“I’m funding the restaurant with a small business loan because it's important for me to be able to finance the restaurant myself,” he said, “and to be able to have that support from the bank and not be indebted to investors.” The amount of the loan has not yet been finalized, he said.īell plans on being patient about when Charlie’s, which is named after his son, opens its doors. “So, I'm hoping to be a good landlord and somebody to bounce stuff off of.”īell emphasized that he’s not asking for financial support. “Being that I’m a tenant with a lot of our Gott’s restaurants, I think I have a pretty good perspective on what it's like to be a tenant,” he said. Gott is also preparing to back the new enterprise and support Bell. “And, of course, we were very supportive of that.” “Elliot was a young man who embraced the challenges, learned from his mistakes, and became better and better at what he did - to the point where he really wanted to go open his own restaurant,” Keller said. “It was a great place to grow because everything on the menu was changing every day and so many great chefs were coming through with great ideas,” he said.īell said Keller takes great pride in mentoring the chefs that come through The French Laundry and go on to realize their own dreams.
Bell ultimately left The French Laundry in June 2021. “The French Laundry was a great experience for me,” said Bell, who in 2010 moved to California from New York City to work for Keller. He agreed to lease the space to Bell for a new casual family neighborhood restaurant that Gott thinks will be a good balance with the bigger restaurants in town, such as The Charter Oak, Cook and Farmstead.īell’s new restaurant, Charlie’s, is slated to open in the fall. Helena and what is needed here,” Gott said. “He's gung-ho and super talented, and it certainly seemed to make a lot of sense that he was the perfect person for St. Helena that once housed Cindy’s Backstreet Kitchen, which closed in July 2018. Helena, Joel Gott Wines, and eight Gott’s Roadside eateries in Northern California that he operates with his brother, Duncan.
Keller introduced Bell to Joel Gott, who has several of his own ventures, including The Station in St. Helena reminds me of the little town I grew up in Iowa, really based around agriculture (and a) great community of farmers and locals.” Helena and have it become part of the community, said Bell, who lives in the town with his wife and two young children. “I told Thomas about this dream and goal of mine” to one day own a restaurant in St.
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Two nine-course tasting menus are offered daily, priced at $350 per person, plus add-ons.īell worked for nearly a decade at the 3-star Michelin restaurant in Yountville, climbing the ladder to become executive sous chef.
He found a champion for his dream in the world-famous chef Thomas Keller, who owns The French Laundry, the legendary fine-dining restaurant that serves French and Californian cuisine. “It has always been a goal of mine to have my own restaurant,” said Elliot Bell. A volunteer firefighter who worked for one of the most famous chefs in the world is pursuing his lifelong dream in a small town in the Napa Valley that reminds him of his Iowa roots.
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