Provençal Chef Gary Jones is committed to culinary excellence. It has been the driving force behind a journey that started right here in Chico and boomeranged to Vegas, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and back. He has worked with and alongside four separate Michelin-Star Chefs, including Craig Hopson from Le Cirque in New York and Richard Chen from the Wynn in Las Vegas; helped open a number of notable restaurants including Gitane in San Francisco; regionally managed fine dining and steak house restaurants throughout Southern California; and cooked for a number of A-list celebrities including Elton John, Stevie Nicks, and Willie Nelson. It is fair to say the man lives for the kitchen—even the art on his arms is a constant reminder of the career path he’s chosen. After meeting his wife, Ani, who also happens to be a chef, the two decided it was time to return to Chico and bring the wealth of knowledge earned from those experiences on the road back to the city where his journey began. The convocation of his experiences are being put to work in the opening of his new French restaurant, Provençal, in Downtown Chico. “I wanted to open a French restaurant, because we’ve never really had anything close to a true French restaurant here.” 22
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Chef Gary said, “Provençal will open a new avenue for people to visit Downtown Chico and be introduced to something completely new. At the same time, we’re keeping our options open to allow room to incorporate new items as they become available. We’re keeping our menu ‘ambiguously French’ to allow us to execute dishes that aren’t necessarily traditional.” Availability will play a huge role in the dayto-day program at Provençal. Chef Gary has elected to operate with a living menu rather than the static ones we are normally familiar with in Chico. The menus will change, even daily, based on the availability of ingredients, creating a novel experience with each visit. “If I see morel mushrooms, I want to be able to change the menu to incorporate them.” He said, “As chefs, we often make our decisions based on factors that are only applicable in the moment and can change significantly over time. Having a menu that is meant to span an entire season relies on everything staying the same, which is almost never the case. A living menu allows us to make the best choices for our recipes as they become available, therefore providing the best possible experience to our guests.” On the end of experience, the atmosphere of the restaurant is unlike any other in town.
Dark, moody colors set the tone for an intimate dining environment, juxtaposed with mirrors covering the walls and ceiling. Ornate glass chandeliers hang delicately throughout the restaurant, leading the way to romantic private tables nested inside high-back tufted booths. In fact, there isn’t a single chair in the house, save for the six seats that sidle up to the small bar. Even the two-tops are situated in private booths. With a total of 38 seats, you feel as if you’ve stumbled onto something truly special at Provençal, and one look at the menu, uniquely presented itself, will prove your suspicions. It is, without a doubt, the most thoughtful presentation in town, and it’s only the start of your dining experience. Provençal is a reservation-only dinner experience and can be booked by visiting www.provencalchico.com. Chef Gary plans on adding a Saturday morning French café opening to complement the nearby Saturday Morning Farmers Market, complete with croissants, profiteroles, eclairs, coffee, and other French baked goods. On Sunday, they will serve a four-course full-service brunch with bottomless champagne. It is unquestionably a restaurant we cannot wait to experience for ourselves.
