By Christine Briel / Skaneateles Design
Saturday, March 1, 2008, 10:05AM EST

I received a copy of the local magazine The Good Life: Central New York Magazine in the mail yesterday. While leafing through it I found a great feature article on Skaneateles’ own Joelle’s French Bistro (Wiki). The owner’s are a husband and wife team - Alain Castel and chef Joelle Mollinger. They opened the restaurant, just 3 miles north of Skaneateles, a little over a year ago. Johanna Keller, the author of the feature article, provides some background information on the owners of the bistro.

“Castel, the son of a chef, was born in a family from Antibes, lived in Nigeria and later worked in restaurants in Paris. After relocating to the United States, he founded two restaurants in Manhattan - Pigalle and the Country Caf in SoHo. Eventually tiring of the city life, he and his wife headed Upstate. Castel welcomes every guest at the front door of Joelle’s with the kind if elan that comes from lifelong experience in the business.

Trained originally as a lawyer, chef Joelle Mollinger gained experience cooking in Paris. In 1990, she arrived in Manhattan, where she started her own restaurant before meeting and partnering with Castel. Mollinger’s cooking emphasizes French classics, local produce, and fresh fish brought in from Boston. The inclusion of some excellent dishes from Morocco derives from time she spent there in her early life.”

If you haven’t already visited Joelle’s French Bistro to sample the cuisine, now with a little more information on the owner’s backgrounds maybe you will be motivated to venture there and try something. They are open for lunch, brunch, and dinners and recommend calling for reservations - 315-685-0345 or 315-685-3063.

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