After 20 years, Chez TJ still stands out After 20 years, Chez TJ still stands out (November 29, 2002)

Mountain View restaurant celebrates two decades as a destination eatery

By Robert Rich

One of the South Bay's finest restaurants celebrated its twentieth anniversary this month.

When Chez TJ opened its doors in November of 1982, it stood alone as Mountain View's first high-end restaurant. Founders Tom McCombie and George Aviet took a huge risk when they leased the 100-year-old craftsman home on Villa Street, hoping to create a restaurant whose reputation would attract food lovers to the city.

Mountain View has since become a haven for good dining, but after celebrating its twentieth birthday this month, Chez TJ is still its shining star. As culinary fads come and go, Chez TJ has demonstrated the timelessness of truly excellent cuisine.

Some history

Thomas J. McCombie (the "TJ" of Chez TJ) studied French cooking with Julia Child and Simone Beck, and apprenticed in Dijon, France. He met George Aviet in the late '70s while chef de cuisine at Pear Williams in Menlo Park.

McCombie convinced Aviet to leave Pear Williams and open their own restaurant. They funded Chez TJ with the sale of McCombie's home, and lived with their families in spare rooms behind the restaurant. It took five years to get out of debt, working and living in close proximity.

Sadly, McCombie died of a heart attack in 1994. In his wake thrived a lineage of talented chefs which maintained his tradition for quality. These include Peggy Aioke, who still occasionally gives cooking classes in the area. Andrew Trice III took the helm during the second half of the nineties, bringing his complex sauces and a passion for culinary history.

When Trice moved up Castro Street to Vivaca Grill in 1999, Kirk Bruderer took over and still presides in the kitchen, with a sensitivity to fresh flavors and artful, uncluttered presentations. Having worked with David Kinch at Sent Sovie and Thomas Keller at French Laundry, Bruderer's impressive resumé shines through every dish he creates, with his uniquely Californian interpretation of classic French techniques.

A warm hearth

Chefs of this caliber often hop from restaurant to restaurant every few years, but Aviet's warmth and generosity has bred immense loyalty at Chez TJ. Some of the staff have worked there for 10-15 years, longer than most restaurants stay in business. Aviet has given money to employees for emergencies, and he has paid for trips to France for his chefs to hone their skills. Trice got married at the restaurant, and waiters volunteered their time to help out at the wedding.

This warmth and loyalty filters down through every detail at Chez TJ: the food, the staff, the customers, even the house itself. A fireplace burns nightly in one of the dining rooms of the old residence (now fed by gas), echoing this warm spirit. Trice told me an anecdote of a day the restaurant was closed, when he drove past to see a plume of woodsmoke rising from the chimney.

He stopped and went in to find Aviet sitting alone next to the stoked fireplace, reflecting on the death of his friend and partner McCombie. Aviet told Trice, "I don't do enough for my friends."

Many nights, Aviet opens the door to greet customers by name, often circulating among tables, chatting with acquaintances and assuring that everyone feels perfectly welcome and well attended.

Some people fear that a formal restaurant like Chez TJ will be stuffy and intimidating. Far from it, the service at Chez TJ feels gracious and exceptionally friendly. The waiters sometimes seem almost clairvoyant, sensing when tables need attention or when they wish to linger without interruption.

Daily prix fixe

Since its inception, Chez TJ has offered only prix fixe menus. One flat price buys an ornate multi-course meal, with choices offered among each course. Prices range from $45 for four light courses (menu petite), $55 for five light courses (menu moderne), or $65 for the upscale five-course menu gastronomique. An additional $24 pairs three selected wines to the meal.

For many years these prices hovered out of my reach; but astonishingly, Chez TJ hasn't raised prices in 8 years. Compared to restaurants in its class, like Spago or Charley Trotter's, Chez TJ begins to look like a bargain.

The fixed-price menu provides a complete and monumental dining experience, and it allows the chef to guide diners down a sensual path of compatible flavors. As flavors shift from course to course, each dish can set the stage for the next in a logical progression.

A seasonal feast

:We visited Chez TJ twice this month (for a regular dinner as well as the birthday celebration) and were immensely impressed each time. The menu on our first visit reflected autumn with sweet, deep and spicy tones of seasonal fruits like quince and pumpkin, and warm hints of winter seasonings like cinnamon and allspice.

