Behind The Name “Tavernier”

How do you say “Tavernier?”

Well, that question just happens to rhyme! Dar Tavernier’s father’s family is of French & Québécois descent, so it is pronounced “ta.vɛʁ.nje“, or, according to one of her non-French speaking college chums, like a viking cry, “I’m going to the tavern, YAY!”

What is the Tavernier name origin?

Confections, foraging, and fresh ingredients run in Dar’s blood.

Tavernier means “tavern keeper”, and indeed some of Dar’s ancestors rented out rooms and fed people in the St. Lawrence valley of Québec and Northern New York state. Other Taverniers like her Grandmother Ella were travelers, and some were confectioners in Paris, Calais, and Bourges, France. It seemed fitting to name our chocolate venture after Dar’s surname, and the long line of food makers, farmers, foragers and hosts that proceeded her and this venture.

Love of the outdoors and the sciences also run in the family. Dar’s grandmother Ella is pictured at the top collecting bird specimens for Cornell University in the 1930s, and family outings growing up included canoeing, camping and climbing mountains in the Adirondacks, picking wild berries, foraging and fishing.

Rosalie Charland & Louis Tavernier, Dar’s great-grandparents, are pictured above on their dairy farm in the St. Lawrence Valley. Below are ephemera from historical Taverniers’ confectionery ventures.

Tavernier Chocolates is inspired by the hard work, passion and dedication of Dar’s ancestors.