Inspiring Conversations with Sylvie Diot of Bistro du Marché

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sylvie Diot

Hi Sylvie, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
First I would like to thank you for your interest.
I, Sylvie Diot and my Husband Chef Jean Michel Diot are originally from France, While Jean Michel is from Vienne, a city in the close vicinity of Lyon, I am from the south part of Bordeaux and close to Pays Basque region. We both grew up in areas where gastronomy and wine are important matters for family environment, for the French society, social life and was important to our parents to raise healthy children and follow closely our development.
Jean Michel followed a French professional culinary curriculum, and was taken under the mentorship of the late chef Michel Rubod. His career took him from Vienne to Neuilly (Paris), to Eugenie les Bains with Michel Guerard, who is currently one of the last classic Chefs of the Paul Bocuse generation. He moved to Cannes where Jacques Chibois, a two star Michelin chef, was running the kitchen of the restaurant the “Gray d’Albion” and was promoted to his first Sous Chef and later chef position.
He became Executive chef of the Chateau d’Esclimont, a French patrimony chateau from the 16th century, that once belonged to the illustrious family Larochefoucault.
His career took a turn when he joined the Maxims de Paris in New York, as Executive Chef. It is currently the Peninsula Hotel.
Following this first experience, he conceived and open his first restaurant, Park Bistro that opened in early 1989 and became the first bistro to earn the 3 coveted stars in the New York Times under famous food critic Bryan Miller. The following year, he co-founded Les Halles that became the new house of Anthony Bourdain after our definitive business and family move to La Jolla where we jointly open the widely acclaimed Tapenade in 1998. closed in 2015 to leave room to the Conrad on Fay avenue. We relocated to the upper East side of Girard avenue. The change came from the downsizing of the new operation as we gently settled in this residential and commercial neighborhood, close by to La Jolla Elementary and most importantly the La Jolla Open Aire Market or Farmer’s Market, an important element in a chef’s inspiration and creativity.
In resume what really took us to where we are now is our perseverance, the Chef’s passion for his profession, for human resourcing of wonderful chefs surrounding him in his work, his duty of transmission which is a common French practice in such professions. School is not enough, mentoring, surrounding new staff members whether in the kitchen or in the dining room, front of the house are important matters. Additionally, the many chefs, who have brought their various knowledge, experience and exchange with the most casual conversations constitute a human reservoir important to our profession.
As per my career, I have shadowed my husband’s profession and career through human resources, public relations, business accountings, special events and the best reflections I could share in any given situation.
In such a career where difficult and long hard working days, while being called for constant good sense, safety, the support is always appreciated anywhere it can be shared.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Restaurant business, as much as it shows smoothness during the service is often a stressful time. Passion must be at the Rendez-vous. I have been involved in restaurant business for 36 years, with some intermittent work in fashion and tourism, sometimes combining both careers. The struggles can be real estate matters, or finding the right staff to occupy the right position, product quality and always little time to catch up mistakes. It is often a question of balance. It is about showcasing many talents in a short time service and make sure that what you wanted to transpire in the experience you offer, and attain the right perception.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Bistro du Marché is a French restaurant, led by two French chefs. Chef owner Jean Michel Diot and Executive Cheffe Amélie Gadoum. We offer classical French dishes with the vision of Bistronomie, which means unique, not being part of a chain or a replica. Keeping the spirit of gastronomy, the relationship between art of preparing, food and culture, keep the right personal expression while remaining in the classical tradition. It is a science. We feel freedom in our daily creativity, we belong to our own expression of rendering the best experience we can at a given time. Being French does not stop at a citizenship, it is culture made of respect for the art, it is history that never left us, and that we continue to expand beyond borders.

Can you share something surprising about yourself?
Every decision we have made, including leaving New York after 10 years, while being known for leading cultural culinary establishments, is our own decision. Moving to San Diego where we knew less people than the finger count of one hand, with our own money to open a restaurant, and raise our two children 3 and 1/2 and 2 years old, has been our own decision that we led with full responsibility. We opened Tapenade in 1998, being successful was not a choice, it just came naturally with the recognized talent of a wonderful chef and our own business expertise. The limited number of persons we knew when we moved here, had each welcomed us their own way, and we will never forget that. The community adopted us and we feel that we co-built our reputation. Be passionate, believe in your strength, be humble. Thank you!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.BistroduMarche.net
• Instagram: bistrodumarche.lajolla