Chef Julien Gremaud’s restaurants set the local standard in Palm Beach County—where foodies and locals alike expect to find creative small-plate sharing concepts, hyper-local menus packed with seasonal ingredients, farm-to-table freshness, and coastal and upscale historic settings. A diner’s delight.
And why not? Floridians want the best of everything, including casual and elevated eats at reasonable prices. At any of his restaurants, guests frequently praise the festive environment that brings people together in some of the county’s prettiest dining rooms.
I met with Chef Julien at Avocado Grill, one of Downtown West Palm Beach’s best spots for a casual day or night out.
The Interview
MC: I always recommend people: if you're looking for a casual night in West Palm Beach that's all about food and fun, look no further than Avocado Grill. Why do you think your place has become so endearing to locals like me?
JG: First of all, thank you. That means a great deal to me. It’s crazy! We love to cook delicious food for people as much as they love eating it. And look at the downtown… There used to be like three popular restaurants: Rocco's Tacos, Pistache, and Avocado Grill. Now there are so many popular restaurants. There are so many big names, so many big brands. There’s ridiculous amounts of money going into build-outs, right? So it's a—treat being a chef at this time.
MC: And I hear you’re opening a new Avocado Grill location at President Donald J. Trump International Airport, which serves more than 8.7 million passengers annually and is the gateway to Palm Beach County, Florida.
JG: Yes, that should be happening in the next three months. We’re going to be where Rooney’s Public House is now, just before the security point.
MC: It’s great to see chefs expand and grow as you have, in such a relatively short period.
JG: I think I'm pretty conservative compared to some of my other restaurant friends. I may open a restaurant every two to three years, which is still a lot. I have some friends who just want to grow, grow, grow.
MC: And you?
JG: I like my life the way it is.
MC: Take me back to the time in your life when you realized you wanted to be a chef.
JG: I grew up in Saint-Tropez, in the South of France, having a passion for food. I remember when I was 13 or 14 years old seeing my mom cooking and loving it. I thought, wow! This is so cool. But you know, home cooking is completely different than professional cooking.
MC: Yes, of course. Two different worlds.
JG: Yes! It was the summer, and my dad was like, “Hey, we're not gonna be supporting all your summers. You should go and get a job. So, I got a job in a restaurant where I was literally 80% of the time a dishwasher and 20% a salad maker. Just cold salads. It was a very casual restaurant, nothing fancy at all. And like most restaurants in the South of France, it was mostly seasonal. Later on, I moved to London with my friends to learn English. And that's when I started cooking.
MC: And that’s when the real fun started. How old were you then?
JG: [Chuckling] Yes, I was 18, and that's when I started cooking professionally. Of course, you obviously think you are at a certain level, but then you go into a better restaurant, and you see that you're really at a low level.
MC: And when did you move up a notch?
JG: When I came to the US, I started working for a very, very good chef, Jean Blanchet from Chicago, Illinois. That's really where I received most of my training in classic French cuisine. He was rated for 20 years as the best restaurant in the United States. He was one of the first very well-renowned French chefs to come to the US. Sometimes guests had to wait six months to get a reservation time.
MC: Tell me about your move to Florida.
JG: I came to Florida, and I got a job as a private chef, which was paying a lot more than working in a regular kitchen for almost 10 years.
MC: In Palm Beach?
JG: Yes, here on the island. First in Jupiter Island, then in Palm Beach. And after 9 or 10 years of being a private chef, you know, when you're a private chef, you travel a lot. You're going with a family, and they're never here year-round. So you're always traveling, and, you know, I felt like my culinary level wasn't getting any better because you're not seeing anything. All you do is you make your own food, your own cuisine.
I met Thierry Beaud at Pistache in 2008, when he was opening Pistache downtown. He had a tough opening, but a very successful four months. And then the business started going down. He was not happy with the chef. I started working in the kitchen, and then he was like, "Please take over."
MC: So you became the chef at Pistache and brought the business back.
