Local French Restaurant Earns National Recognition
By JESSICA WASMUND
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9/5/2007 - MAYVILLE — When La Fleur opened its doors five years ago, the restaurant seated about 50 people and offered a menu of delectable French cuisine.
Since then, the eatery has continued to grow and recently earned a four-diamond rating — making the quaint restaurant residing beside Chautauqua Lake a rarity in the world of fine dining.
''This is a goal we set a long time ago, when it was just the two of us sweating back in the kitchen, and we've finally gotten a chance to work on it this season,'' said Scott Bova, the Mayville restaurant's corporate executive chef. When he says ''two of us,'' Bova is referring to himself and Jonathan Haloua, the director of operations for La Fleur and corporate executive chef for Food is Good Inc. ''We took our visions, and together we made our dream come true — I can't even believe it.''
Bova described the goal as one that is ''definitely not easy to reach,'' as some of the finest places in New York are only four diamonds as opposed to five.
The rating system is determined by AAA, and is done so only after submitting an application, explained Haloua. First, an establishment must apply to be rated by AAA. Then, the organization will send out someone to report back, and it is always judged discreetly — it could be a single person or table of six. In La Fleur's case, a woman from Florida came up to rate the restaurant.
''The rating system is based on a lot of different factors, which are very specific,'' Bova said. ''Everything from flow of traffic, to the property the restaurant is on, to the level of service, China patterns, wine list, and of course exceptional food with local ingredients. Synchronized service is also required, where all the plates are brought and taken away at once, starting with the oldest woman and moving down in age, then onto men — that's something that's not easy to do, especially every time.''
Indeed, the booklet of criteria AAA uses to judge restaurants is more than 20 pages long. Food must be presented with the correct garnishes and comprised of the freshest ingredients. The service must be exceptional, with refined greetings and good manners.
One of the biggest challenges La Fleur faces is its seasonal operations, which means Bova, Haloua and his wife Saskia Tounsi, La Fleur's manager, have little more than a month to hire and train their staff to world-class levels each spring. Much of the staff has little to no experience — there are three interns and one high school student on staff. The medium age in the kitchen is 24, while most of the restaurant is less than 30 years of age.
See La FLEUR On Page A-3
Haloua has long had a deep feeling of sentiment for Chautauqua County and the region, having spent many summers during his childhood along the lake.
''My family is originally from Morocco, but we left after the country gained its independence and moved to France,'' Haloua said. ''My father kept in touch with one of his school friends who relocated to North America, and I spent a lot of time visiting the area.''
Henry K. ''Van'' McConnon, the owner of Food Is Good, contacted Haloua and Tounsi about relocating to the area to help him open a restaurant six years ago, so the pair came over. At the end of the summer, they realized the potential in the house they were living in and decided to go ahead and open a French restaurant, playing on the character offered by the building.
''At first Van told us he wasn't sure we could do it, between having to have the building zoned and everything else,'' Haloua said. ''But then we got a call in the middle of summer and he said yes, it could work, so we started. Since then it's been a lot of work — all the furniture is built by one of our sister companies, and the menu changes every summer, and even the artwork — much is originally from France.''
After their first summer, the pair made an addition to the house and doubled the kitchen, and Bova joined them in 2003 as a Haloua's sous-chef before being promoted to chef de cuisine.
La Fleur is the first restaurant in the region to be hailed as four-diamonds, the second-closest being in Bradford.
''Scott has really done beautifully — this is the year he perfected his style,'' Haloua said.
Yet now that La Fleur has reached such a high level, the pressure is on to keep things at such a standard.
''Once you've reached this level, people will travel miles and miles to dine and you have to be ready,'' Bova said. ''There's little places in the middle of nowhere that are four-diamond restaurants and you would never expect. You can find them easily in New York City, but not here.''
During the first few years of operation, more than 90 percent of customers were people from Chautauqua County, whether they were spending their summer vacation along the lake or had permanent residency. According to Haloua, however, every year the eatery sees a different crowd, with people coming from Buffalo, Jamestown, Cleveland and Warren. He says that many people chose to celebrate special occasions such as anniversaries with La Fleur.
