CHOW Bistro
CASUAL NEW AMERICAN CUISINE WITH A TWIST
Featuring an eclectic menu with playful versions of classic dishes. From soups, salads, steaks, seafood to pasta. Something for everyone.
- BYO
- 454 East Main St Map it
- 484-902-8495
- Web site
- Lunch menu | Dinner-menu
Chef Guy Clauson never expected to be running a restaurant again.
Guy, a high school art major, exhibits a high level of artistic expression in everything he does. He began cooking at age 14, inspired by the great cooking of both his grandmothers (of Swedish and French-Canadian descent) as well as his Dad and Mom. This food connoisseur also experienced great food growing up.
“We lived in an area of Southern California that had ridiculously good Mexican and South American cuisine. The food had a Spanish influence, but was prepared with a lighter Parisian touch,” Guy explains.
“We also lived for a time in a Northern California Portuguese fishing town, and I was exposed to incredible food there. And when we moved to Florida, my Dad had a boat. We would catch fresh seafood–clams and varieties of fish that were delicacies that we prepared at home and which tasted amazing.”
After high school, Guy attended a Buck’s County Chef’s program, then apprenticed with three chefs trained at the Culinary Institute of New York. “I first started cooking as a job, but it quickly became a lifestyle,” Guy says. “I got hooked on it and then couldn’t get it out of my system.”
Chow!! is Guy and his wife Cathie’s third restaurant. They owned and he was the chef at the former Herb Garden Café in Phoenixville for ten years, then he owned and was head chef at another well-known popular restaurant for 12 years. When he left that restaurant, he planned to slow down and pursue another of his other passions—playing guitar and singing with his band, Vibratek.
But rather than spending most of his time performing with the band, Guy found himself spending all his time “cooking and messing up my wife’s kitchen.”
Guy realized that he really missed the restaurant business and most of all, cooking. “I wanted to start cooking again in a new restaurant that would be much smaller, with a more intimate setting,” he says. “When you are preparing 300 dinners in an evening, you are too rushed to focus on quality. I enjoy spending my time personally cooking each dish and making each one perfect.”
Guy and Cathie moved to Collegeville Borough a year ago, and when he saw the “Commercial Space for Rent” sign in Vince Raffeo’s building, he knew this would be the perfect space for his smaller dream restaurant. Guy then spent several months installing a new kitchen, and he and Cathie personally decorated the space in black, white, silver, and Chow’s signature color, lime green.
“My wife has a military background, and ‘Chow’ is a fun name for great food. Everything I make in Chow!! is made from scratch with fresh ingredients—nothing is pre-cooked, The items on the menu are my and my wife’s favorite dishes and many are from my childhood.”
Guy continues, “I priced the lunches and dinners lower than at my last restaurant so that more people can enjoy eating at Chow In this economy. And I made my recipes healthier—this is important to everyone now.”
Stop by and meet Guy and Cathie and the Chow staff, Corrine, Sean, Brenda, and Ken, Mai Tai—and try their delicious food.
Chow is open Tuesday through Saturday for lunch from 11:30 to 2:30 p.m. and dinner from 5 to 9 p.m.. Sunday hours are brunch from 9 to 2 p.m. and dinner from 4 to 8 p.m. Closed Mondays. The restaurant is located at 454 W. Main St., Collegeville. For reservations, call 484 902 8495.
