By Carol Coultas,Business Writer

AUBURN – Starting March 1, a new chef and a new look will anchor the restaurant in the Great Falls Plaza building.

T.J.’s restaurant, regarded as one of the area’s nicer restaurants, will close Jan. 29. About a month later, Great Falls Grill will open in its stead.

“We hope to set the mark for fine dining in Auburn,” said Justin Oliver, head chef of Great Falls Grill.

Renovations of the restaurant’s 80-seat dining area and bar will begin by month’s end. At the same time, Oliver will be working on a new menu, featuring many of the classic American and French dishes he’s learned from 14 years in the trade.

“We’re trying to do fairly simple food, but do it really well,” he said.

Oliver learned to cook by working in the kitchens of restaurants such as Donatello’s in Boston and Bandol’s in Portland, as well as some upscale inns. He plans to use Maine or New England products in his dishes as much as he can. And much of the fare will be made from scratch.

“We’ll bake our own bread, make our own pasta and offer lots of homemade desserts, including ice creams and sorbets,” he said.

He also wants to have a little fun with the restaurant. He hopes to introduce tapas – several small appetizers with a Spanish accent to share before a main course – and specialty wine dinners where different varieties of wine are paired with each course of a meal.

“We want to do what people recognize and then do some other dishes that introduce them to new flavors and techniques,” he said. Entree prices are expected to fall between $18 and $22.

The restaurant will still be owned by the Platz brothers. Steve Myers, development director for Platz Associates, said the current chef at T.J.’s decided to accept a position elsewhere and his departure prompted the renovation.

“We saw it as an opportunity to reassess the whole situation,” said Myers.

He said he hopes the new restaurant will continue to serve the existing customer base, “but also broaden the base of people who come there.” Customers with gift certificates for T.J.’s are encouraged to use them before the 29th, but Myers said they will be honored at Great Falls Grill when it opens about a month later.

(A local radio ad that recently ran encouraging reservations for Valentine’s Day aired mistakenly, and has been pulled.)

The new restaurant will offer lunches, once it’s up and running. Oliver said he expects the lunch menu will be a scaled-down version of the dinner menu, served quickly for people who are on a lunch break.

And it gives Oliver a chance to show off one of his favorite dishes.

“I make a really good burger that I serve with homemade fries,” he said. “It’s really good.”