Rochat Receives Prestigious Invitation

TASTE OF THE TOWN

Andre Rochat, chef-owner of Andre’s French Restaurant, Andre’s at the Monte Carlo and Alize, will take his show on the road July 22 when he cooks at the James Beard Foundation House in New York.

“When you do a dinner at the Beard House, it’s certainly an honor,” Rochat said of the invitation-only opportunity.

But it’s also a challenge, because the Beard House isn’t a restaurant but the home of the late, legendary James Beard.

“The kitchen there is about the size of your kitchen at home — maybe,” Rochat said. “So you have to find somebody there that’s willing to let you use their kitchen to prep everything and store everything and all that, although we’re going to bring a lot of things from here. That’s the big problem when you go there, especially when you’re from out of town. But fortunately we have friends there. Charlie Palmer will let us use his kitchen and storage, so that will be a big help.”

On the menu: chickpea veloute with shrimp and truffle oil; barilla farfalle with seasonal vegetables; roasted pork loin with asperso seasoning, sweet and sour shallots, and tomato tatin; and fresh peach tart with peach cream.

Rochat said his invitation came about because a woman who’s involved with the foundation came to dinner at his downtown restaurant while on vacation in Las Vegas.

“She said, `Gee, how come you’ve never been to the James Beard House?’ ” Rochat remembers. “I said, `Well, I’ve never been invited.’ So that’s how the whole thing started. The thing was to find a date that was convenient for us. Since we’re closed downtown for the month of July, that was the perfect time.”

Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal