About Our Company
BEYOND THE KITCHEN & INTO THE LAND
Our Mission & Vision
Sharing Sonoma’s Beautiful, Farm-fresh Food with You Since 2016.
Goodness Gracious is a private chef and catering service that goes beyond the kitchen and the tabletop and into the land—where unique experiences beckon as a way to discover the most authentic people of Wine Country. We believe that travel to Sonoma Valley is driven by connection to community while experiencing the best we have to offer. Our team of culinary and hospitality experts are dedicated to delivering you the most memorable and immersive services possible, providing you with a very “Sonoma” experience you’ll talk about for years to come!
Our aim is to connect people with the most authentic version of Wine Country by celebrating and supporting the hardworking folks who sustain it. A farmer’s latest harvest, a baker’s morning loaf fresh from the oven, an artist’s latest creation. We succeed by sharing these flavors and these stories.
Lauren Kershner | Founder
Lauren’s true passion is in the culinary arts and it is this love that builds the foundation for all of her businesses. She studied French technique at Le Cordon Bleu Culinary Academy in Portland, OR when she was just 18 years old. Since then, she has worked the ranks in some of Napa Valley’s best restaurants including Morimoto Napa and Calistoga Ranch. Her first dance with executive management was at Sonoma Valley’s bucolic Beltane Ranch, where she helped develop dynamic and multi-faceted culinary programming utilizing their expansive farm and garden. This is where she fell in love with quaint Glen Ellen and found her own voice as a chef.
Goodness Gracious Catering was founded in late 2016, and has since exemplified Lauren’s passion for celebrating others, including her clients, local farmers, and the cultures from which she continuously draws inspiration. In 2021, she opened the doors to Songbird Parlour, a modern event venue in the historic Jack London Village in Glen Ellen.
Today, Lauren offers her expertise and consults on small, local restaurant projects, works on her community-focused cookbook, and collaborates with her incredible team to continually innovate and strengthen the business.
Brandy Ceremony-Aviña | General Manager
Hired as our very first Chef and now General Manager, Brandy has over 15 years experience in the food service industry and has worked with Lauren from the onset of Goodness Gracious to help build a company that is as much about the relationships formed within, as it is about the quality of services it provides.
Formally trained in Dietetics at UC Berkeley, she used this experience to get to know food on a molecular level. Rather than pursue a medical career, she discovered she could express her intimate food and beverage knowledge through cooking, continuing her career working under several talented chefs and experienced restaurateurs in Sacramento during the farm-to-fork boom, and ultimately Napa and Sonoma Valley, where she honed her culinary skill set and found her voice in the hospitality industry.
With family residing in Sonoma for over 60 years, Brandy has an innate relationship with the land and community, and a sincere desire to translate all that is good from terrain, to plate, to heart. She has devoted her career to fostering sustainability not only in production, but in everyday business practices and relationships, and is excited to continue building services and experiences that will stand the test of time, and add infinite value to every resident, visitor and tradesperson of Sonoma County.
Sierra Hazel | Chef
Born and raised in Napa, Chef Sierra’s roots run deep through the Valley’s land, values, and history. Naturally, Sierra’s parents introduced her to the rich food and wine culture that is Napa, and at a young age she began encapsulating these experiences that would later inspire her journey as a chef.
After graduating from the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone, she started her career at the Izakaya restaurant Miminashi, working alongside esteemed chef Curtis de Fede. Following her tenure at Miminashi, she was hired as the first female Sous Chef at Michael Chiarello’s famous Italian restaurant, Bottega. She then progressed into the fine dining sphere joining the one Michelin star, La Toque in Napa and Charter Oak in St. Helena, where she was trained under the leadership of acclaimed chef, Christopher Kostow, and quickly rose to the position of Junior Sous Chef, where she mastered their world-renowned wood burning hearth.
Sierra’s mosaic of experience has allowed her to master technique and develop a palette that blurs the lines between style and cuisine, and bring a fresh, versatile and complex repertoire in the Goodness Gracious kitchen. She is especially versed in the art of wood fire cooking, and values the finesse, patience and physical fortitude it takes to execute not just vegetables and meats, but even magnificent desserts over an open flame.
OPEN YOUR MIND & REVEAL THE TRUE WINE COUNTRY
From menus sourced by local farmers, to curated wine lists featuring our favorite small vineyards, booking a culinary experience with us unlocks the most authentic parts of Wine Country.
FOLLOW ALONG FOR WINE COUNTRY FUN
@GOODGRACIOUSEATS & @SONGBIRDPARLOUR
