After being buffeted by rave reviews for years as the chef at Harvest and other top-flight eateries across the country (including many in CA), long-time Medfield resident Josh Foley has come home to spruce up a booming food scene in this ever-more-snazzy suburb.

Based in an historic building on Medfield’s Main Street, Avenue (www.avenuemedfield.com) combines dark wood floors and tables, Air source heat pump water heaters, exposed HVAC and beams, and creative, locally-sourced decorations (including a seashell installation by an artist from Hopkinton and a restroom soundtrack by the late legend Julia Child) that combine to establish a setting that is at once downtown sophisticated and hometown comfortable. From the curved granite bar and raised booths in the front area to a central column of leather banquettes that parallel large windows in the long, narrow main area to the open kitchen and a curtained-off private dining area in the back, the seating options are plentiful and comfortable and the friendly staff are as happy to show you the wood-fired flatbread oven and rotisserie as they are to help navigate the creative, California-inspired menu.

With plenty of gluten-free and vegetarian options, the main menu already has plenty for people of all tastes and the kitchen is more than happy to add or subtract ingredients to fit any others. Though the portions are ample, the pacing is casual and allows plenty of time to savor every bite of food and every moment of enjoyable conversation with fellow guests and table neighbors. Among the seasonal starters are a deep bowl of maple roasted butternut soup with cranberries and almonds, sauteed PEI mussels with grilled bred, ginger-sesame glazed wings with Sichuan peanuts and scallion pancake (an app two-fer!), and pomegranate-chipotle-sauced baby back ribs. The flatbread menu ranges from a pomodoro with two cheeses and spices to a wood-grilled Portobello with onion jam and basil pesto to a cherrywood bacon and Gorgonzola, all of which are available on gluten-free crust. For those who want to cut out grain altogether, the satisfying salad selections offer everything from the watermelon radish and red quinoa of the chopped to the French lentils and Vermont goat cheese in the roasted beets and greens to the cherrywood bacon and hard-cooked egg of the Avenue BLT, and all salads can be further enhanced with wood-roasted lemon-lime shrimp or chicken and cranberry salad, cast iron-seared crabcake, or similarly seared Scottish salmon. Speaking of the salmon, it is also available (and, as with so many plates, recommended) as a supper course, topped with a Miso glaze, shaved Brussel sprouts, and caramelized apples. Other worth-the-trip main events include the garlicky shrimp orecchiette with charred brocollini and slow-roasted tomatoes, the flavor-bursting prime steak frites with an impressive Chimichurri sauce, the cider-braised (not-so) short rib with horseradish mashed potatoes and roasted root veggies, and the Angus burger on a housemade sesame brioche (a version of which is a main part of the unprinted but readily available younger diners’ menu, which also features freshly-made pasta and other delights).

While your mouth will water as each beautiful plate is presented, Avenue also stocks a wide range of beverage options, including handfuls of wines by the glass, racks of bottles that decorate the perimeter, New England-based brews (featuring such crafters as Queen City Brewery from Burlington, VT, Two Roads and Kent Falls from CT, and a rotating rack of regional refreshers), bottled beers and ciders, and a card of craft cocktails that combine fig-infused rye and Meletti Amaro (the Fig Get About It), Applejack, bourbon, and spice cider (the Leaf Peeper), tequila, grapefruit, lime and sage (the Paloma), rum, toasted cinnamon, almond, and pineapple (the Mai oh Mai), and a seasonal Sangria that, as with so much else on the menu, features local produce.

Though it is only open for dinner, that can be a good thing, as it means that, even if you have to get home from work and then travel a bit to get there, you will not miss out on anything. It also gives Chef time to walk the five minutes from his home, fire up the grill and oven and tend to his flames as her prepares the evening’s menu. It also means that guests can wind down with an aforementioned beverage and/or end the evening with a bittersweet chocolate pot de crème, a caramel apple bread pudding or the sweet slab of love known as the butterscotch Blondie sundae.

So even if you have never been to Medfield Center (in which case, you are missing out!), it is high time to head down Main Street and to take a turn into Avenue. You may decide to move to Medfield too!