Chef André Rochat, President
Gastronomy Management Group
André Rochat is Las Vegas' original celebrity chef. Long before Wolfgang Puck, Emeril Lagasse and Charlie Palmer arrived in Las Vegas, Rochat was providing the kind of world-class cuisine and sophisticated service that easily satisfied the most discriminating high rollers. And today, although he shares the limelight with some of America's most celebrated toques, Rochat remains the dean of Las Vegas chefs, with three award-winning venues 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, 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 that 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, André'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 André's, with the rustic ambiance of a French country auberge, was the place for an intimate gourmet dinner in the burgeoning metropolis, and the restaurant gradually expanded to its current capacity of 180. Since 1980, André'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'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, André's at the Monte Carlo, an exclusive 60-seat restaurant with the trappings of an elegant château. And then, 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 three 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—a rare quality in a successful chef—he is regarded as a superb mentor to younger talents.
Rochat, a passionate collector, maintains one of the most extensive and exclusive collections of Wine, Armagnacs, Cognacs, vintage Ports and spirits in the world, displayed throughout his three fine restaurants—yet another reason discriminating diners enjoy spending an evening with the legendary chef who put Las Vegas on the culinary map.