For La Jolla foodies in the culinary know, award-winning chef Jean-Michel Diot’s popular restaurant, Tapenade, was the place to go for the real deal in French cuisine for the last 15 years. Winner of numerous “Best French Restaurant” and “Best of the Best” awards in San Diego, Tapenade was given the Award for Excellence by Wine Spectator magazine eight years in a row. But Diot’s lease on the Fay Avenue Tapenade location (now peppered with workers as the Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center takes shape) was terminated earlier than he had expected despite the extensions he had been promised, which allegedly led to some contentious feelings. He had to deal with a few eviction notices as well and supposedly did not part on the best of terms with the owners. Once he knew that they had to move, Diot and Sylvie, his partner and wife, looked for a new location and landed at 7437 Girard Ave., a smaller and more intimate venue occupying 2,700 square feet versus the original 4,400. “We are very happy with our new location, and we feel that we are dealing with a neighborhood that fits us perfectly,” says Sylvie. “We are treated more respectfully by the management, and the building is very well tended. There is a more thriving professional experience with this new location. The management company cares about our business and the quality they deliver to us.” With the new location came an awareness that Tapenade could not be replicated in the Girard Avenue space, so the pair created a variation on the original concept – and Bistro du Marché by Tapenade opened in mid-October. When brainstorming for the new name, Jean-Michel, who has frequented local farmers markets for years, wanted to incorporate the French word marché, meaning market, into the name of the restaurant. There were challenges with the move, but after three months at the new location, the Diots say they are pleased with the transition and the robust business that Bistro du Marché is attracting. “It happened that the challenges that we thought would be difficult, a smaller space, a different concept and a new name, were not that difficult,” said Sylvie. “The biggest challenge for Bistro du Marché in 2016 is to make sure that our customers are leaving happy and are ready to come back. We have a lot of repeats, and word of mouth is bringing in new customers.” The couple shares the responsibilities equally. “Jean-Michel stays mostly in the kitchen; he has his nose everywhere, and I do too,” said Sylvie. “There are some things that should be done, changes that should be made, and I am perfectly free and capable to express it without having everybody on my back. I think we’re in a good place.” The restaurant has streamlined its concept by offering only two menus compared to the four and sometimes five that Tapenade was known for. This simplifies the new operation considerably. On a recent weeknight, Bistro du Marché buzzed with conversation in a décor that creates an authentic Parisian ambiance. Authenticity is a word that Jean-Michel knows something about. Born in France, he began cooking with his grandmother, mother and aunts before training in Lyon alongside some of the best culinary masters in the region. His dishes are classic French, but the eatery’s move has inspired new creations and new variations on some of his traditional favorites. Red and yellow beet salad with goat cheese, crab and mango salad with lime and coconut and wild mushroom ravioles are a few of the time-honored dishes that have followed the restaurant to its Girard Street location. A nouvelle twist on the classic endive salad includes a reinterpretation with a creamy blue cheese dressing, and the Sunday brunch, with the Croque Madame vs. Monsieur, should be on everyone’s list of weekend to-dos. Sylvie is the first to admit that she and Jean-Michel were nervous about the move and what it would do to their business. Having built their reputation for fine dining over the last 16 years, the idea that this restaurant would become a hybrid of more casual dining and a top-tier experience was nerve-wracking for the couple. The competition among the dining scene in La Jolla is fierce, with several large establishments opening up in the last year, including The Lot, Duke’s and Herringbone. And unlike Los Angeles and San Francisco, San Diego is not known for its avant-garde, high-level dining, a constant complaint among San Diegans that one may hear at a cocktail party or networking event. Sylvie points out that the dining scene in San Diego and La Jolla has definitely evolved in the past 18 years and that the change has been a positive one. San Diego is a recreational destination steeped in culture and history, but when the subject turns to food, many feel the city comes up a bit short. “Chefs have been working hard to showcase San Diego, but the city remains behind,” says Sylvie. “We have to remember that culinary art is a serious matter. It is all about what’s happening on the plate and with your palate. The visual effect that you have, the flavor and the savor and finally the memory that remains in your mind of a sauce, of the tenderness of the meat, the vegetable preparation — this is the ephemera. San Diego has not reached the level of some other cities in the U.S., but there is progress, and we need to keep raising the bar and make it happen. We are such lucky people to have access to so many produces and to organic farms year-round. We should be able to make it.”