Press
12/01/2006
Home for the Holidays with Chef André Rochat
The word "father" has always been a little obscure to me, especially as a child. I had heard about fathers. I knew there were lots of different kinds of fathers. My friends had them. I knew about Father Mulcahy from "M.A.S.H." I had heard of Father Christmas, who had something to do with Gentile boys and girls in other lands. And, of course, there was my real dad, the Godfather of Soul, Mr. James Brown. I figured that one out myself when I was about nine. My mother still won't admit it, but my dance moves alone undeniably prove my lineage.
Regardless if he's a parent, a priest, a fable or the winner of a 1992 lifetime achievement Grammy Award, a father is important. Fathers are teachers, providers, protectors, founders and inventors. Just Google "father of invention" and read about everyone from Galileo to Thomas Edison to Let Paul. Being the "father" of something is a well-deserved honor. I recently sat down with a local influential patriarch, Chef André Rochat, who is, in our opinion, the undisputed Father of Food and Beverage in Las Vegas. After getting to know him, I'm certain this title is well-deserved, although André probably would be the last one to admit it.
André was the first serious chef in Las Vegas. Born in the French Alps, he was doing his thing in Vegas in the '70s. He was here before everything, started out just like everyone else, and now owns and operates three popular local restaurants: The original André's downtown, André's at the Monte Carlo and Alizé at the top of the Palms. Yet, this accomplished man is without ego. He puts his checkered pants on one leg at a time and considers his past as much a part of what he is today as this weekend's dinner special.
LVFBM: How did you get started in Las Vegas?
André: I came to town in 1971. First, I opened a French Bakery Coffee Shop in '73, on the corner of Flamingo and Maryland Parkway, where Paymon's Mediterranean Café is now. At the time, I would look out my backdoor and I would see the mountain because there was nothing on Flamingo - absolutely nothing. The only business that was there at the time and is still there today is that little strip joint called Platinum. At the time, it was called the Tender Trap, and that was the only business on Flamingo. And where Bally's is today, that was the Bonanza and the Galaxy was next to it. The Dunes was there and that was it. There was nothing. And then Flamingo just stopped. It didn't go any further.
UNLV was there. I had a little bakery coffee shop there and I used to serve lunch and breakfast. I used to have everybody from the university. I used to have all the stars coming there. It was a fun place. Then I sold that in '77 and I opened downtown in June 1980. When we opened downtown, we used to have two menus for dinner: one at $14.95 and one at $18.95.
LVFBM: Andre's downtown is an old house that has some Vegas history. Please tell us about that.
André: The house downtown was built in the early '30s by the family that used to own the Apache Hotel on Fremont Street. Later on, the Binions rented some land from the family and built the Horseshoe. Then, Binion tried to buy that land. One of the daughters of the family married a young man who advised the family not to sell to Binion. One morning in the early '70s, that man got in his car to go to work, turned on the ignition and the car went "kaboom!" Although everybody knew who it was, nothing ever happened. I bought the house from a lady who made it a boarding house. It was cut up into little rooms that she was renting. I remodeled the house, at work every day. I used to go at 5:00 in the morning, work until 1:00 in the afternoon, run home, take a shower and go to the Sands. At the time, I was sous chef at the Sands. I would work at the Sands until 11:30 or midnight and start over the next day. I know everything in that house, where everything is. All the wood work, I did. Every year we close for a month to remodel. I just did the upstairs and did the stairs down to the cellar. I did it all.
LVFBM: You are very dedicated. I know that your mother was a big influence on you. What else influenced you to work so hard?
André: Oh sure, my mother, definitely. My mother was a fantastic cook. I was not really born and raised in the business, but my father was a butcher in my village in France. We used to do everything ourselves. My father would buy the cattle on Sunday and we would slaughter it on Monday. We would buy the pigs and the lamb on Thursday and we slaughtered them on Friday. I would go to the slaughterhouse. The way that we killed the animals was a little different than we do today. It was rough, but I'm used to that. I would stand on a stool, turning the sausage machine. We made everything, absolutely everything. I've done it all. In 1958, I did my apprenticeship in Lyon (France) at a place called Leon de Lyon. I remember I used to go to the market at 6:00 in the morning and carry all the stuff from the car to my bosses, and they would be drinking champagne at 6:00 in the morning already.
