Chef steps down from Jeune et Jolie

Eight months after helping make Carlsbad’s Jeune et Jolie restaurant one of Esquire Magazine’s 22 best new restaurants in America for 2019, executive chef Andrew Bachelier announced Friday that he is stepping down.

In an amicable parting with restaurant owner and longtime friend John Resnick, Bachelier said sheltering at home with his fiancée Larah Ivy and their children Madden, Margot and Emmet led him him to reevaluate the demands required of running a fine-dining restaurant kitchen. Bachelier was also the founding chef of Resnick’s 4year-old Carlsbad restaurant Campfire, just down the street. He ended his tenure in June.

Bachelier’s French-inspired cookery was so integral to the vision for 90-seat Jeune et Jolie that it was named after Resnick’s daughter Elsie June and Bachelier’s daughter Margot Jolie. Due to social distancing orders, Resnick last month converted Jeune et Jolie into an entirely outdoors restaurant with a $95 prix-fixe menu.

“As a chef, it’s a constant struggle to find that work-life balance,” Bachelier said in a statement. “I have had the opportunity in the last four months to view the world through the innocent lens of my children. I know what it takes to be a great leader and chef; I can tell you it’s extremely difficult but rewarding. However, I’ve found a much clearer perspective on what it takes to be a great and present father, while still providing (for them).”

Resnick said he has mixed emotions over Bachelier’s departure. Although his shoes will be difficult to fill, he leaves behind a welltrained team and an award-winning legacy.

Andrew Santana will continue to serve as executive chef at Campfire and Jeune et Jolie executive sous chef Dusan Todic, who like Bachelier trained at the Michelinstarred Addison in Carmel Valley, will lead the Jeune kitchen while a search is under way for a new executive chef.

pam.kragen@sduniontribune.com