Innkeepers
Mario was born and raised in Switzerland. He did his chef’s apprenticeship there and then worked in Switzerland, Italy and Germany, both as a chef and waiter, before coming to the United States in November of 1969. He started out as a pastry chef working in the Four Seasons in New York. From there he continued working as a chef until 1978 when he became the corporate chef for Restaurant Associates, overseeing fifty restaurants including Tavern on the Green, The Four Seasons, and The Brasserie. Later Mario was appointed to the position of General Manager for the Rockefeller Center complex of restaurants and the skate rink/outdoor cafe.
He has owned, or been a partner in, several restaurants in the latter years, including a “white table cloth” American style food restaurant, a brewpub in Times Square and an Italian restaurant with northern Italian specialties and brick oven pizzas.
Roni was born in New York, but raised in London, England. She did most of her schooling there along with a year in Germany. She completed a two-year City and Guilds hotel and catering course, then worked in England, Germany and Switzerland in small and large hotels. In 1968 she was hired by Pan American World Airways as a flight attendant, and left for the States in April of 1969. She was with Pan Am until their demise in 1991, when she went over to Delta Airlines, with whom she worked until January 2003. She has since joined her husband to focus full-time on the Inn.
On a more personal side: Roni and Mario celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary in October 2009 and have two grown children. Their son Kyle & his wife Angie are living nearby. Kyle runs the organic vegetable farm at the inn. Angie helps him, as well as teaches yoga nearby. The vegetables used at the inn are from his garden when possible. Four years ago he put up a seventy-two foot greenhouse to increase his business and to get an early start with the growing season. Kyle also farms another 5 acres nearby. They are expecting Their 1st grandchild in August 2010 from Kyle & Angie. Their daughter Lara graduated from Bastyr in Seattle in June 2005 where she earned her degree in health science nutrition; she is also a qualified massage therapist. She is now living in Oregon with her husband Jay. She has opened a small office doing massage and working with her degree. They also run their local village’s general store. Roni and Mario presently have two dogs; Vreni, a Bernese Mountain Dog, and Mandy, a Lab-Beagle mix. They also have two cats, who love to go on walks with the guests. One of Roni’s & Mario’s big hobbies is gardening, so they hope to go on expanding the gardens around the Inn. They have already made many changes to the landscaping, building stone walls which surround many new flower beds, a pond and a second deck. In rare spare moments, they take an escape ride in one of Mario’s antique cars, 2 MGTDs, or Roni’s Porsche Targa.
