Jill Rose opened Chiboust in 2004, but it wasn't until earlier this year that she actually took full command of the kitchen and she couldn't be happier.

"This is really what I was trained to do," the "new" Chef du Cuisine said.

When Rose was 15 years old she ran a stand that sold fresh-squeezed lemonade at fairs, festivals and outdoor markets in and around Frederick, Maryland, her home town. She worked for the stand's owner during school vacation periods and weekends and turned her part-time employment into a full time job upon graduation from high school. Shortly afterwards she started her own fresh-lemonade-stand business.

Working in restaurants was a natural progression; she learned the rudiments of running an eatery while working locally. Then, financed by investors, she opened Jilly's in 1987, a cosy comfort food restaurant in Frederick that featured a baby grand piano and entertained patrons with live jazz.  Her primary roles were manager and hostess but she acquired enough knowledge of  cooking to qualify three years later for a job as a line cook in the kitchen of a prominent country club; she soon advanced to sous chef.

"One day  the chef interviewed a job applicant who had graduated from a culinary school in Baltimore," she recalled. "I saw what he could do that I couldn't and I realized I had a lot to learn."  So after researching culinary schools, Rose enrolled at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York to study for a Bachelor of Professional Studies degree in Culinary Arts. 

Following graduation, her first job provided a chance to see the country. She joined a car racing team based in Columbus, Ohio and cooked for it and its entourage as the driver and crew toured the country - feeding at times up to 150 people per night.

When the racing season ended, Rose returned to the Culinary Institute of America - this time to study Baking and Pastry Arts. After completing her studies, she was hired by Charles Palmer, an acclaimed chef/owner also schooled at the Culinary Institute of America. Palmer had opened a French restaurant in Manhattan named Aureole after gaining fame for turning the River Cafe in Brooklyn into a popular across-the-river destination worthy of a three-star rating from the New York Times. 

Rose lived in Queens near many Asian and southeast groceries and she became familiar with the ingredients and fruits they marketed. Eventually, after experimenting at home, she began introducing some of the more exotic ingredients to Aureole's desserts. Her creativity did not go unnoticed.

Chef Gray Kunz hired her to be pastry sous chef at Lespinasse, a prestigious French restaurant located in the St. Regis Hotel in New York City. Two years later, she was promoted to pastry chef and helped open a sister restaurant at the Carlyle Hotel in Washington, D.C. also called Lespinasse.

Rose returned to a new challenge in The Bronx three years later. She joined Urban Horizons, a not-for-profit organization that trained economically disadvantaged women to obtain gainful employment and after a short time was promoted to director of the Urban Horizons Center for Culinary Arts. Rose developed, administered and taught in a six-month program that prepared students for occupations in retail food preparation and catering.

Unfortunately, the program lost sponsors and ran out of funds following the attack on the World Trade Center in 2001, but not before hundreds of women had completed schooling and had been placed in food-service jobs.

Rose joined La Caravelle (now closed) as pastry chef and commuted to work from Tarrytown. A year later, while strolling down Main Street she noticed a "For Rent" sign on the door of an empty store, formerly a laundromat. So in 2004, she opened the intimate Parisian bistro called Chiboust.

Popular choices at Chiboust

Favorites of Chiboust patrons, the Chef du Cuisine said, include Giannone roast chicken ($25) and grilled lamb sirloin ($26). Needless to say, desserts abound and can be viewed on a dessert tray following dinner. They can also be purchased at  a counter at the front of the restaurant.

Popular appetizers include pate of chicken liver with pistachio ($8), spicy salmon spring roll ($9), a grilled flatbread called Pizzalta with proscuitto, figs and gorgonzola ($14) and skewered snails with garlic butter and chorizo ($8).

Among the most popular main courses at Chiboust, Rose said, are sea scallops with horseradish grits in a lemon-coconut broth ($27), Painted Hills Farms' short rib ($30) and ravioli with butternut squash cream brulee ($24). Her favorite seafood dish is orata, available on occasion as a special.

Chiboust is named after the nineteenth-century French chef who created Gateau St. Henore, a classic French pastry that combined Chiboust cream and flavored custard with Italian meringue.

Chiboust Bistro and Bakery, located at 14 Main Street, Tarrytown NY 10951, is open for lunch Friday through Sunday, dinner Wednesday through Sunday and brunch on Sunday (11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.). 914-703-6550. www.chiboust.com.