Tag Archives: Chef Mo Bejar

Chez TJ Marks Its 44th Year with A Reset

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Owner George Aviet in one of the intimate dining rooms at Chez TJ.
Owner George Aviet in one of the intimate dining rooms at Chez TJ.

For an unprecedented 44 years, this charming Victorian in downtown Mountain View has drawn crowds and accolades for its fine-dining cuisine that has proved a jumping off point for a roster of some of the Bay Area’s most illustrious chefs.

Last year, though, Chez TJ lost its Michelin star after an impressive 19-year streak, a crushing blow to owner George Aviet. It was Mountain View’s only Michelin-starred restaurant, too.

But Aviet, 69, remains as determined as ever to forge ahead and continue to shape the restaurant into the best that it can be.

He and his late business partner Thomas J. McCombie bought the 1894 property in the early 1980s, and opened it as a restaurant in 1982. When McCombie died unexpectedly of a heart attack at the young age of 44 in 1994, Aviet pressed on, resolute in keeping Chez TJ going in McCombie’s memory and spirit.

The restaurant is housed in a historic Victorian.
The restaurant is housed in a historic Victorian.

He’s done more than an admirable job. In fact, he’s had an uncanny ability to hire young chefs, who after making a name for themselves at Chez TJ, have spring-boarded into stardom.

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Dining at Foliage

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Half Moon Bay black cod with an airy sweet potato puree at Foliage.
Half Moon Bay black cod with an airy sweet potato puree at Foliage.

On a cute corner in San Francisco’s Bernal Heights, a neighborhood of adorable Victorian and Edwardian homes and the welcoming Precita Park, Foliage restaurant opened its doors late last year.

It’s billed as a bouillon-style restaurant. Nope, that has nothing to do with broth, but everything to do with a style of French restaurant that’s more casual than a bistro, with an affordable prix-fixe that changes frequently.

The spot was formerly the Michelin-starred Marlena, which closed, following the departure of husband-and-wife chefs David Fisher and Serena Chow Fisher, who went on to open 7 Adams in San Francisco. Husband-and-wife owners, Stephan Roulland and Julia Indovina reinvented the space as Foliage. For their new executive chef, they tapped Mo Béjar, who cooked previously at Bird Dog in Palo Alto, Canteen in Menlo Park, and Madera in Menlo Park, and who grew up on his family’s ranch in Salinas.

The decor lives up to the name, with photos of plants on the walls, plus a dramatic arrangement of plants, with their leaves cascading down a central station in the dining room that holds wine bottles and glasses.

As far as prix-fixe menus go, Foliage’s is quite moderate in price at $75 for four courses or $135 with a wine pairing. There are a few supplemental courses that you can add, too, if you so wish.

Foliage sits on a corner in the cute Bernal Heights neighborhood.
Foliage sits on a corner in the cute Bernal Heights neighborhood.
The dining room.
The dining room.

Because the staff is small — Béjar and a sous chef in the kitchen, plus one server, along with Indovina lending a hand in the dining room — the pacing can be rather languid, as I found when I was invited in last Wednesday as a guest of the restaurant. That means a four-course meal may take close to two hours. So, if you’re in a hurry to eat after a long day at work, this might not be your best option. But if you’re in a relaxed frame of mind, then sit back and go with the flow.

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