GRAY, Maine — Soon after Will Beriau retired in 2011 from Southern Maine Community College, where he had run the culinary arts program for 26 years, he unretired. Granted, the new job took up only about a month of his time, but that month was intense.
From 2011 to 2023, for three consecutive weeks in the summer, Beriau cooked for an art program his daughter and son-in-law ran in France. He planned and prepared breakfast, lunch and dinner, seven days a week, for the art students and others, anywhere from 20 to 30 people in all. It was strictly a two-person operation, with Will cooking and his wife, Gigi—who is a talented pastry chef—making desserts.
This doesn’t sound like most people’s idea of retirement. “It’s really not as difficult as you think it is,” Beriau said. “And I’m not bragging.”
He offered a comparison. Most of us would never dream of trying to build a house. An experienced contractor, on the other hand, can construct one in months.
“Cooks are the same way,” he said. “You learn how to become efficient. You learn how to make one step waltz into the other…Once you have your mindset, it’s a flow. And if you love doing it, it’s a wonderful flow.”
For a gifted chef, spending part of a summer cooking in France might be about as close to heaven as one gets in this life. But Beriau has now retired from that job, too.
“I told them I’d do it till I was 80,” he said. “I’ll be 80 in March and that’s it. So we’re done.”
The next chapter of retirement will be less than retiring. His plans call for fishing, biking, kayaking, and traveling. And of course he’ll be spending a lot of time in the kitchen.
“I love to cook for my wife. I love to cook for people that are dear to me,” he said. “As long as I can do that, I’m cooking.”