Your Hosts at Cromey, in the heart of Burgundy
Eleanor Garvin and Dennis Sherman (El + Den = Elden) left the US in 1983 with the naïve idea of apprenticing themselves to the great chefs of Europe…and simply never went home.
Those of you who know Ellie know that she is a gifted chef, with a style and touch that makes finesse look easy. Her passion for ‘clean’ tastes translates as easily into French ‘haute cuisine’ as it does into Italian ‘cucina provinciale’. And having lived more than 30 years in Burgundy, she has made this region’s cuisine her own. Ellie is the author of ‘At Home in Burgundy: The Papillon Recipes’.
Dennis is a registered wine merchant, shipping small-production, estate-bottled Burgundy wines to private clients and collectors in the US via burgundywine.com. He is a professional wine taster and writes regularly and avidly on the subject. He is also a specialist ‘gastronomic’ tour guide, with experience throughout Europe.
Together, Ellie and Dennis owned and operated the luxury hotel-barge ‘Le Papillon’ for a decade in the 90’s. The popularity of ’Papillon-style’ holidays and their ever-growing reputations led them to expand the Papillon repertoire to ‘land-based’ holidays, and from 1993 until 2014 they took ‘Papillon Select Tours’ to villas in regions where food and wine are a priority.
But Burgundy is home, it’s in their blood. And now they are bringing 30+ years experience to the Domaine de Cromey, in the Heart of Burgundy.
David and Brenda Miley have been loyal Elden customers for many years. Both have serious pedigrees in business. David’s is wide and varied, covering a number of industries and cultures. As luck would have it, this includes finance, marketing, construction and renovation. Brenda brings elegant and refined interior design and a vision born of experience. Their partnership and inspiration have let the Domaine de Cromey be re-born as the luxury manor house it is today, and enabled Elden Selections to flourish by bringing it to the Internet. Their support, creativity and counsel have made the dream come true. Dubliners by birth, they live in America, splitting their time between Florida and Maine, and travel regularly to Burgundy.
Stephen and Lilly Lenehan are very much a team. They have spent their lives working in hospitality, much of it in the famous Beleek Castle hotel in the West of Ireland. They are accomplished cooks and wine professionals. Their love of wine brought them to Domaine de Cromey where they complement the much accomplished food and wine talents of Dennis and Ellie.
Among her many talents, Lilly is an accomplished pastry chef. Stephen was executive head chef at Beleek where he won many professional accolades. He won the Panel of Chefs award for excellence and is a Member of the Euro-Toques Food Council of Ireland. He has completed the WSET Educator Training Programme where he qualified with distinction. He was awarded the top mark in class for each of the three WSET (Wine Sprits Education Trust) levels.
Come and visit us in Burgundy.
Send a personal message with your questions, dates and more.
Just put ‘To Dennis’ in the subject bar. We look forward to hosting you!
Dennis and Ellie
All the best from Burgundy