The Rendezvous Restaurant's chef, Kim Badenhop, has had a life-long love of cooking. He began cooking professionally while in college. In 1987, while working full time for Merrill Lynch's Research and Economics Division, Kim attended the New York Restaurant School at night. Earning one of the two externships available to his class, he began working at John Clancy's Restaurant in Greenwich Village, at the time considered to be one of the finest seafood restaurants in New York City. Following his graduation from the Restaurant School, he worked part-time at Clancy's for the next couple of years while continuing to work at Merrill Lynch.

Frequent business trips to Geneva, Switzerland, afforded Kim the opportunity to dine at some of the world's finest restaurants. Weekends were spent in Burgundy and the Northern Rhône region of France at Michelin three-star restaurants such as Paul Bocuse, Alain Chapel, Lameloise and Georges Blanc. In 1988, a meeting with Georges Blanc established the opportunity for Kim to study under M. Blanc. Deciding to take full advantage of the offer, he and his wife Janice both left their careers to move to France so that Kim could spend a full year rotating through every station in the kitchen, learning all the aspects of food preparation in the restaurant. Janice and Kim spent their free time visiting other parts of France - including the Mediterranean, the Rhone and Loire Valleys, and Alsace - to become familiar with the cuisines and wines of those areas.

In early 1991, Janice and Kim moved back to the U.S., at which time Kim was hired by Cafe Beaujolais in Mendocino. After two years at the Beaujolais, Kim left to become Executive Chef at the Old Coast Hotel in Fort Bragg. In mid-1995, Janice and Kim bought the Rendezvous.

The menu at the Rendezvous reflects Kim's desire to offer a varied selection of interesting dishes at moderate prices. Some of the locals' favorites from both the Old Coast Hotel and the old Rendezvous menus remain available, and other dishes reflect the heartiness and freshness of country French cooking. Much of the cooking at The Rendezvous is labor intensive, in the European tradition. For example, stocks for sauces and soups are simmered overnight, and all desserts are made here. Seasonality is important to Kim, and his monthly menu changes reflect this. Wintertime, for example, brings wild game and Dungeness crab to the menu, while summertime provides local King Salmon and fresh fruits and vegetables from Fort Bragg's Farmers' Market.