Signs for the new venture, dubbed Alexander's Patisserie, went up in the windows of 209 Castro St. in downtown Mountain View last week.
"We're going to mimic a fine French bakery or some of the boutique bakeries that they have in Los Angeles," said Josh Rousseu, vice president of "front-of-house" operations at Alexander's.
This means artisan bread, fine pastries and "boutique sandwiches, but I wouldn't consider it a deli in any facet," Rousseu said. They'll also sell their own brand of coffee through coffee company Equator Coffees & Teas.
Alexander's Patisserie will be led by a pastry sous chef currently working at a well-known restaurant in Las Vegas, Rousseu said.
Rousseu (who, according to his Facebook, attended Mountain View High School) said that Alexander's bakes bread in-house for its San Francisco restaurant, but hopes to expand that to all locations with the opening of Alexander's Patisserie "midway through this year."
Expansion of the Alexander's empire comes about a year and some after Jeffrey Stout, chief operating officer and founding chef of Alexander's Steakhouse in Cupertino and San Francisco, was let go just before The Sea opened in Palo Alto in November 2012.
