The Divine Dish

Interview with Valentino Executive Chef Luciano Pellegrini

Valentino Dining Room, Las Vegas

My friend Sheila and I recently visiting Valentino restaurant at the Venetian.  Valentino is the sister restaurant to the world-renowned Valentino located in Santa Monica.  The stylish main dining room has warm wood paneled walls and vaulted ceilings with furnishings and artifacts from Italy including the terrazzo floor and Venetian glass found in the lighting decor.

The menu is extensive, offering a seven-course Chef’s Extravaganza which is a good choice if you want a bit of everything on the menu, or you can order a la carte items.  Choose from over 24,000 wines to go with your meal.

Wine room

Here are some pics of the entrees, lobster with black pasta and brick pressed chicken with spinach risotto.

lobster with black pasta

brick pressed chicken with spinach risotto

We interviewed Chef Pellegrini before we started eating, the interview and a bit about his philosophy and background in cooking follow.

Executive Chef Luciano Pellegrini

James Beard Award-winning chef Luciano Pellegrini was born in Bergamo, Italy and began his culinary experience in his mother’s kitchen.  At age 13, he enrolled at San Pellegrino, one of Italy’s most prestigious hotel schools. He spent his teenage years attending school and gaining experience at various restaurants throughout Italy. After graduation, Pellegrini was exposed to dining at its finest when working at Locanda dell’Angelo in Bergamo.

At the age of 18, after completing his required one-year of military service as a parachutist, Pellegrini started his culinary career and gained valuable experience and working inside the kitchen’s of some of Italy’s top restaurants.  In 1985, Pellegrini took what would be his career-changing step by moving to the United States to work with restaurateur Piero Selvaggio, who had achieved a solid reputation for bringing genuine Italian cuisine to California.

By 1987, Pellegrini was quickly developing both his cooking and kitchen leadership skills as a pasta chef at Selvaggio’s restaurant, Primi.  In 1991, Pellegrini was promoted to executive chef at Posto restaurant in the San Fernando Valley.

Looking to take his culinary skills to the next level, Pellegrini returned to Italy, and while there learned the art of grilling on the “fogolar,” a traditional, flavorful way of cooking on a wood-burning open hearth. He also spent a great deal of time with Bruno Libralon, a renowned Italian Chef and head of the Italian Chef Association, who is often referred to as the “King of Fish.” Pellegrini also spent time with a local sausage expert in order to perfect the art of sausage-making, something very important in Italian cooking. During different stages in his travels, Pellegrini has worked with some of the most creative and respected Italian chefs in the world including Gianfranco Vissani, Fulvio Pierangelini, Paola DiMauro and Nadia Santini.

Pellegrini returned to California to showcase his honed craft and it paid off as the James Beard Foundation listed him among the Top 10 chefs in Los Angeles. He maintained this position for six consecutive years.

In May of 1999, Pellegrini  moved to Las Vegas to become executive chef and partner of Valentino Las Vegas (Venetian Hotel & Casino), the sister restaurant to Selvaggio’s iconic Santa Monica location. Over the past decade, Pellegrini’s dedication and passion in the kitchen has solidified Valentino as one of the leading Italian restaurants in the southwest. Valentino Las Vegas has received numerous awards including the esteemed DiRoNA (Distinguished Restaurants of North America) Award of Excellence, six Las Vegas Life Epicurean Awards for Best Italian Restaurant in Las Vegas and a 2007 Epicurean Award for the city’s best wine list. Valentino Las Vegas has also received the Grand Award from Wine Spectator annually since 2002.

Pellegrini is also a partner at Giorgio Ristorante, a more casual restaurant concept located at Mandalay Place on the Las Vegas strip and PS Valentino Vin Bar inside Houston’s Hotel Derek.

Interview with Chef Akira Hirose

Chef Akira Hirose

Chef Akira Hirose was born in Kyoto Japan and traveled to France to study the art of cooking.  He soon met renown chef Joel Robuchon and trained under him at the Nikko Hotel in Paris.   In 1981, he came to America and worked at the famous L’Orangerie before returning to Japan to open Azay le Rideau, a French retaurant in Kyoto.  He closed it after five years to return to Los Angeles with his wife.

He then served as chef at several well known restaurants in LA, including the Peninsula Beverly Hills, Citrus and The Tower.  He opened Maison Akira in Pasadena in 1998.  I visited Chef Akira at his restaurant and after a wonderful dinner we sat down for a chat about his background, philosophy about cooking, and his journey to open his own restaurant.

Interview with Chef Akira Hirose [ 24:18 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Interview with Chef Alex Stratta, Alex, Wynn Las Vegas

Chef Alex Stratta at his restaurant Alex, Wynn Las Vegas

Chef Alex Stratta graduated with honors from the Cailfornia Culinary Institute in San Francisco.  He studied pastry under Jim Dodge at San Francisco’s Stanford Court Hotel and during an internship at the Michelin three star Hotel du Paris in Monaco he was invited by Alaine Ducasse to join the cooking crew at Louis XV.  His relationship with Ducasse provided an opportunity to work with Daniel Boulud at Le Cirque in New York, where Stratta worked for two years.  In 1989, Stratta moved to Phoenix to become Executive Chef of Mary Elaine’s at the Phoenecian Resort, which shortly won a Mobil four star rating under his tenure.  While there, Stratta was featured in Food & Wine magazine as oneof “America’s Ten Best New Chefs.”   In 1998, after receiving the “Best Chef Southwest” James Beard Award, Steve Wynn recruited Stratta to be Executive Chef at Renoir at the Mirage.  Six months after opening, Renoir received Mobil Travel Guide’s highest rating of five stars.  In 2001, Stratta was chosen as Iron Chef Italian on Food Network’s “Iron Chef America” television show.   In 2005, Stratta opened his namesake restaurant Alex at the Wynn resort.  He also owns the more casual Stratta at Wynn.

Chef Stratta was nice enough to sit down with us during our huge tasting menu at Alex and share a glass of wine while I asked him about his career as a chef, opening up his restaurants in Las Vegas, working with mentors Ducasse and Boulud and his philosphy of cooking.  Here is our conversation:

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Interview with Chef Michael Chiarello

Chef Michael Chiarello

I recently stopped by Bottega restaurant to interview owner/chef Michael Chiarello and sample the menu.  This was a big treat for me as I have watched him on tv and cooked his recipes for years.

After graduating from the CIA in New York, Michael Chiarello attended Florida International University School of Hospitality Management.   He worked in several restaurants in Florida and in 1985 was named Chef of the Year by Food and Wine magazine.   He returned to his home state of California to open Tra Vigne in Napa Valley.   In the late 90’s he expanded his horizons, releasing wines from the Chiarello Family Vineyards and hosting  television shows first on PBS and later on the Food Network.  His program Easy Entertaining with Michael Chiarello won three Emmy awards.   In 2000, he founded NapaStyle, a collection of home furnishings, cooking tools, food and wine.   In 2009, he was a finalist on Bravo’s Top Chef Masters and opened Bottega restaurant in Yountville.  We sat down at Bottega to chat about his career, new restaurant, Top Chef Masters and his thoughts about food and cooking.

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