Chez TJ
French restaurant in Mountain View, California, U.S.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Chez TJ is a French restaurant in Mountain View, California, United States. It is located in a historic house and until 2025 had a Michelin star; from 2007 to 2009, it had two stars.
| Chez TJ | |
|---|---|
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 Interactive map of Chez TJ | |
| Restaurant information | |
| Established | November 1982 |
| Owner | George Aviet |
| Previous owner(s) | Tom McCombie and George Aviet |
| Head chef | Mo Bejar |
| Food type | modern French |
| Location | 938 Villa Street, Mountain View, California, United States |
| Coordinates | 37°23′41″N 122°04′49″W |
| Seating capacity | 40 plus patio |
| Website | www |
History
Tom McCombie and George Aviet opened Chez TJ in November 1982 in a Victorian house in downtown Mountain View that had been a bed and breakfast, naming it for McCombie's initials. It was the first fine dining restaurant in the city.[1][2][3][4][5] The founders met while working at Pear Williams restaurant in Menlo Park, sold McCombie's house for the capital to start the restaurant, and lived with their families in the building until it became successful enough to fill the entire space.[1][3][5]
McCombie, the original chef, died in 1994 and Aviet became sole owner, living in a cottage behind the restaurant.[3][4] Subsequent executive chefs included Peggy Aioke, in the second half of the 1990s Andrew Trice,[6] and from 1999 Kirk Bruderer.[1] Joshua Skenes, later executive chef at Saison, succeeded Bruderer, followed in early 2006 by Christopher Kostow,[7] under whom Chez TJ earned its first Michelin star that year and a second star in 2007. Kostow left in early 2008 for The Restaurant at Meadowood.[3][8] Under his successor Bruno Chemel, the restaurant lost its second Michelin star in 2009, leading to a falling out with Aviet;[9] Chemel left with a large part of the kitchen staff, opening Baumé.[3] He was succeeded in early 2010 by Scott Nishiyama,[10][11] followed in 2012 by Joey Elenterio,[5][12] and then by Jarad Gallagher, who had been chef at Plumed Horse.[3][4][13][14]
After the COVID-19 closure, Chez TJ reopened in September 2020 with improved ventilation in the dining rooms, an added outdoor seating area, and the option of à la carte dining. Gallagher left and was succeeded by Christopher Lemerand.[15][16] Stan Michalski became the executive chef in 2024.[17][18][19] As of March 2026[update], Mo Bejar is executive chef.[20]
Restaurant
Chez TJ offers prix fixe dinners ranging from a four-course menu petite through a five-course menu moderne to a five-course menu gastronomique, with optional wine pairings;[1] by 2010 it had added an eight-course tasting menu.[21] The cuisine is modern French.[22]
The restaurant occupies a house in downtown Mountain View that was the home of Julius Weilheimer, an early 20th-century mayor and postmaster.[23] It seats approximately 40, in four dining rooms.[3] There is an adjacent herb and vegetable garden on the property.[24]
In 2017, Aviet and the owner of the adjacent Tied House brewpub unsuccessfully applied to the City of Mountain View for permission to redevelop both sites with a four-storey office tower that would house Chez TJ within it.[25][26] Aviet offered to relocate the Chez TJ house. In response to an effort by preservationists to prevent redevelopment, the two buildings were added to the California Register of Historic Resources in 2019.[23] Aviet said in 2023 that the designation had prevented him from selling the property to a developer for sufficient money to fund his retirement.[26]
Reception
Under chef Christopher Kostow, Chez TJ was awarded a Michelin star in 2006, the first year the Michelin Guide expanded the awards to California,[3][27] and a second star in 2007.[2][28][29][30] In December 2007, Food & Wine named the maitake mushroom consommé one of the top ten in its Best Restaurant Dishes of 2007.[2] The second Michelin star was withdrawn in 2009;[9] the restaurant retained the single star until 2025.[19][31][32]
The Michelin Guide characterizes the restaurant as "offer[ing] a certain old-school sophistication" and having a wine list that is "nothing short of legendary."[22] The long-time food critic of the San Francisco Chronicle, Michael Bauer, faulted the decor and maintenance of the house and the wine selections in both 2007 and 2010 reviews, but praised both Kostow's and Nishiyama's cooking highly.[21][33] In 2008 he raised his rating to three stars after the arrival of Chemel,[34] and in 2014 he wrote that "few restaurants have contributed as much to the entire Bay Area dining scene as Chez TJ."[14]
