French Riviera Tropézienne Bakery has announced an opening date for its new location at 401 S. Sixth St., the downtown Las Vegas space that was home to pioneering French restaurant Andre’s for nearly 30 years and had sat vacant since its closure on New Year’s Eve 2008.
The bakery will debut at 7 a.m. Friday, the third valley shop for French Riviera, which also has locations on South Cimarron Road in the southwest and South Eastern Avenue in Henderson. Complimentary coffee will be served that morning, with the full bistro set to open in September.
“We want to create a place where, from the moment you walk through the door, you feel like you’ve arrived in France,” owner Gladys Khalifa told Neon last month. “Through the flavors, aromas, products, décor and atmosphere, our goal is to offer a true French escape.”
Khalifa said the menu at the new downtown shop “will keep the same DNA as our other locations, featuring our bakery, pastries, viennoiseries and café offerings. “At the same time, this location will have its own identity. We will offer an additional menu featuring French specialties available exclusively at downtown,” she said last month. “Guests will also discover French products, cookies, gourmet treats and small treasures that evoke the kind of souvenirs people love to bring home from France.”
Often called Vegas’ original celebrity chef, André Rochat opened his eponymous restaurant in June 1980 on South Sixth Street, serving French haute cuisine (notably doing so off the Strip) and becoming one of the founders of the city’s modern fine dining movement.
“The first time we stepped inside the former Andre’s, we immediately felt something special,” Khalifa said. “We are honored to have the opportunity to write a new chapter in a place that holds so many memories for the community.”
Visit frenchrivieravegas.com.
Contact Johnathan L. Wright at [email protected]. Follow @JLWTaste on Instagram.