FSR October 2022

ation that could spell doom for an independent restaurateur. But for the Epicurean chef, all he had to do was call the engineering department. “If you're a freestanding restau rant and your freezer breaks down, you've got to find a third party to come in and look at it,” he says. “Not many third-party vendors will be able to come out on a weekend to fix a freezer or stove or dishwasher.” ELEVATE AND EVOLVE Although Wardhaugh wi l l be the first to admit hotel restaurants haven’t fully shaken their dated rep utation, he recognizes that it’s an entirely different landscape today. Wardaugh worked in Las Vegas in the late ’90s through the mid-2000s and was even part of the opening team at the Bellagio. During that period, he witnessed the start of the city's culinary renaissance. “Vegas was the city of $9.99 buf fets,” Wardhaugh says. “When we opened up the Bellagio, that com pletely changed the face of Las Vegas. You look at it now, and it's all the 'Top Chef' [competitors], and it's all food-focused. Food and beverage is a moneymaker now, whereas back then, it was an amenity to keep the guest in the casino.” He adds that those mega prop erties have the resources to nab Michelin-starred chefs. To that end, the competition is especially fierce— not unlike the broader restaurant industry. And the old hotel-dining model is no longer enough. But given how much foodser vice embraces, and even celebrates, change and innovation, there’s lit tle doubt that hotel chefs and res taurant leaders are up to the task. “It's still an ever-changing field and none of [the openings] ever feel the same. We’re always evolving and doing something new,” Crary says. “So although I've done it before, it feels like everyday, it’s new, which is really fun.”

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FSRMAGAZINE .COM

OCTOBER 2022