Chef Bios

David Dubois

CHEF/OWNER – franklin restaurant group

David Dubois’ culinary career began in Boston area restaurants at a very early age. His skills were honed and developed in Europe, Florida, California, New York, and Martha’s Vineyard. As Chef-Overseer of the Franklin restaurants he has developed his owns refreshing take on simple Modern American cuisine. He has received Local, National and International accolade for the simple elegance and down to earth approach of the Franklin Restaurants’ dishes.

Brian Reyelt

Executive Chef- FRANKLIN RESTAURANT GROUP

Brian’s love for cooking began in his home town of Westchester, New York while assisting his mother with her local catering company.  His family moved to Barrington, Rhode Island where he attended high school and further fostered his culinary passion. Following high school he began his academia at Johnson & Wales Culinary School where he stood out for his excellence by graduating Magna Cum Laude. This was only the beginning of much accolade and many awards. While attending Johnson & Wales, he held various cooking jobs in the Providence area.  Upon completion of school, he accepted the Sous Chef position at the Hotel Manisses on Block Island. Three years later he left island life for the cutting edge food of the city where he pursued an intricate knowledge of Haute cuisine at Aujourd’hui in the Four Seasons Hotel, Boston.  He discovered the Franklin through fellow chefs one late night after work and this tiny neighborhood jewel captivated his attention. Soon after, his innate talent advanced him through the ranks to become Head Chef of the Franklin Cafe and now Executive Chef of Both New Fenway Restaurants. He has brought an innovative spirit and first rate technical acumen to the Franklin’s philosophy of fine food at fair prices. His food incorporates family traditions, past experience and local ingredients to uphold the consistent quality of the Franklin’s Modern American cuisine. As in all his culinary pursuits he has excelled bringing the Franklin Local, National and International attention under his leadership.

joshua smith

chef de cuisine

Josh’s first restaurant experiences came at the age of 11, working in his bestfriends parents’ restaurant on the weekends washing dishes, bussing tables and cleaning lots of iceberg lettuce.  During high school he buttered toast every Saturday and Sunday at Bill’s Bread and Breakfast and almost made it to the omelet station before heading off to Vermont to study English Literature.  During his time studying in Vermont Josh continued cooking and working on a small farm during the summers.

In 2004 Josh enrolled at The Culinary Institute of America, in Hyde Park, NY.  While there Smith worked with Josh Kroner at Terrapin Restaurant and Jesse Frederick at Gigi’s Restaurant, both in Rhinebeck, NY.  He also finished an 18 week ‘externship’ with The Four Seasons Costa Rica, graduating in June 2006 in the top of his class and earning The Board of Trustees Leadership Scholarship.

Upon graduation Smith worked and studied in the South for several years as a line-cook, sous-chef and eventually Chef of Local Roots Restaurant in Roanoke, Virginia. At Local Roots Restaurant Smith helped put southwest Virginia on the culinary map working with countless farmers and producers to create food that was recognized locally, regionally and nationally. In 2010 Smith began hosting dinners with celebrated chefs such as Gabrielle Hamilton, Sean Brock, Bryan Voltaggio and Michael Solomonov.  The most memorable?  A dinner that featured Van Winkle bourbon with Preston Van Winkle, when at the time the restaurant held the most Pappy Van Winkle bourbon anywhere, other than the distillery.

Deciding to return north to be closer to family, Smith moved to Boston in 2010 to help open The Salty Pig as Executive Chef, which was named Boston Phoenix’s ‘Best New Restaurant’ and garnered great reviews from Boston press.  In July of 2012 Smith joined The Franklin Group and was promoted to Chef de Cuisine of The Franklin Cafe in December of 2012.  Chef Smith is excited to be working for the Chefs of the Franklin Restaurant Group and upholding The Franklin Cafe’s long standing reputation for thoughtful, creative and exceptional cuisine.

Joy Richard

BAR AND Beverage MANAGER – franklin restaurant group

Joy Richard is an award-winning local bartender with over 20 years of industry experience.  Richard fell in love with the pace and camaraderie of the restaurant business with her very first job at just 15 years old.  She got her start as a busser at a gourmet natural foods restaurant and folk music venue, The Folkway, in Peterborough, NH, quickly moving up to host, then server.  By age 17, she and a friend started a successful Monday night Coffee Shop and Open Mic Night, as a way to utilize the space during off hours.

Richard continued to work in restaurants while pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts at Hampshire College,  stepping behind the bar occasionally to mix up Old Fashioned’s and Rob Roy’s.  She moved to Boston in 1997 and began to tend bar full-time, thrilled by the instant gratification of serving well-constructed cocktails to appreciative guests.

Richard spent over 9 years behind the bar at Boston area hotspots, and built a solid following that earned her accolades as one of Bostons’s Beloved Bartenders by The Improper Bostonian and Top-Shelf Bartender by Stuff  Boston.  She moved into restaurant management in 2004, and continued to create cocktail lists at restaurants around town while pursuing education of the history of the craft.

Richard’s original creations have earned her local and national attention, including mentions in The Improper Bostonian, Stuff @ Night and Imbibe Magazine.  In 2008 she won the Hendrick’s Gin Beantown Bartender Battle and was flown to Los Angeles to compete in a national mix-off competition.  In 2009, her “Glass Eye” Cocktail won the local Rain Vodka Bartender Mix Off, earning her a trip to Tales of the Cocktail 2009, where she competed for the national title.  In 2009 she completed the BAR Smarts Advanced program, a condensed version of the rigorous Beverage Alcohol Resource 5-day course, the spirits and mixology equivalent of a Masters of Wine or Master Sommelier program.

In 2007, Richard and several friends founded the Boston Chapter of Ladies United for the Preservation of Endangered Cocktails (LUPEC), a classic cocktail society dedicated to the “raising, breeding, and releasing of nearly extinct cocktails into the wild”.  More than a social networking organization, LUPEC Boston is committed to enhancing and improving the lives of Boston-area women and has raised over $40,000 for local women’s charities since inception.  For more information about LUPEC Boston visit lupecboston.com.

Joy is thrilled to be back behind the bar mixing up classic cocktails and creating modern classics for the patrons at the Franklin Cafe.

Most recently, Richard took her passion for great cocktails, spirits, and especially whiskey, to a new level at the Franklin Restaurant Group’s newest project, The Citizen Public House and Oyster Bar in Boston’s Fenway neighborhood. The Citizen boasts a list of over 90 whiskeys from around the globe on a bar with over 200 spirits available, and a cocktail list designed to highlight each of the four different types of ice available.

Joy is also an avid beer drinker, and was able to take her knowledge in a fun direction at Tasty Burger, the Groups recently opened Burger & Shake joint, also in the Fenway. Tasty Burger’s bar offers terrific wines, draft beer, a wide selection of beers in cans, a growing trend for craft breweries, enabling Richard to bring in several new canned beer varieties each month!

AWARDS:

* Best Classic Cocktail, Best of Boston 2011, Boston Magazine July 2011
* Boston’s Best Mixologist, The Improper Bostonian, 2011
* Rain Vodka Bartender Boston Mix Off winner, 2009
* Hendrick’s Gin Beantown Bartender Battle winner, 2009
* Boston’s Beloved Bartender, The Improper Bostonian, 2002
* The List: Boston’s Top-Shelf Bartenders, Stuff @ Night, 2001
* Boston’s Beloved Bartender, The Improper Bostonian, 2000