Celebrating 45 Years

Jean MichaelThe Left Bank Restaurant was founded in 1970. Throughout the years The Left Bank has quietly become the place to wine and dine for discerning locals and visitors. Since 2006,  Jean-Michel Chelain have been continuing The Left Bank traditions, such as cultivating relationships with the finest vintners in France and California, in order to bring you selections of the rarest wines available at reasonable prices, impeccably stored and aged for your drinking pleasure.

In the kitchen, our team, led by Jean-Michel is committed to creating the highest quality food available by using only the freshest and best ingredients available, making everything from scratch. Yes, even the bread is made here!
Jean-Michel’s mother knew he was destined for the kitchen ever since the day that she couldn’t find her pots, pans and utensils. After an exhaustive search of their home, she found her pans, full of mud in the barn, with her 8 year old son…. “cooking!” Jean-Michel began his apprenticeship at the age of fifteen at a small restaurant called Les Trois Biches in the Chartreuse region of the French Alps.

In 1996, after working at The Noga Hilton in Cannes and spending three years as the Chef of Chez Le Per Gras in Grenoble, he moved to Carmel Valley, California to be the Executive Chef of Stonepine Estate Resort, a Relais and Chateaux Purple Shield award winner. There he met his wife Kimberly, who was managing Los Laureles Lodge, the sister property to Stonepine. The two fell in love. They bought a 20 foot travel trailer to see the country and ended up in Key West, Florida where they eloped on a sailboat in front of forty strangers and the most beautiful sunset imaginable. In 1996, they came to Vail and The Left Bank Restaurant, in 2006, they purchased it from the founders, Liz and Luc Meyer.

It my pleasure to serve you, and we hope you enjoy your evening!

Bon Appétit et à votre santé!
Jean-Michel Chelain,  Chef