Bernardo Simoes

Background

About Bernardo Simoes

I’m a chef with more than two decades of experience leading kitchens around the world, from fine dining in Brazil and Italy to high-volume operations in the United States. My career has taken me through restaurants, multi-unit concepts, bakeries, events serving meals, and large institutional kitchens—always with the same purpose: serving real food, made with respect for ingredients, people, and place.My foundation is deeply connected to the Slow Food movement. For over 10 years I represented Brazil internationally, cooking and speaking at Terra Madre in Turin, events in the Netherlands, Uruguay, Italy, and across South America. I’ve worked directly with farmers, fishing communities, and small producers, creating menus that honor biodiversity and local traditions. Farm-to-table, sustainable sourcing, and responsible agriculture aren’t trends for me—they’ve shaped my entire career and the way I lead teams today.Across the U.S. and abroad, I’ve led multicultural kitchen teams, opened restaurants, built menus from zero, engineered cost-efficient systems, and transformed operations through structure, training, and organization. Whether running four restaurants at Eataly Boston, leading 60 cooks at Boca Raton Regional Hospital, executing sold-out dinners in Amsterdam, or building award-winning concepts in Brazil, I focus on clean execution, consistency, meaningful menus and teamwork.What drives me is simple: good food, respect to the people involved, and a kitchen culture where everyone shines.