LVFBM: Do you ever make it back to Lyon?
André: I don't go home to often. I don't have family anymore. I come from a little village in the Alps and I like to remember it the way it was. It changed a lot and I don't like the change, so I like to remember the way it was.
LVFBM: What do you thing of all the changes that are going on here in Las Vegas, especially with the revitalization of downtown?
André: I think if somebody can do it [Mayor] Oscar [Goodman] can. He is the only one who really put his heart in it. He is trying really hard to do something, and all that is going to take time. We do need the monorail though.
LVFBM: André's down town remains popular, you're still here. How have you managed with the fierce competition of the strip?
André: Well, I manage because I've been there for more than 25 years and I have built my clientele over the years, but event the local clientele is very fickle.
LVFBM: The growth of Las Vegas will impact the local food and beverage industry. Do you thing more F & B professionals will make Las Vegas their homes as a result?
André: It's going to me more and more. If you look at it right now, about 40,000 new hotel rooms are being built. Each room creates 2.5 jobs. That's 100,000 new jobs. But, as it is, we can't find people to work. Our biggest problem is being such a transient city. It's not like big cities like New York or L.A. where you hire a cook, he's got a good job and he stays. you don't worry about your people for years to come as long as you treat them right. Here, they fly by night.
LVFBM: Do you thing that the popularity of cooking and food on modern television attracts more young people to our industry who may not have gone in that direction?
André: I think we're sending the wrong message to young people. The whole thing now is tho be a star chef, to be on TV and all that. We're sending the message to those young people, "Become a chef, you're going to be star." It's totally crazy and it's totally wrong. Most cooking schools don't teach the kids to cook anymore. It's a business. Make money, no matter what. Get them in and get them out. A kid comes out of school, spends $70,000 a year and thinks he knows how to cook. You put him to work and he's totally lost. It's nothing like he learned in school. It's a lot more work that he thought it would be. There's a lot of pressure, there's a lot of tension, it's hot and it's dirty. A lot of them quit, a lot of them change. To be a chef, you're going to have to put at least 12-15 years in this business in a lot of different places. It's a lot to learn and it's hard work. There is no 9 to 5. You don't work eight hours a day, you work 12 or 14 hours a day. Many times you don't even have time to eat. It's go go go. I work every day. First one there, last to finish. And I work downtown, behind the stove pretty much everyday. We're fooling those young people who want to be a chef. But, I think it;s like everything in life: everything goes around. I think eventually we'll come back to the classics: the purity of the food, simple preparation and simple presentation. Really, you have what you are supposed to eat. It will come back eventually to a dining room presentation, service at the table and all that.
LVFBM: What is your advice to young aspiring chefs?
André: The problem today is something that young people don't realize. We are always running, to go nowhere and do nothing. We go to a nice restaurant and spend all that money, but we don't take time to enjoy it. Relax. Take your time. Have a nice conversation; enjoy a beautiful dinner, a nice bottle of wine. you'll have a beautiful evening, why are you running? People don't realize until its too late that the greatest time in your life is around food. Celebrations, for example, always are around food. Relax, take your time and enjoy it.
LVFBM: How do you teach this to young people hoping to be successful in the industry?
André: We do a luncheon for the kids from UNLV about every three months. We try to educate them on dining. Most people don't even know how to hold a fork and knife. I talk to them a little bit and make them realize the importance of a nice table and how there is more joy in a nice table with good food and good company. I think we miss out on that. Look at Europe; eating is so important in Europe. Everywhere it is so important, for good reason. But here we're in a hurry. We're running, running, running.
LVFBM: How to the atmospheres of your restaurants encourage guests to slow down and enjoy?
