By Dolly Penland - May 23, 2008

French cuisine with a decidedly Floridian flair. That's what awaits patrons at St. Augustine's newest restaurant, Bistro de Leon.

"It will be definitely a French cuisine but with only local produce," said Chef Jean-Stephane Poinard, who owns the restaurant with his wife, Valerie. "I'm going to get the taste of St. Augustine in my French cuisine."

Poinard said his menu, which will change seasonally, features affordable fare. "I hate the idea of having an 'anniversary restaurant'. I love to see my guests every week if possible. We have wonderful produce here and we have no reason to charge more because it's French."

Using local ingredients will keep costs down while providing Poinard the opportunity to be creative. For example, "I have already been in touch with different local fishermen in St. Augustine.

"I will cook St. Augustine bouillabaisse with datil peppers to give just a kick. It will look like [traditional] bouillabaisse, but it's not because it's not the same fish."

Poinard, a member of Les Toques Blanches Lyonnaises, the professional chefs' organization in Lyon currently led by Paul Bocuse, owned five restaurants in France before realizing his dream of living and owning a restaurant in America.

"I was [destined] to do that," he said. "I like to start businesses from scratch, from nothing. I like to create and I have been doing that in France for 20 years. And it was a moment for me, I turned almost 40. I wanted something more exciting.

"The first time I went to the USA, I was 13 years old. I really fell in love with the country and the way people are. I like the American way of thinking, so pragmatic, and I am like them. They are very nice, very cool."

After traveling the East Coast looking for a place to live, he visited St. Augustine on the advice of friends in Ponte Vedra. "I feel as if I was at home," Poinard said.

He sold his restaurants in France and moved with his family to St. Augustine nine months ago. In addition to Bistro de Leon, which serves breakfast, lunch and dinner, Poinard is also collaborating with Chef Allen Suggs on a catering business, The Flying Bistro.

Poinard is a fifth-generation chef whose family has been in the industry since probably around the 13th century! His name, Poinard, comes from a type of knife.  "We have always been in the food business" he laughed.  "Only the king is allowed to kill the animals in his kingdom.  That's why he gives the privilege to my family to kill them for him, becauses he can't do it."

Valerie, an award-winning wine maker, also has a long tradition in France. "She was working with her parents who owned the Domaine de la Fond-Moiroux in the Beaujolais region," he said. "They owned this place since 1711.  She used to have many honors in wine.  She used to be gold medal. It's very difficult for a woman, believe me, in France, because it's a male-dominated industry, but she did well."

Bistro de Leon opened May 15 on Cathedral Place, St. Augustine.