Chez TJ, Michelin-starred in Mountain View, has a new chef

There’s a new high-end chef’s hat in the Michelin-starred kitchen at Chez TJ.

Stan Michalski, a seasoned chef with a Michelin-filled resume, has taken over as executive chef of the contemporary French restaurant in Mountain View.

The news was announced by George Aviet and his family, owners of Chez TJ – Michelin-starred since 2007 – for more than 40 years. The restaurant is housed in a Victorian building dating from 1894, on a property with a chef’s garden.

“With over 15 years of experience, Stan brings to TJ not only culinary mastery, but a deep love of hospitality – believing that what matters most is bringing people together over a delicious meal,” said declared the Chez TJ team while introducing Michalski. “He treats preparing meals for guests as if he were cooking for his closest friends.”

Michalski’s culinary career began in his hometown of New Jersey, where at his first job he prepared pizza at a local pizzeria. He trained at the prestigious Johnson & Wales, then headed to L’Espalier in Boston.

He became executive chef of the Michelin-starred restaurant Dovetail in New York, then moved to San Francisco, where he worked with chef Michael Tusk at Quince, one of the Bay Area’s few three-star Michelin restaurants.

After living in the area for five years, Michalski said he “still can’t believe” California’s abundance of fresh vegetables. Its Chez TJ menu, frequently renewed, offers new delicate approaches to fish and takes advantage of seasonal products. And he looks forward to the arrival of new harvests in the coming weeks. “It feels like spring is just around the corner,” he said after a sunny weekend in the Bay Area.

Michalski succeeds Christopher Lemerand, who joined Chez TJ three years ago and launched the restaurant’s outdoor dining in the pandemic era before the big move back indoors.

Details: Chez TJ serves a prix fixe chef’s tasting menu Tuesday through Saturday at 938 Villa St., Mountain View; www.cheztj.com