Frank McClelland, executive chef/owner of L'Espalier, confirmed that his restaurant will move from its current location on Gloucester St. in Boston's Back Bay to Boylston St. adjacent to the Mandarin Oriental Boston Hotel & Residences.
The Back Bay restaurant will closed its doors with a final dinner. L'Espalier's sister restaurant, Sel de la Terre, will also open its third restaurant at a side-by-side location.
It was also confirmed that Louis DiBiccari will be the Chef de Cuisine at Sel de la Terre's new Boylston St. location. Louis joined the culinary team at L'Espalier in 1996 and has been a leader and top level manager there, at both Sel de la Terre locations, and even at the company's catering facility, Au Soleil Catering.
"It is with enormous pleasure that we make this announcement, says Geoff Gardner, co-owner and executive chef of Sel de le Terre. "Louis has been a very loyal and extremely talented member of the L'Espalier/SDLT family and we are excited to see him embrace this extraordinary opportunity."
In 1988, after several years at the stove preparing his award-winning French-New England cuisine, chef McClelland purchased the restaurant from its previous owner and has been at the helm ever since. L'Espalier's current location, a townhouse built in 1880, has provided a setting for the restaurant since 1982. "We've really done everything we can. However, only so much can be accomplished with a 127-year-old building," adds McClelland.
The new Sel de la Terre location on Boylston St. is also designed by Vahtra.