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By Special Order:
Roast Suckling Pig for 6 to 8 people.

E-mail:
chez.pierre@verizon.net

Name:
Pierre Pelech
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Occupation:
Chef/owner of Chez Pierre (an authentic French bistro),
44250 Town Center Way in Palm Desert, 346-1818.
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Home:
Palm Desert, originally from Pau, France
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Background:
His interesting culinary journey has covered destinations in the French Riviera, Polynesia, the Caribbean and Los Angeles. Locally, he was a chef at Bighorn Country Club in Palm Desert and was the chef at the Heart Institute in Rancho Mirage, working with Dr. Jack
Sternlieb.
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Favorite foods to prepare: 
Wild game and fish 

Most memorable cooking experience: He represented the state of California at a state dinner in Washington D.C. for Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.
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Recipe for success:
"Hard work and love of what you're doing. I'm a lucky man because I can't wait to go to work every morning. It's a pleasure to give pleasure."

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Proudest cooking accomplishment:
Teaching blind children how to cook at the Braille Institute in Los Angeles.

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Cooking philosophy:
"If I can't eat it or drink it, I will not serve it."
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What people don't know:
He loves jazz and plays pétanque (a distant cousin of horseshoes and a close relative of bocce) every Sunday.
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Customers' Favorites:
Frog legs sauté Provençal, Braised Sweetbread Mascotte and thin Beignets.
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Restaurant preferences:
Cuistot and Musashi, both in Palm Desert.

Since he opened the restaurant in November 2002, Chef Pierre has continually improved the facility and the charming patio is covered and air-cooled, with a misting system inside and out. You may dine inside, but we recommend the patio as the best spot for a leisurely evening enjoying Chef Pierre's creations, the professional wait staff and the management and organizational skills of Pierre's elegant spouse and partner, Esther Pelech.  Desserts here are top-notch, especially the apple tart served with vanilla ice cream. The pastry is tissue paper thin, lighter than air and large enough to share, albeit reluctantly.

Crème brulee is perfection but the chocolate mousse, liberally garnished with whipped cream, is akin to velvet on the palate and most definitely should not be shared. We also recommend the very French floating island with custard cream made from Tahitian vanilla beans costing $100.00 per pound.

All desserts are made by Chef Pierre and are priced at $8.00.

What better way to top off a wonderful culinary experience than with a glass of dessert wine or a fine port? It's all available at reasonable prices at this marvelous French bistro.

Here's what The Desert Sun had to say about us in May 2005:

This charming, authentic French bistro in the Trader Joe's shopping center in Palm Desert may be one of the desert's best-kept culinary secrets. Owner and Chef Pierre Pelech, a passionate missionary of authentic bistro food, sets a high standard in creative cooking at reasonable prices. Chef Pierre's summer menu begins Wednesday and focuses on large salads with shrimp and calamari, as well as lighter bistro fare.

Here's what the Desert Magazine had to say about us in February 2003

In the French tradition, Chef Pierre also will introduce pitchers of wine, light and inexpensive, priced from $16.00 - $20.00.
The menu, naturally, includes all things French such as frog legs Provencale and braised sweetbreads garnished with mushrooms, artichokes and sherry for $24.00. Some of the heavier entrees - including coq au vin - disappear for the summer, but the menu will retain the popular hanger steak with shallots and a Cabernet wine sauce, priced at $22.00 and served with pomme frites. The calamari steak served with lemon and capers on a bed of angel hair pasta with tomato and basil is $21.00, and the veal piccata served with capers, lemon and a Chablis wine sauce is $24.00. Both are wonderful summer dishes.

Chez Pierre's marvelous complimentary appetizer pate will be replaced for summer with a medley of iced vegetables, including Mexican onions with garlic mayonnaise. Accompanying entrees this summer will be an assortment of room-temperature vegetables dressed with balsamic vinegar. Winter or summer, one of the most marvelous aspects of dining at Chez Pierre is the ambience on the terrace.

Rack of lamb is one of the things I make at home.  Mine is excellent:  crispy on the outside, melts-in-your-mouth pink on the inside, with a rich, rosemary-Dijon sauce.  Why should I spend $20 to $35 for someone else's rack when I know I can do as well or better for $10.  My daughter, who is all of nine years old, came with us to review Chez Pierre.  She loves rack of lamb and was a bit wary of the French dishes on the menu.  She split Pierre's rack with my wife.  After placing a single morsel in her mouth she looked me right in the eye and proclaimed, "Daddy, this is better than yours."  Horrified, I reached over for a bite.  Washed over by a wave of humility and deeply chagrined, I said, "Honey, you're right.  It is better than mine."

Chez Pierre is almost an authentic French bistro.  To be truly authentic Pierre would serve wine from a barrel in picket (about 6 oz), half carafe, and full carafe sizes.  The government wouldn't let him so Chez Pierre's is "almost authentic and a first for the desert."   Chez Pierre is located in the space vacated by Magnolia, next to Fisherman's Market in Palm Desert. Chez Pierre may well become my favorite restaurant.  I prefer the informal atmosphere compared to the formality of Azur or Cuistot (not to mention the prices), but that is personal taste.
Peter Osbaldeston