◆ Offering Indian, Filipino, Vietnamese, Mexican and American classics, each dish features only fresh ingredients.

Morison and Bernadette Fernandez are introducing a new selection of culinary choices to Star Valley. The couple has opened Fathom Restaurant at 461 South Washington just south of the Elkhorn Arch in Afton. The restaurant offers Indian, Filipino, Mexican and Vietnamese dishes among a variety of American classics.

Born in the southwestern Indian State of Goa, Morison spent ten years as a chef for P&O Cruises (out of the UK) on the ship Fathom. He and Bernadette, who is from the Philippines, met while serving on the cruise ship together.

The couple was planning to move to Texas, until Lyndsay and Erin Gardner and Dean and Cindy Martinsen, who met the couple while vacationing on the cruise ship, invited them to consider Star Valley as their new home.

“We have been here over four years,” Bernadette told SVI. “We didn’t plan on getting [the restaurant]. We were walking here to get a cinnamon roll. We didn’t know that the Cozy Berry was closing, and we met the owner of the building. He said, ‘This is already closed, and you can still come in and check it out. It’s a restaurant.’ We think about it for 2 days, and we said, ‘I think we are going to take it because I think this is a sign.’ [Morison] is working in roofing for four months and he’s getting sick and not liking it. And he’s so tired. So, suddenly, we walk in and we found this.”

Morison and Bernadette, with the help of the Gardners and the Martinsens, spent February and the first two weeks of March refitting the restaurant space to meet their needs.

Each region in India has different culinary trends and customs, which influences the ingredients of their traditional dishes. Goa is a state that only recently became part of India. Portugal possessed the state until 1962, when it was annexed to India. This Portuguese history influences Morison’s recipes and is the reason he carries a Portuguese name.

Bernadette explained that his recipes are very different from the stereo-typical Indian cuisine. “He’s using coconut milk instead of tomato paste because different regions in India have different [ingredients.] His is the best because everything is healthy. Everything is fresh. He chops everything every morning. Our menu is international because we used to work in cruise ship, and we got some ideas. We are having favorite foods from different countries.”

“This is Morison’s dream,” said Bernadette. “Even when we didn’t know the Gardners and the Martinsens, this was his dream. We said ‘once we settled in land-based work, we are going to earn money and we are going to make our own restaurant.’ So, this is it. We got it. Everyone is liking it.”