André: André's at the Monte Carlo is a little place; it's very special, very different. I don't like big places. I don't like those big noisy places. I don't believe that you can produce really top quality food and service in a place that seats 300 or 400 – there's no way. And with Alizé, we have something unique that nobody else has. And, again, it's a small place. Alizé is just beautiful. We're on the 56th floor of the Palms, with windows all the way around. But it doesn't heel empty, it doesn't feel cold. It feels cozy, very intimate. What also makes the difference without places is that we put a lot of focus on table setting. we have beautiful linens and beautiful settings. All out plate sets are designer plates: Monte Carlo has Versace, Alizé has Lesley Roy. They're all custom-made designer plates. So it makes you feel good. You spend the money, and you see where you spend your money –not only on the atmosphere, but the setting, the food and the service all are part of it. And it's very important. That's one thing I always tell my chefs: "Whatever you do, you have to give your customers their money's worth." I'm a firm believer that if you're going to buy a $3 hamburger, you should have a $3 hamburger. If you're going to spend $100 for dinner, you should have $100 worth. It's important.
LVFBM: It's refreshing that your are more concerned with the fundamentals of good dining rather that publicity. So, we should not expect any André cookbooks under the tree this year?
André: No cookbooks. I'm not into that. To me, the greatest is when you have a full restaurant and everybody is eating, drinking and having a great time and everybody leaves saying, "This is the best food I have ever had." That's all I want. The rest doesn't impress me at all. Although Mayor Goodman changed the name of the street downtown, that was a really, really nice thing. It was on our 25th anniversary on June 29. The street is now Chef André Rochat Place and "André Rochat Day" is June 30.
LVFBM: With such commitment, do you ever get out of your kitchen?
André: I travel a lot. I do one cruise a year with Crystal Cruise as a guest chef there. That takes me all around the world. When I travel with them, I usually do two demonstrations and two dinners. I always try to do a dinner from the country that we are going around. So it's a great experience and the crews on board are just fantastic. I'm beginning to know everybody. I look forward to it. I think this year we are going, in May, from Istanbul to Venice. I don't know this part of the world yet. The thing that's fun is with the ship, you don't have to pack and unpack – it's nice an slow. It's just great, it's wonderful. It's really nice and I have a nice cabin with balconies. It's usually 12-14 days. The ship is beautiful, absolutely beautiful. The galley is just unbelievable. I look forward to that, it's a nice getaway.
LVFBM: You're always cooking for everyone else. What do you like to eat?
André: Oh I love food. I eat anything. I'm not crazy about some stuff, but I love food. I love to experience food, but I'm very picky about classics. Whenever I travel, I try everything. I just came back from Thailand last week> I ate Thai food the whole week I was there. And, being born and raised in a small village, with parents as butchers, I love to eat tripe, liver, calf brain and all that. I love all that stuff. We do a specialty dinner downtown once in a while and we call it the "Bec fin." The translation is the "fine break," meaning somebody that has a fine palate. One year, we did different countries of the world, so we did all the food and the wine from that country. One time I said we were going to do a surprise dinner, and it was all innards. People didn't know what they were eating. For some people it was OK, but for some people it didn't go over too well.
LVFBM: What special things do you do for the holidays?
André: We have special holiday menus. We make new menus all the time, so we like to make things festive. Of course its winter and it's cold, so the food is going to be a little heavier. We always have venison, things like that. We try to stay with what's available at the time, vegetable-wise, etc. All the restaurants decorate for the holidays, especially downtown. It's beautiful. The atmosphere of the downtown already is an old house, which is very French Country. Then, decorated for the holidays, it is very homey and very festive. That's what people look for. And when you walk in there now, it puts you on the ambiance already. It is romantic. I don't think there is something more romantic or more festive than downtown for Christmas Eve. It's really a nice feeling. The whole idea is to come over and have a nice, relaxing, romantic and festive dinner. We have menus for New Year's Eve also. At Alizé, mostly because of where we are, we do an early seating, and then a late seating with all the fireworks because we have such a unique view. We'll stay open as long as the people will stay. We don't have a closing time. But Alizé is the place for New Year's because of the view. You have the whole strip in front of you. It's incredible, unbelievable.
All of Chef André Rochat's restaurants are incredible and unbelievable. Holiday reservations are being taken now for dinner starting at 5:30 p.m. at the original André's downtown. André's at the Monte Carlo and Alizé at the top of the Palms. For more information on Las Vegas' "Father of Food and Beverage," visit www.andrelv.com.
