On a warm August evening, 58 members and guests of the Bailliage of Costa Rica gathered at Dǔnama, on the edge of the Nicoya Peninsula in Guanacaste, for an Induction dinner unlike any other in the Bailliage's history. The setting alone told part of the story: a dining terrace open to the Pacific just north of one of the world's celebrated Blue Zones - the small handful of places on Earth where people live measurably longer, healthier lives. The evening was presided over by Alain Taulère, Bailli Délégué of the Bailliage of Costa Rica, with a menu conceived and personally prepared by his son, Jean-Luc Taulère, Conseiller Culinaire Honoraire. A father and son whose shared devotion to the Chaîne runs through everything that follows.

The evening’s theme, “The Art of Living Well - Sabores de la Zona Azul de Guanacaste,” drew out a connection that, on reflection, feels inevitable. Longevity science and a centuries-old gastronomic society, it turns out, are rooted in the very same philosophy. Both trace back to heritage carried forward rather than lost; to respect for the land, the farmer, and the cook. To knowledge passed deliberately from one generation to the next; and above all, to the conviviality of a shared table. Blue Zone researchers have long found that strong social bonds and shared meals matter for a long life as much as diet itself. A truth the Chaîne has celebrated for centuries.

A legacy eight generations deep
For the Taulère family, that connection between heritage and hospitality is not an abstraction. Jean-Luc Taulère’s grandfather, Lucien Taulère, was among the chefs who helped establish the Spanish Bailliage and later crossed the Atlantic to help launch the American Bailliage at a dinner at New York’s Waldorf Astoria. His son, Alain Taulère, carried the tradition to the United States in 1970, where he met Bonnie and founded the Greater Sarasota Bailliage before the family’s next adventure. In 2004, Alain and his family made Costa Rica their home, and Alain sought international permission to establish the Bailliage of Costa Rica which is now more than 20 years strong.

Today that legacy continues through Jean-Luc Taulère, an eighth-generation chef honoured as best Jeune Chef Rôtisseur of the Southeastern United States in 2003, later opening the legendary Restaurante Mar y Sol, followed by Catering Costa, Coco Loco, and the soon-to-open Terrazas Event Center. It was Jean-Luc who conceived this evening’s menu, built entirely around six elements of Guanacaste’s own story.

An evening built around six elements
Guests arrived to mixology stations serving El Chorreado which is Costa Rican coffee brewed with fresh coconut water, mixed with local honey, vanilla, and aged rum. All alongside the live sound of marimba and saxophone, and a working demonstration by a potter from Guaitil, the village famed for its distinctive, centuries-old pottery tradition. Passed bites of traditional empanada, walking fisherman’s ceviche, and grilled octopus set the tone before guests were seated for the Induction Ceremony welcoming the newest members. Glasses were kept filled with Cava Ananto, a Spanish brut which was the first of six wines chosen over the course of the evening to meet each element in turn.

What followed was plated with a level of craft rarely seen. The "Barro" course arrived in hand-thrown black clay vessels made by the very Guaitil artisans demonstrating their craft tableside. The vessel itself is part of the dish’s meaning.

The "Sol" course paired a compressed watermelon with a delicate culantro-coyote foam and fresh edible flowers, plated with the precision of a tasting menu. The "Costa" course presented Pacific grouper, caught the day before by Chef Jean-Luc himself, steamed inside a banana leaf and set over a golden ayote purée.

The "Hogar" course, the evening’s main plate, took pozol [Ed: Guanacaste’s own comfort food]. It gave the full weight of fine dining technique without ever losing what makes it unmistakably, recognizable, home. Paired with a Médoc from Domaine Clarence Dillon, it was comfort food elevated to a high gastronomic register while remaining entirely, proudly authentic.

And at the close of the evening, a torched Italian meringue crowned the "Trapiche" course, its peaks individually sculpted for all 58 plates.

None of this was the work of one chef alone. Behind every plate stood the Catering Costa brigade, built and personally led by Jean-Luc for the occasion. A full culinary team assembled and directed off-site to execute six distinct courses for 58 guests without compromise.

Front of house, that same discipline continued. Dinner unfolded across six elements of Guanacaste life. Each course arrived at the table in the same instant! A brigade of servers lifting domed cloches simultaneously so that no guest waited a moment longer than another to begin.

The wine programme moved deliberately from bright to bold across the evening. An Albariño from Rías Baixas, a French rosé from the Côtes du Rhône, an Argentine Chardonnay grown at the foothill of the Andes, and, with the evening’s main course, a Médoc from Domaine Clarence Dillon, the storied house behind Château Haut-Brion, one of Bordeaux’s five First Growth estates.

Twenty years, and fifty
Before the induction of new members, the evening paused for a milestone fitting its own theme of longevity: four members were named Commandeur, the Chaîne’s recognition of long and distinguished service. Bailli Délégué Alain Taulère officiated, bestowing the 20-year Commandeur honour to Échanson Jorge Granados, Founding member Jack Osborne and Conseillers Culinaires Honoraires to Roger Duarte and Jean-Luc Taulère, each recognized for two decades of service to the Bailliage.

Then, in a moment that closed the circle of the evening’s own theme, Jean-Luc bestowed the night’s highest honour - the 50-year Grand Officier Commandeur pin - upon his own father, Alain Taulère, in recognition of half a century devoted to gastronomy, family, and the very traditions the evening had gathered to celebrate.

By every account from those who were there, it was among the finest evenings in the Bailliage’s history. A fitting way to mark the art of living well.

Bonnie Taulère
Argentier