After a period of stagnancy, Las Vegas’s dining scene is ready to go on a hot streak.
Mina Group partner Adam Sobel and Wynn executive chef Christopher Lee swung by Robb Report’s House of Robb Las Vegas to talk with editor in chief Paul Croughton about the state of fine dining on Wednesday afternoon. Both men agreed that as the culinary world heads for another period of transition, Las Vegas is the place to be for diners and chefs alike.
“Everything is cyclical,” Sobel said. “We’re in the midst of a more casual kind of dining experience and people are starting to yearn for more of a fine dining experience.”
Adam Sobel, Christopher Lee, and Paul Croughton (left to right) at House of Robb at Wynn Las Vegas
Adam Kilbourn
With tastes changing, Las Vegas is well-positioned for the new moment. That’s because the city of the celebrity chefs is drawing young, ambitious talent that would have looked to other cities in years past. The same goes for the city’s bars, which, after a period of copying what was going on elsewhere, are starting to do their own thing again.
“Now, we are also attracting great young talent, which is the next building block for Las Vegas,” Lee said. “I think you’re going see a lot of emerging chefs coming here throughout the different cities. I think we’re gonna have some homegrown chefs here. We have one ourselves, Sarah Thompson. She’s the chef of Casa Playa.”
Opportunity and resources are a big part of the reason why up-and-coming chefs are flocking to Las Vegas right now. Just as much of a factor, though, is the fact that it’s the increasingly rare city that culinary professionals, both young and old, can afford to live well in. That’s a big part of why Mina Group recently relocated its main offices here from San Francisco.
“I really believe it’s the last city in…