Esther's expansion, French bistro & Italian grocery -- James Trees has big plans for The Arts Distrcit

Chef James Trees has big plans for the next year and a half. Esther’s Kitchen is moving. Its current location will be converted to an upscale French bistro. And its current prep room and storage area could become an Italian grocery.

For those who missed the livestream, those are just few of the things Trees told the Food and Loathing podcast at Tony Gemignani’s International Pizza Expo pre-party Sunday night at the Downtown Pizza Rock location. (For those who want to catch up, you can hear all of the details on Ep 43 of the podcast, “PizzaLeftovers (Again)”  -- or just keep reading for the bullet points.)

Trees began by confirming that he’s purchasing the building on the corner of Main and California Streets that has was home to the Retro Vegas antique/furniture store.

“We have the great neighbors Bill and Bob who have been part of the downtown scene since the early 90s, since they bought the property at Retro Vegas,” James said of that deal.

“They are now ready to retire, so I asked them ‘What do you want to see happen with the building?’ And they were like, ‘We want to make sure the building goes to someone who’s gonna take care of it.’”

Taking that as his cue, Tress is purchasing the 5,000-square-foot building, with plans to turn it into what he calls Esther’s Kitchen 2.0. He expects to spend 12 to 18 months converting the space, and then make the move quickly.

The considerably larger space will hopefully make it easier to score a table in what has become The Arts District’s premiere dining destination. But what will become of the original Esther’s space? According to Trees, there are nine more years on the lease. So he’s going to use them to create something he believes the neighborhood is sorely lacking: A French bistro. It will be called L’Aristocrat, an homage to one of Las Vegas’ first French eateries, The Aristocrat.

“My first places I’ve ever worked at were French,” Trees says, noting his time at Eric Ripert’s Le Bernardin. “And I miss the simplicity of really well-executed French food.”

When asked how formal/fancy the new place will be, compared to some of the valley’s other French restaurants, Trees said an experience “between Mon Ami Gabi and Bardot (Brasserie) is where we want to hit,” adding “I don’t want to do anything like Guy Savoy, and Robuchon and Partage.” On a national level, he compares his vision to Dirty French in New York City, and Southern California’s Petit Trois or Bar Le Côte.  But perhaps most importantly, the chef plans to travel to France this summer to find additional inspiration.

“The idea is this,” he explain of the trip: “Where do people my age eat in Paris?”

Another planned summer sojourn – this one to Italy with chefs Marc Vetri and Luke Palladino – might provide inspiration for another project. Trees says he’s hoping to convert the space two doors down from Esther’s, which he currently uses as a prep room and storage area, into an Italian grocery store and sandwich shop open during lunchtime hours.

“Just grab-and-go-sandwiches, Italian grocery, bodega-style,” he says of the concept. “Because we don’t have anything like a grocery store Downtown, especially in The Arts District.”

For all of these projects, Trees knows the first step is assembling the right team. He says he’s already begun looking for someone to help L’Aristocrat, “because I have learned one thing – without the right team, you cannot do anything.”

You can hear Trees’ full interview on Episode 43 of the Food and Loathing podcast.