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I’m about to make a bold prediction. Now I know that we’re only three weeks into 2006. But I predict that my best new restaurant discovery for the year has already been made. Because I doubt I’ll come across a restaurant that I’ll like any more in the next year than Chez Michelle. Never heard of it? Well, maybe that’s because it’s a hidden little gem stashed away in the Best Western Garden Inn on 600 South, where Sophie Garcia’s used to be.
Chez Michelle is the creation of longtime Salt Lake restaurant manager Bobbyanne Koerner, and it’s named for her daughter, Michelle, who also works at the restaurant. In fact, Chez Michelle is a family affair – all of Bobbyanne’s kids put in time there: Andrew, Tommy, and Michelle.
Maybe that’s what makes Chez Michelle so inviting. It has the friendly, gracious vibe and décor that you’d find in France at a small family-owned auberge. Well not surprisingly, the food at Chez Michelle leans towards France too. There’s scrumptious Coq au vin on the menu that couldn’t be any better if your French grandmother cooked it. Not to mention luscious escargot in puff pastry, brie and artichoke pie, fantastic halibut with a Provencal sauce, and crab cakes I’d swim a mile for.
But don’t get the idea that Chez Michelle is a fancy, high priced restaurant. It’s not. In fact it’s one of the most reasonably priced restaurants I can think of, with complete dinner entrees and side dishes priced mostly in the mid-teens.
I’ve yet to find anything on Chef Ray Goodman’s Chez Michelle menu that wasn’t completely delicious. And because owner Bobbyanne Koerner is a permanent presence at her restaurant, service and quality control is also top notch. So there you go: Chez Michelle. It’s the best new restaurant of 2006.
