Sister City
Association
Seattle-Nantes
Chef Lucie Berthier Gembara visits Seattle
In July 2025, Chef Lucie Berthier Gembara of Sépia Restaurant in Nantes visited Seattle to collaborate with Chef Kristi Brown of Communion Restaurant and Bar as part of a gastronomy exchange to celebrate our 45th anniversary of twinning. The two chefs visited the farmer's market together to plan the special dinner they cooked and served at Communion that week. Chef Lucie also enjoyed meeting Barbara Earl Thomas at her studio along with visits to several iconic sites in Seattle.

Pure nantaise, Lucie Berthier Gembara passe ses vacances d’été durant son enfance auprès de son grand père, cuisinier, à pêcher la seiche sur le bassin d’Arcachon. Ensemble, en préparant ces dernières, ils préservent la poche contenant l’encre, la sépia, pour colorer le riz et les pâtes. En grandissant, son goût pour la cuisine s’affirme. Passant par les plus grandes institutions, Lucie apprend les règles de la cuisine provençale, authentique et franche. D’autres expériences viendront étoffer son CV afin de trouver « sa propre cuisine » : des recettes marines, végétales, exclusivement à base de produits frais, aux accents provençaux. Sensible à la qualité des produits et forte de ses convictions, de retour à Nantes, le projet de entrepreneuriat germe et finit par éclore, la nouvelle grande aventure est née : l’ouverture de son propre restaurant, « SEPIA ».


The Michelin Gide has this to say about her restaurant in Nantes:
Lucie Berthier Gembara, riding high from her appearance on France's Top Chef TV competition, often has a full house at her trendy designer bistro on the ground floor of this fine 18C building. After stints working with Gérald Passedat and Alexandre Mazzia, she has retained a clear sense of creativity and an appetite for the Eastern influences of the Mediterranean basin. Her dishes, such as aubergines with charred baba ganoush, eggnog and feta crumble, are full of pleasant surprises. They are distinctly playful, going against the grain when it comes to the codes of gastronomy but no less tasty for it. The lighter lunchtime menu is expanded in the evening.






