CHEF ANDRE ROCHAT
Chef/Proprietor, Gastronomy Management GroupAndré Rochat is Las Vegas’ original celebrity chef.

Long before Wolfgang Puck, Emeril Lagasse and Charlie Palmer arrived in Las Vegas, Rochat was providing world-class cuisine and sophisticated service, easily satisfying the most discriminating high rollers. Today, while he shares the limelight with some of America’s most celebrated chefs and restaurateurs, Rochat remains the dean of Las Vegas chefs, with two top-ranked, award-winning restaurants, and a dedication to standards as high as the 56th floor perch of one of his grandest restaurants, Alizé, which overlooks the city from the top of the Palms Casino Resort.

Rochat was born in the French Alps where his family owned a charcuterie in the village of La Rochette. After learning the business—beginning at the tender age of five—and inheriting the gift of cooking from his mother, he left home at 14 to apprentice at Leon de Lyon, the renowned Michelin two-star restaurant in the heart of Lyon, in the region known as the cradle of French gastronomy.

Later, he took a job at the Hôtel du Mont-Blanc in Megève, not far from home, and followed with a military assignment as chef to a French naval commander, a prestigious appointment for a rising culinary star.

In 1965, Rochat departed his native France, arriving in Boston with nothing but $5, a bagful of knives and a head full of youthful dreams. After cooking at several prestigious East Coast hotels including Boston’s Charter House and Washington’s Mayflower and enjoying a stint as an in-flight chef for United Airlines, he drifted west, eventually landing in Las Vegas—a long way from La Rochette. In 1973, he opened a successful business, Savoy French Bakery, after observing the absence of an authentic French boulangerie in Las Vegas.

In 1980, Rochat founded his cozy French restaurant, Andre’s, which would eventually become one of Las Vegas’ most venerable and acclaimed establishments.

Despite its location in downtown Las Vegas, word quickly spread that Andre’s, with the rustic ambiance of a French country auberge, was the place for an intimate gourmet dinner in the burgeoning metropolis. Since then, Andre’s has set the standard for culinary excellence in Las Vegas and even the much-publicized arrival of celebrity chefs from L.A., New York and San Francisco didn’t detract from the restaurant’s superlative reputation and immense following. As LVCitylife.com put it, “Andre’s is what people think of when someone says, ‘take me to the nicest place in town.’”

In 1997, Rochat opened a second location on the Strip, Andre’s Restaurant and Lounge at Monte Carlo. In 2001, he opened Alizé on top of the Palms Casino Resort, the hip hotel that has profoundly altered the dynamics of Las Vegas nightlife. With his now two highly acclaimed restaurants, Rochat remains at the top of the Las Vegas culinary hierarchy and seems to be a chef truly at peace with his choices in life.

Described by his peers as having no ego, he is regarded as a superb mentor to younger talents. Recognized in 2008 and 2009, Rochat accomplished his life dream when two of his restaurants were recognized by the Michelin Guide with one star rating.

Rochat, a passionate collector, maintains one of the most extensive and exclusive collections of Cognacs in the world, displayed throughout his fine restaurants — yet another reason discriminating diners enjoy spending an evening with the legendary chef who put Las Vegas on the culinary map.

TAMMY ALANA
Pastry Chef, Gastronomy Management Group Tammy Alana, one of four children, was born in Torrance, Calif. and raised in Orange County. She discovered her calling to the kitchen while enrolled in culinary certification courses at the community college in Cypress California.

Alana apprenticed at a local bakery in Yorba Linda, Calif. in 1999, making breads, Danishes and wedding cakes when she decided to pursue her formal education at the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) at Greystone in Napa Valley, Calif. While attending the CIA, Alana was offered a pastry cook position at Domaine Chandon Winery and the lead baker position at Brix Restaurant in Yountville, Calif., which evolved into the assistant pastry position.

Upon graduating from the CIA, her interest in high volume, large hotels was at all time high. With no job prospects, Alana moved to Las Vegas to pursue work in the hotel industry. Shortly after arriving, she landed at Bellagio, where she worked banquets, then with the restaurant team and onto the wedding cake department.

When the new Green Valley Ranch Resort & Spa opened, she worked in the pastry shop where she continued to hone her skills gaining knowledge and experience in a boutique hotel.

Shortly thereafter, Alana was introduced to the Maccioni family of Le Cirque and Circo who were looking for a pastry chef to open their new “Off-Strip” venture in the Summerlin area of Las Vegas, Trē. The Maccioni Family’s corporate chef would eventually introduce Alana to André Rochat who was looking for a unique talent to take over the pastry chef’s position at Alizé at the Top of the Palms Casino Resort.

Today, Alana oversees both award winning restaurants’ pastry departments at Alizé at the Top of The Palms and Andre’s at Monte Carlo Resort & Casino.

In 2005, Alizé was invited to the James Beard House where Alana prepared the intermittent, pastries and petit fours to rave reviews. Also in 2005, she was named as one of Las Vegas’ Rising Star Pastry Chefs by Star Chefs, in 2006; Alana was featured on the Food Network episode Sugar Rush. Alana has done many charity events such as Odyssey, Share our Strength, Epicurean, Jean Louis and Bon Apetit; she has also participated in the American Heart Assoc. in Washington D.C.