Bon appétit!
THE CHEF IS IN THE HOUSE
In the stellar lineup of restaurants along Northwest Florida’s Gulf Coast, Bijoux stands out with its French-Creole approach to coastal fine dining. The charming dining room and chic Bijoux lounge, along with private event room and lawn space, are tucked within The Market Shops town center in Miramar Beach, Florida. Owner Leslie McGuckin and her husband, executive chef Jack McGuckin, continually raise the bar at their award-winning dining destination.
t’s no wonder the couple chose “coastal French cuisine with a New Orleans flair” for their menu. Jack was born in the Big Easy and grew up in Abita Springs, just north of Lake Pontchartrain. “Growing up listening to my parents talk about these great New Orleans restaurants and visiting them really grew the mystique of food and dining in the city for me at a young age,” he recalls. “I remember as a kid turning off cartoons on Saturday mornings to turn on PBS instead, watching Julia Child, Jacques Pépin, and Justin Wilson prepare food and being entranced by them.”
Right: Chef Jack McGuckin prepares a meal for a private wine dinner at the home of Yvonne and Greg Lala as part of Sinfonia Gulf Coast’s Crescendo! fund-raising weekend in February 2020. Photo by Taylor Lowrimore Opposite: Bijoux’s lobster spring roll appetizer Photo courtesy of Bijoux Destin 64 | APRIL 2020
Growing up around the forests and bayous of southern Louisiana, Jack also developed a respect for animals through hunting and fishing, recognizing the importance of life and where food comes from. It’s a value that has stayed with him throughout his career in the culinary industry, where he started as a dishwasher in his teens. His older sister, a pastry chef at a restaurant in Mandeville, Louisiana, got him the job, and his evolution has been continuous. “I moved to Florida in 2002 to help open Bijoux,” Jack says. “I had been working as a sous chef at a fine-dining restaurant in Covington, Louisiana, called the City Club. I was asked to come over as just a cook, but with the opportunity to work for one of only seventy certified master chefs in the country at the time, so I jumped at the opportunity. It proved to be a great experience and it was great intensive training in French cuisine.”