In the off-season, Hova prepares La Fleur's up coming menu, and the group gets together to debate different dining options. More than 70 percent of the menu is altered each year, and even their signature dishes are given some new life annually.
Life Before La Fleur
''I attended cooking school at 14 where I trained for four years, and I was the youngest person in my class,'' Haloua said. ''After graduating from the Paris Culinary Institute, I worked as a chef for a catering company which was a great experience because of the wide variety of cooking.''
Upon moving back to Paris, Haloua met Tounsi, where they both worked in the food industry, while she did some additional work in fashion. For a change of pace, the couple purchased a night club in the French Alps, which gave them plenty of opportunity to work alongside one another, before returning to Chautauqua Lake.
Bova, like Haloua, knew for a long time he was destined to work in a kitchen.
''I knew since I was four I wanted to be a chef, and went to the Cooking Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York at 18, afterwards spending two years in the Outerbanks, North Carolina,'' Bova said. ''While I was there I had the opportunity to work for a four-diamond restaurant, then in the summer of 2004, I came up here to be Jonathan's sous-chef. I then moved to Virginia for a year and worked at a five-star, five-diamond restaurant, which is really rare since there's only about 20 in the United States.''
A year later, Haolua convinced Bova to return, and has been running La Fleur's kitchen ever since.
What's Next On The Menu
Behind La Fleur is The Red Brick Farm marketplace where a number of shops feature items produced by Food Is Good as well as other various shops and products.
On top of that, the company is offering cooking classes in conjunction with JCC for those interested in becoming chefs in their own right.
''Five-star establishments are really unique, it takes long-term planning and a large monetary commitment,'' Haloua said. ''So I won't say we won't see it in the next 10 years, but not necessarily soon.''
More importantly, Hova said, is maintaining the current ranking of four stars, something that can be harder to do than earning the rating in the first place.
''AAA comes back every year to inspect, and if you lose your rating you do so for two years,'' Hova said. ''There is no second chance, and every experience must be perfect. Everyone on staff plays an important part, from the dishwasher to server.''
Since then, the eatery has continued to grow and recently earned a four-diamond rating — making the quaint restaurant residing beside Chautauqua Lake a rarity in the world of fine dining.
''This is a goal we set a long time ago, when it was just the two of us sweating back in the kitchen, and we've finally gotten a chance to work on it this season,'' said Scott Bova, the Mayville restaurant's corporate executive chef. When he says ''two of us,'' Bova is referring to himself and Jonathan Haloua, the director of operations for La Fleur and corporate executive chef for Food is Good Inc. ''We took our visions, and together we made our dream come true — I can't even believe it.''
Bova described the goal as one that is ''definitely not easy to reach,'' as some of the finest places in New York are only four diamonds as opposed to five.
The rating system is determined by AAA, and is done so only after submitting an application, explained Haloua. First, an establishment must apply to be rated by AAA. Then, the organization will send out someone to report back, and it is always judged discreetly — it could be a single person or table of six. In La Fleur's case, a woman from Florida came up to rate the restaurant.
''The rating system is based on a lot of different factors, which are very specific,'' Bova said. ''Everything from flow of traffic, to the property the restaurant is on, to the level of service, China patterns, wine list, and of course exceptional food with local ingredients. Synchronized service is also required, where all the plates are brought and taken away at once, starting with the oldest woman and moving down in age, then onto men — that's something that's not easy to do, especially every time.''
Indeed, the booklet of criteria AAA uses to judge restaurants is more than 20 pages long. Food must be presented with the correct garnishes and comprised of the freshest ingredients. The service must be exceptional, with refined greetings and good manners.
One of the biggest challenges La Fleur faces is its seasonal operations, which means Bova, Haloua and his wife Saskia Tounsi, La Fleur's manager, have little more than a month to hire and train their staff to world-class levels each spring. Much of the staff has little to no experience — there are three interns and one high school student on staff. The medium age in the kitchen is 24, while most of the restaurant is less than 30 years of age.