JG: We became partners, and then we opened PB Catch together. So I was the chef of Pistache and PB Catch. Then I decided to go my own way. So I found some financial backing to open this location. First, I wanted to open a French bistro in Miami's Design District, and the deal fell through.
MC: Sorry to say, but thank goodness it fell through! Avocado Grill is a staple in Downtown West Palm Beach.
JG: Thank you. You know, the Design District in Miami is not what they were hoping it would be. And when that deal fell through, and this one opened up, I jumped on it. I'm like, you know what, I already know a lot of people here; this is my market; I love this location.
MC: Well, even though not too many restaurants were successful in this location, you made it successful.
JG: Well, thank you.
MC: You opened Avocado Grill in 2015, and then Avocado Cantina in Palm Beach Gardens. How did you divide your time?
JG: I was in the kitchen for the first four years just being full-on chef. Then, when I decided to open Palm Beach Gardens, I hired a chef de cuisine and tried to split my time. Now, I have chefs in every location, but I always oversee all the menus and all the culinary parts.
MC: And what is your culinary philosophy?
JG: It's an interesting question because 11 years ago I was really trying to come up with food that is familiar to people and flavors that they would like and would mix well. I was a young chef, hungry for that kind of creativity. And that is why Avocado Grill is what it is. No country is attached to it. It's not American, it's not French, it's not Italian, it's not Spanish, it’s not Asian. It's just what I wanted it to be.
MC: And what did you want it to be?
JG: I wanted it to grab all the ingredients I love from every cuisine and kind of mix them together. But, you know, the concept of Avocado Grill was always fresh, Florida. Not heavy, but light and healthy. So that's kind of like the philosophy of Avocado Grill.
MC: And Avocado Cantina?
JG: I wanted to have a Mexican restaurant. So, I went to Tulum, Mexico to cook. I wanted to open an eccentric Mexican restaurant. But sometimes you see an idea through the business, not through the customer—what they want.
When we opened, we had lots of crudos, ceviches, and really cool dishes you only see in Mexico. But you have to listen to your clientele to be successful. I can't just have a restaurant where I make whatever I want, and have this attitude of, if you come, you come. So, what happened is people started asking me, “How come you don't have burritos? We love burritos!” So, we decided to change the ceviches a little bit and added burritos. There's nothing wrong with a burrito. I love a good burrito!
You have to listen to your clientele and evolve with them. And in some ways, that's how I became more of a restaurateur than just a dedicated chef.
MC: And then you created Pink Steak…
JG: And, you know, same thing happened with Pink Steak. When we opened Pink Steak, my philosophy was like, I want to do a feminine steakhouse. I didn't want the heavy wood decor but something unique and elegant. We started with healthy sides, because that’s the way my wife and I like to eat meat—with a salad or some grilled vegetables.
MC: Oh, I can see what’s coming… people wanted potatoes!
JG: Yes! [laughing] We didn’t have potatoes on the menu! Throughout the reviews and talking to people, they're like, “Oh my God, I love potatoes with my steak. You only have French fries. Can you make mashed potatoes? Can you do this? Can you add that?” And at first, you try to push back, but then you make the potatoes—but not just potatoes, but twice-baked potatoes. And…
MC: It is a hit.
JG: You guessed it.
[both laughing]
JG: You know what’s really funny? Just yesterday I looked at my products on the computer. We sell three times as many twice-baked potatoes as the second most popular side. So in a month we sell about 4,000. It's crazy! That’s just to show you that the concept I imagined evolved. You have to listen to your clientele because at the end of the day, it's a business. You can be creative, but you must listen to your clientele to make sure that your restaurant is successful. At the end of the day, that's what it's all about.
Happy customer gets the last word. I walked out of Avocado Grill with my old-time favorite: the classic avocado grilled chicken sandwich featuring juicy, lime-marinated grilled chicken breast, melted Monterey Jack cheese, and creamy sliced avocado on a toasted bun, complemented by crisp lettuce and a tangy spread.
Next: Pink Steak Restaurant Review.