The striped bass served at Bistronomie by Baumé in Palo Alto. Owners Bruno and Christie Chemel announced the closure of their restaurant, which rebranded in 2022 from its former name of Baumé.
Daniel C. on Yelp
Bistronomie by Baumé has permanently closed in Palo Alto.
The French restaurant had its last service on Aug. 12, according to a brief message posted on the business website.
“We would like to thank our customers, farmers and vendors for supporting us for the last 14 years. Au Revoir!” read the message signed by owners Bruno and Christie Chemel. It’s unclear what decisions led to the closure. SFGATE could not reach the Chemels for comment.
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The restaurant closure comes almost a year and a half after former Michelin-starred restaurant Baumé rebranded to Bistronomie by Baumé in March 2022. Amid the switch, the new restaurant shifted to a less formal setup, and lowered prices to $168 for six courses, from its previous prix fixe menu that ranged from about $300 to $400. The menu was pescatarian-driven, with an optional wagyu add on.
Chef Chemel made the switch partly as a response to the pandemic, according to an interview with Palo Alto Online. As other fine dining restaurants across the Bay Area pivoted to a simplified takeout menu, Chemel likewise followed suit with his own takeout options, including sandwiches. Last year, he told Palo Alto Online he ended up enjoying the pandemic pivot more than he thought he would, and that previously his stance would have been, “I hate that, to put my food in plastic containers or cardboard containers? No.”
Before Baumé, Chemel led the kitchen at Mountain View’s Chez TJ and helped earn the restaurant a Michelin star. When he parted ways with the owner to open Baumé in 2010, his new restaurant quickly won praise, and earned two Michelin stars the following year.
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Baumé managed to keep its Michelin stars after letting go of the entire staff and becoming a two-person operation in 2018, but lost both stars in 2021. In response, Chemel famously issued a tirade against the Michelin Guide, calling the prestigious awards a “distraction” while adding that the Michelin Guide itself had “erratic, corporate focus and fixations,” according to the San Francisco Chronicle. (The Chronicle and SFGATE are both owned by Hearst but have separate newsrooms.)
He later told the Chronicle that he had been asking the Michelin Guide to remove him for years, despite telling the same publication in 2018 that he wanted a third star. “That was the goal, aiming for three stars, but since it didn’t happen, why don’t we drop everything and we leave like that? It’s less stress,” Chemel told the Chronicle in 2021.
According to the San Francisco Business Times, a new restaurant called Rara, which is not affiliated with the Chemels, is slated to open by September in Baumé’s former space at 201 California Ave., Palo Alto.