By Elena Kadvany
E-mail Elena Kadvany
About this blog: I am a perpetually hungry twenty-something journalist, born and raised in Menlo Park and currently working at the Palo Alto Weekly as education and youth staff writer. I graduated from USC with a major in Spanish and a minor in jo...
(More)About this blog: I am a perpetually hungry twenty-something journalist, born and raised in Menlo Park and currently working at the Palo Alto Weekly as education and youth staff writer. I graduated from USC with a major in Spanish and a minor in journalism. Though my first love is journalism, food is a close second. I am constantly on the lookout for new restaurants to try, building an ever-expanding "to eat" list. As a journalist, I'm always trolling news sources and social media websites with an eye for local food news, from restaurant openings and closings to emerging food trends. When I was a teenager growing up in Menlo Park, I always drove up to the city on weekends with the singular purpose of finding a better meal than I could at home. But in the past year or so, the Peninsula's food culture has been totally transformed, with many new restaurants opening and a continuous stream of San Francisco restaurants coming south to open Peninsula outposts. Don't navigate this food boom hungry and alone! Feed me your tips on new chefs and eats and together we'll share them with the broader community.
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Bernard Cartal, owner of Pastis French Bistro on California Avenue in Palo Alto, is opening another French restaurant just steps down the street.
Cartal has taken over 415 California Ave., most recently the short-lived home of haute hot-dog eatery Chez Franc. Chez Franc
suddenly shuttered in May after four months of business.
Cartal wrote in an email last week that he will be bringing "continental and French cuisine" to California Avenue "in a casual and friendly small neighborhood restaurant" called La Boheme.
He didn't share too many other details, besides that there will be "quality and freshness in each plate" and the restaurant will be serving brunch, lunch and dinner. He's aiming to be open by the end of September.
Cartal has hired a Palo Alto architecture firm, McFall Architecture, to do some remodeling, included renovating the facade of the restaurant; adding outdoor seating and swapping out the tinted, closed windows for clear, sliding windows for a "more open and welcoming appearance," according to plans submitted to the City of Palo Alto.
Cartal and his nephew Max Roucoule (pictured above in 2012)
opened Pastis in 2011 at 447 California Ave. after the space was vacated by Joanie's Cafe, which moved down the street to its current location.
Stay tuned for more details on La Boheme.
