JULY 29 • 2021 | 39

and classically trained chef has 
taken bits and pieces of different 
life experiences to shape the 
dishes and cooking style that he’s 
known for today.
“You have to study your peo-
ple, your customers,
” Fleysher 
explains. “You have to know what 
they want and what they’re look-
ing for.
“Everyone has different habits 
and different ways about food,
” 
he continues. “People used to 
tell me, ‘Why are you opening a 
restaurant in West Bloomfield? 
It’s very difficult.
’ And I would 
say, ‘No, it’s not. This is the clien-
tele I know, and I know how they 
like their food.
’”

BUILDING A BRAND
Since immigrating to the United 
States in 1995 and settling in 
Metro Detroit at the age of 17, 
Fleysher has steadily built a loyal 
clientele that follows him wher-
ever his cooking takes him.
One of the first jobs he land-
ed in Michigan was working 
as a dishwasher making $4.25 
an hour. But his manager saw 
potential in the young man. “He 
pushed me to open my own 
restaurant,
” Fleysher recalls. “He 
pushed me to go to college, and 
he was willing to pay for my edu-
cation.
”
Over the next few years, 
Fleysher attended Oakland 
Community College while refin-
ing his culinary skills. He cooked 
with chefs from Ukraine, Russia, 
Hungary, the Czech Republic and 
Mexico, among others, learning 
about different cuisines as he pre-
pared to open his own restaurant.
After nine years, he was finally 
ready. In 2004, Fleysher opened 
Cafe Rendezvous, a breakfast and 
brunch diner in West Bloomfield 
inspired by Eastern European 
food. Yet he realized there was 
more he wanted to do. Fleysher 
eventually sold Cafe Rendezvous 
in 2011 with the dream of open-
ing Bistro Le Bliss, though he 

didn’t know at the time what the 
concept would be.
He only knew West Bloomfield 
was the right location for his 
second restaurant. “I was look-
ing for a network of people [to 
cater to] and for some of these 
people, I’ve been making food for 
nearly 20 years,
” he says of West 
Bloomfield clientele. “I was look-
ing for a place with potential.
”
He found it near the cross-
roads of Orchard Lake and 
Maple. “When I found this place, 
and it became available,
” Fleysher 
continues, “I knew it would be 
perfect for French European 
bistro.
”
Bistro Le Bliss opened Aug. 
27, 2018, which also marked 
20 years of marriage on the dot 
for Fleysher and his wife, Julie. 
For the couple, who operate the 
restaurant together, it felt like a 
sign.
The Fleyshers designed the 
restaurant with an open kitchen 
so Yakov Fleysher can see his 
customers while he cooks and 
they, in turn, him. The layout was 
intentional, Fleysher explains.
The restaurant has a loyal 

RIGHT: Chef 
Yakov Fleysher 
at one of his 
booths. 

LEFT: Decadent 
chocolate 
mousse: dark 
Belgian chocolate 
with raspberry 
sauce and toasted 
almonds. 

BELOW: 
Charbrolied 
Sturgeon: 
Roasted 
butternut squash 
succotash, 
roasted corn, 
lima beans, 
grape tomatoes, 
champagne 
beurre black, 
pomegranate 
glaze. 

JERRY ZOLYNSKY

JERRY ZOLYNSKY
JERRY ZOLYNSKY

continued on page 40

