Meet me at the Café! An Interview with David Gazzano of Le Café Du Val (Café Du Vegas)
When evoking the French culture, many things spring to mind: fine fashion, perfumes and sophistication, French singer Edith Piaf, French designer Coco Chanel, Godard films, delicious macarons, poetry, and the understated elegance of everyday life. Case in point, the café. Nothing speaks of the culture of the French like a leisurely morning and afternoon spent with a fresh copy of the paper, a buttery croissant, a freshly sliced baguette, and a side of local preserves, espresso, and an open book or lengthy conversation. When visiting the Le Café Du Val (Café du Vegas), you will be privy to all of these. Located in the Southwest of Henderson, Le Café Du Val is the charm of another world: pastel shades, crystal chandeliers, olive-shaded sattes and a palette of colors that would make Auguste Renoir jealous.
Header Photo Credit: Chef David Gazzano by Café du Val (Café du Vegas) Collections.
French Quarter Magazine was fortunate to recently sit down with owner and chef David Gazzano.
Good afternoon David! It’s such a pleasure to sit down with you today. I must say, you have a very attractive establishment. What was the inspiration for your distinctive atmosphere and look?
We were inspired from a French Café in Paris, and I feel that three elements are important for our success to date: food quality, service, and ambiance.
Where in France do you come from?
I have lived in Nice – that’s where I’m from – in the French Riviera. My family and my grandparents had a couple of businesses in the region such as a French Cafe and restaurants, which lead us to want to open our own business. That’s where I got my inspiration!
What brought you to this location?
We opened our first café in Lake Las Vegas four years ago. Previously, we started to look around and found a different range of potential dining options, but we didn’t see any exciting locations fitting our expectations so we decided to open a French Café.
How do you merge the Cafe Culture of France in America?
We get inspired when going to various eateries in California. We have learned to understand what the clientele is looking for. We definitely have strong French DNA when it comes to food and cuisine, but we try to be a crowd-pleaser when it comes to offering food such as avocado toast, galettes, a selection of quiches, crab & egg benedict, croque-monsieur and all sorts of delicious baked and French goodies.
What sets Le Café Du Val apart from the rest of the fold? In a city known for internationally-cuisine as Las Vegas what would make someone choose an establishment like Le Café Du Val in lieu of another place?
After being settled in Las Vegas for 17 years, I found it was actually time to promote our business to the neighborhood, not that we wanted to compete on the Strip for delicious French meal that we can find there. We decided and looked to serve to our Las Vegas and Henderson neighborhood instead, with Le Café du Lac and Café du Val.
Find “Le Cafe Du Val” (Café du Vegas) on:
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/lecafeduvegas
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/lecafeduval/
Also on the official website: https://www.lecafeduvegas.com/
About the Author
Christopher Cipollini was born in the United States but his heart belongs in the culture of Paris. His passion was born through self taught study of artists from Degas to Lautrec and writers as Genet and Rimbaud. His great love of French culture are symbolism poetry and, French cinema and history. He is a two time author and has written for several American publication as "The Desert Observer," Downtown Zen" and published two prose books: "The Musings" and "A Secret Kingdom". He lives in Las Vegas.
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Have not eaten at the cafe yet but i am quite taken by what i see on your web page and cannot wait to sample your delicous looking food items. thank you for bringing your talents to us and bienvenue to the neighbor hood…
Thank you so much for your warm welcome, Onofrio! We’re thrilled to hear that you’ve been excited to try their delicious offerings at Café du Val. Sorry for the late response! We were short on staff. If you have any questions or need recommendations when you visit, feel free to reach out. We’re delighted to be a part of this Henderson neighborhood and look forward to reading you and giving us your feedback!
Dear David Gazzano. I had a wonderful breakfast yesterday at Cafe du Val a first for me. Delicious! I also took home a boxed Quiche and later when I opened it I was pleasntly surprised it included a salad of wonderfful fresh greens but the real surprise was the wonderful salad dressing with a hint on lemon I assume?
My question is there any way you might share the recipe for that with me??
I intend to eat at your lovely cafe many times in the future and merci again for bringing it to the neihborhood,
Sorry for the late response, Nofi! Our team has been restructured and we lacked the time to replying. We are now able to do so. Thank you for sharing your wonderful experience at Café du Val! We’re thrilled to hear that you enjoyed your breakfast. Your kind words mean a lot to us. We’ve noted your request for the recipe, and we’ll be sure to transmit it to David Gazzano. We’ll do our best to fulfill your request. Thank you for your interest, and we look forward to serving you many more times in the future!
Nice going u guys! Glad to see the expansion going on, Met up with the lovely Carmen today while picking up some tasty items. A real treat meeting Carmen. Bon chance going forword and thanks again chef.
Thank you so much for your kind words and support, Nofi! It’s fantastic to hear that you had a delightful experience with Carmen and enjoyed our tasty offerings. We have been thrilled about the expansion and we love the place so much since Henderson is our city of preference and Carmen and David are awesome people!!!! We deeply appreciate your encouragement. Your continued patronage means a lot to us. Wishing you all the best, and we look forward to reading your feedback and feel free to ask us questions or writing any comments on our future articles!