Dear Friend of Chez François

First, rumors have circulated for the past several years that the Proprietor /Chef John D’Amico and I have sold Chez François. We are not going anywhere, and we will continue our mission to set the standard for Fine Dining and Hospitality in Ohio and the Midwest!

We thank you for your continued patronage over the past thirty-seven years and are always grateful for including us in your special event CELEBRATIONS! It was great finally seeing everyone out after the COVID-19 Pandemic. A challenging time to be sure but our Faith in God and our staff’s perseverance day in and day out made us stronger. They say when the obstacle is in the way it becomes the way, it is We are forever grateful to our patrons and to our staff for being exceptional in those trying times!

Although Chez Francois and Touché are closed in the month of January it is a busy month for us as we plan for the spring and early summer. Spring is a busy time for us as we feature St. Patrick’s Day (March 16 & 17) the Tre Bicchieri Italian Wine Dinner (Sunday, March 24, 2024), Easter (Sunday, March 31st, 2024), The Bordeaux Dinner (Sunday Mav 5, 2024), Mother’s Day (Sunday, May 12, 2024), The Cigar Smoker (Monday, May 20, 2024) and a few wine dinners along the way.

Last year was a challenging year for us at Touché as we lost Pawn Jarrell to cancer and a few of our seasoned veterans furthered their careers elsewhere, they were all missed. We are excited about our 38″ season this year and are busy hiring new candidates from around the world through the J-1 International Work & Travel Program and hiring some great new candidates.

We are very blessed to have great purveyors that provide Chez François and Touché with outstanding products, sourced from around the world from world-class suppliers of Produce/Herbs (Chef’s Garden), Beef/Veal/Pork/Game ( Blue Ribbon Meats, D’Artagnan, Maple Leaf Farms, Bell & Evans) Seafood (Catanese Classic Seafood & Euro USA). Quality Always Trumps the Lackluster!

We have contracted our good friend Roger Loos to upgrade our upstairs Touché patio roof with a new and improved look, you will love it!

This year we are determined to get the 555 Lounge back on track with special events & wine/whiskey tastings. The 555 is a perfect place to CELEBRATE with small gatherings of twenty-five guests or less.

Finally, as we have hosted in the past around St. Valentine’s Day, we are featuring our first wine dinner of 2024 on Saturday, February 10, 2024. The dinner will feature a six-course wine dinner with seven wines hand-selected by Matthew Mars. If you are free, we hope you will attend.

Sincerely, Matthew N. Mars – Proprietor & Chef John M. D’Amico – Proprietor

Bon Appétit,