As we sat down we received complimentary glasses of kir royale, champagne with a splash of cassis. An amuse bouche arrived unexpectedly at the table, a teasing appetizer designed to tickle the tastebuds, a common practice in France. A dollop of sweet-salty cauliflower mouse filled a porcelain soup spoon, topped with thin shreds of sweet pepper.

Among the first course choices, the foie gras custard smelled redolent of white truffle oil, almost garlicky in its intensity. Thick slices of toasted brioche (sweet egg bread) accompanied the foie gras, with two quenelles of caramelized quince touched with a smokey hint of habanero pepper and cinnamon. Paired perfectly with a glass of 1996 Sauternes, the sweet and spicy perfumes lingered.

The autumn fruit compote showed great balance between tart and sweet flavors: fuyu persimmons, apples and candied ginger molded inside translucent gelatin, topped with a deep balsamic reduction, pomegranate seeds and creamed blue cheese.

A fish course followed these appetizers, a choice of salmon or sturgeon. A two inch cube of succulent sturgeon, quickly grilled with dark stripes of woody char, sat atop a thick sweet slice of caramelized fennel root and broiled spiced pumpkin spaetzel noodles.The sturgeon paired well to the second wine tasting, a light and dry Louis Latour chardonnay whose oak tones accentuated the charred flavors.

The salmon balanced atop a buttery sweet-potato confit, with braised red cabbage and chestnut sauce. Surprisingly, these flavors tasted light and fresh together, the unsweetened chestnut adding a delicate perfume.

The third course was the largest, though still manageable. The slow-braised lamb shank flaked off the bone, the result of over three hours of cooking. Sweet and musty, tingling with a sprinkle of crushed French sea salt, the lamb leaned onto a cake of grits, chives and marscapone cheese, with a viscous heavily reduced sauce of lamb stock and pomegranate juice. Intense earthy aromas wafted above the plate. A 1999 Armand Roux Verdillac Bordeaux tasted light, tannic and cleansing next to this rustic intensity.

The chicken roulade delivered lighter flavors, moist breast with hints of sage and fontina cheese, applewood bacon and a soft mustard sauce. Baby red potatoes and delectably sweet Brussels sprouts trimmed the plate, joining a creamy celery root puree.

By now quite saturated with sensation, we dawdled through the remaining courses. A light salad of organic baby greens provided some relief, topped simply with an exquisite Banyul vinegar. Imported cheeses added hedonistic bursts of flavor to the remaining sips of wine.

Dessert included a tiny whole poached pear with almond slivers, hints of cinnamon and vanilla, possibly allspice and rum, on a cylinder of fresh apple ice cream. The black forest looked like tiny abstract sculpture, semi-sweet chocolate pudding layered with soaked brioche, cherry ice cream and Kirsch créme Anglais.

Pastry chef Pauline Lam has a master's touch. She knows how to make dessert look tantalizing -- even after three hours of marathon nibbling.

Celebration menu

We had the good fortune to attend Chez TJ's special twentieth anniversary dinner, where they offered a nine-course tasting menu ($110) for a sold-out house. The culmination of two weeks of kitchen preparation, each bite of this four-hour meal sung with balance and precision.

Highlights included a tiny egg custard with black truffle sauce that conveyed deep earthy perfumes. A roasted quail leg with crispy truffled sweetbreads lingered with deep musk.

A baked scallop appeared in its own shell (painstakingly cleaned) in a buttery sauce of preserved lemon rind and fried capers, deepened with drops of 100-year-old balsamic vinegar. An optional tenth course of cold foie gras ($20) arrived on a brioche donut, surrounding fresh fig puree.

In a memorable combination, chopped Maine lobster and porcini mushrooms filled a crepe pocket, on a pool of intense dark Bordelaise sauce, a red wine reduction with hints of fragrance from the toasted lobster shell. Lobster-claw tempura formed a flag atop the crepe.

Meals like Chez TJ's anniversary dinner don't occur every day. Aviet hopes to offer similar events again in the future, perhaps after he and the staff recover from this one.

In the meantime, Chez TJ continues to create some of the most beautiful meals in the South Bay. Chef Bruderer's plates combine inventiveness with restraint. No ingredient seems superfluous or merely decorative. Although an occasional flavor (such as salt) might poke out from the blend, his sauces show deep complexity and classical balance.

Mountain View is lucky to have a destination restaurant that delivers such consistent excellence as Chez TJ. Happy birthday!
Chez TJ 938 Villa St. Mountain View (650) 964-7466 Dinner, Tuesday-Saturday