by many of our friends. So we decided to become ambassadors of all things artisanal and have created these journeys to allow others who share our interest to experience it through discovery.

Debbi Baron

Growing up in legendary California, the land where « anything is possible » and respect for craftsmanship is a proud state heritage, my interest in all things produced by hand began very early on in my life. A job with an internationally known architecture and design firm allowed me to put this interest and my university degree in Three-dimensional Design to practical use. The opportunity gave me a way to develop my knowledge of artisanal products through research and sourcing the best producers, artisans and craftsmen all over the world for clients. As a design partner, I was able to work in Europe and the Middle East since 1985 and ultimately to live in Europe since 1995, commuting weekly between London and Paris.

Dedication to learning about quality materials, production and craftsmanship is what drives me to seek out the people and not only what drives their passion, but what helps shape the products they create. Cheese for me is the ultimate expression of this kind of dedication to an artisanal process as well as the expression of its sense of place, or what the French call terroir. Cheese; its culinary partners; the art of entertaining and expanding our understanding of life through constant learning are all an extension of this search and this passion.

Jean-Paul Bignand

Being born in the French capital,I spent my childhood travelling between Paris; the family farm near Vesoul and homesteads in Alsace and Franche Comté, all regions where harmony with nature and authentic tastes are still in full force today. This upbringing provided an opportunity to grow up as both a city kid and future homme de la campagne, in other words, a man of the country. Memories of my grandparents farms, with their Munster fermier; Comté and Vacherin cheeses, their homemade eau de vie; eating fruits off the trees, vegetables out in the fields and smelling my grandmother’s Sunday roast of gigot d’agneau or roast chicken, have left an imprint on me that is typically French and is where Debbi and I share a passion.

This is the basis for my love of the countryside, its traditions, and the terroir What my country offers the world from a cultural standpoint and the culinary arts is a source of pride. Combine this with my passion for travel experiences and of course, cheese, my ambition is to share with you all that France has to offer. Ultimately I am eager to accompany you in exploring the same in unique yet similar places in England, Scotland; Ireland, the many regions in the United States and beyond.