By Max Bowen-max.bowen@northstarreporter.com
Aaron Voisine said that Red Stone Grill won’t be one of those places that charges $38 for a pasta dish—they just want to make a really great burger.
Voisine—the new executive chef at Red Stone—said that working there has been a great experience. He and longtime friend and fellow chef Tim Gendron have long discussed opening their own place, and the freedom they’ve been given to design the menu comes very close.
“It’s a basic, but it’s a good kind of basic,” said Voisine of the redesigned menu.
Said menu includes some amazing signature burgers. Aaron’s is a pulled pork with mac and cheese called End of the Day, and he joked that once you finish this meal, you’re going to head straight to bed. There’s a Swiss and mushroom burger known as The Hal Burger, named after a longtime patron of the Red Stone. Gendron’s burger is a blend of lettuce, tomato, onion, chipotle mayo, fried egg, applewood-smoked bacon and pepper-jack cheese called Not Fer’ Nothing, because it is most definitely something.
“They’re very big burgers,” said Gendron, the new sous chef. “All of our burgers, we make them. That’s a big difference.”
Gendron and Voisine came to Red Stone around a month ago following a change in ownership. Voisine said that during his interview he was asked about his vision for the restaurant. Along with the unique burgers, Red Stone offers a variety of pizzas, sandwiches, fish dishes, steak, and much more. As time passes they’ll make some changes based on what sells and what doesn’t, but at this point Voisine said they’re still in the “crawl before you can walk” phase.
“This is an opportunity for us as a place to redefine who we are,” he said. “Throw away the past and turn the page.”
Both Voisine and Gendron come with a lifetime of experience in the kitchen. Gendron started out at the age of 16 washing dishes in a Greek restaurant, and later moving to the food prep line. He went to Johnson & Wales University and said he loved every day of it. During his time there he got the chance to intern at the Colonnade Hotel in Boston and was later offered the position of banquet chef.
Voisine went to South New Hampshire University and Salter College. His first job was at The Sole Proprietor in Worcester, one of the most popular restaurants in the area and known for its celebrity clientele. The two met while working at an Outback Steakhouse, but felt they could do better.
“We’ve always been really close and wanted to open our own place for awhile—we talked about it many times,” said Gendron. “Dave [the new manager] has kind of given us that opportunity.”
Red Stone re-opened on July 9 with a private event for family and friends of the staff. This was a challenging night for Gendron and Voisine, as it was a lot of work to get everything set up. After a 17-hour shift, the two were grateful to head home when they were told the manager wanted them to come up front for a meeting. There, the staff, friends, and family were waiting to applaud their hard work and raise a toast.
“My whole ‘I’m tired’ just went away,” said Voisine. “It was very nice to get that reassurance from everybody.”
Since opening to the public on July 10, reviews on Yelp and Facebook have been largely positive. Hal, the namesake for the Hal Burger, has been to the restaurant several times and once told Voisine that the steak tips were amazing. Every time he’s been in, Hal has had something different, which is the two chefs’ goal.
“We want everybody to not be afraid to come and try something else and like that, too,” said Gendron. “We want them to try everything.”
Red Stone Grill is located at 120 Chestnut St. in North Attleborough. For more information, visit red-stone-grill.com.
