When Andre’s Bistro & Bar opens on Saturday, January 14, it will mark a new beginning for a chef and company that have played a pivotal role in the Las Vegas restaurant landscape since 1980.
That was the year chef Andre Rochat opened the original Andre’s in Downtown Las Vegas. While the casual, bistro-meets-tavern feel of the new Andre’s in the southwest Valley (in the space formerly occupied by neighborhood favorite DW Bistro) is something of a sequel to the game-changing Downtown original and the Monte Carlo follow-up—which closed in October—it’s simply the opening act for Stacked Hospitality. The newly formed company will operate Andre’s and Alizé at the Palms while developing new dining and nightlife concepts and carrying on Rochat’s legacy through managing partners John Wood, Mark Purdy and Joseph Marsco. Rochat meanwhile remains involved as “chef emeritus” for the new company.
Wood, formerly at Wynn Nightlife, joined longtime Rochat operators Marsco and Purdy to set the stage for Stacked. “There’s a great story from Andre’s 35th anniversary [party] where he stood up and toasted everyone and told Joe and Mark the next 35 years was on them,” Wood says. “When they told me that story, it all seemed to click, and I knew we were headed in the right direction. If you look at the major hospitality players in town, they’ve done a great job of blending those worlds of restaurant and nightlife, and it seemed like we had the opportunity to bring those two together.”
Stacked is already developing a new Downtown dining concept, there’s talk of a steakhouse and Marsco and Purdy have plenty of other restaurant ideas with which they’ve been tinkering over the years. “Our concepts will be varied. Having that foundation of fine dining is a great place to start,” Marsco says. “We all have different backgrounds and interests. Coming from an Italian family, Andre has been telling me for a long time we should do an Italian restaurant.”
Don’t be surprised to see several Stacked venues pop up in the coming years, possibly even something on the Las Vegas Strip. Wood says the company will definitely create a nightlife venue in the future, and with this team, it’s a safe bet it will bring something fresh to the table.