See La FLEUR On Page A-3
Haloua has long had a deep feeling of sentiment for Chautauqua County and the region, having spent many summers during his childhood along the lake.
''My family is originally from Morocco, but we left after the country gained its independence and moved to France,'' Haloua said. ''My father kept in touch with one of his school friends who relocated to North America, and I spent a lot of time visiting the area.''
Henry K. ''Van'' McConnon, the owner of Food Is Good, contacted Haloua and Tounsi about relocating to the area to help him open a restaurant six years ago, so the pair came over. At the end of the summer, they realized the potential in the house they were living in and decided to go ahead and open a French restaurant, playing on the character offered by the building.
''At first Van told us he wasn't sure we could do it, between having to have the building zoned and everything else,'' Haloua said. ''But then we got a call in the middle of summer and he said yes, it could work, so we started. Since then it's been a lot of work — all the furniture is built by one of our sister companies, and the menu changes every summer, and even the artwork — much is originally from France.''
After their first summer, the pair made an addition to the house and doubled the kitchen, and Bova joined them in 2003 as a Haloua's sous-chef before being promoted to chef de cuisine.
La Fleur is the first restaurant in the region to be hailed as four-diamonds, the second-closest being in Bradford.
''Scott has really done beautifully — this is the year he perfected his style,'' Haloua said.
Yet now that La Fleur has reached such a high level, the pressure is on to keep things at such a standard.
''Once you've reached this level, people will travel miles and miles to dine and you have to be ready,'' Bova said. ''There's little places in the middle of nowhere that are four-diamond restaurants and you would never expect. You can find them easily in New York City, but not here.''
During the first few years of operation, more than 90 percent of customers were people from Chautauqua County, whether they were spending their summer vacation along the lake or had permanent residency. According to Haloua, however, every year the eatery sees a different crowd, with people coming from Buffalo, Jamestown, Cleveland and Warren. He says that many people chose to celebrate special occasions such as anniversaries with La Fleur.
In the off-season, Hova prepares La Fleur's up coming menu, and the group gets together to debate different dining options. More than 70 percent of the menu is altered each year, and even their signature dishes are given some new life annually.
Life Before La Fleur
''I attended cooking school at 14 where I trained for four years, and I was the youngest person in my class,'' Haloua said. ''After graduating from the Paris Culinary Institute, I worked as a chef for a catering company which was a great experience because of the wide variety of cooking.''
Upon moving back to Paris, Haloua met Tounsi, where they both worked in the food industry, while she did some additional work in fashion. For a change of pace, the couple purchased a night club in the French Alps, which gave them plenty of opportunity to work alongside one another, before returning to Chautauqua Lake.
Bova, like Haloua, knew for a long time he was destined to work in a kitchen.
''I knew since I was four I wanted to be a chef, and went to the Cooking Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York at 18, afterwards spending two years in the Outerbanks, North Carolina,'' Bova said. ''While I was there I had the opportunity to work for a four-diamond restaurant, then in the summer of 2004, I came up here to be Jonathan's sous-chef. I then moved to Virginia for a year and worked at a five-star, five-diamond restaurant, which is really rare since there's only about 20 in the United States.''
A year later, Haolua convinced Bova to return, and has been running La Fleur's kitchen ever since.
What's Next On The Menu
Behind La Fleur is The Red Brick Farm marketplace where a number of shops feature items produced by Food Is Good as well as other various shops and products.
On top of that, the company is offering cooking classes in conjunction with JCC for those interested in becoming chefs in their own right.
''Five-star establishments are really unique, it takes long-term planning and a large monetary commitment,'' Haloua said. ''So I won't say we won't see it in the next 10 years, but not necessarily soon.''
More importantly, Hova said, is maintaining the current ranking of four stars, something that can be harder to do than earning the rating in the first place.
''AAA comes back every year to inspect, and if you lose your rating you do so for two years,'' Hova said. ''There is no second chance, and every experience must be perfect. Everyone on staff plays an important part, from the dishwasher to server.''
For more information on Chautauqua Lake Real Estate & Living visit: www.chautauqualakehomes.com
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