It would be tempting to call this the year of the Japanese-influenced winner, what with Moia and Misuzu Ebihara getting awards for world cuisine and pastry chef, respectively, and Mitsuo Endo’s eponymous restaurant taking top honors. But a deeper dive into this year’s list reveals something else at play: a conversation between tradition and innovation.
Consider Endo and Ebihara together, the former, of Raku fame, having just launched an uber-traditional Japanese experience, while the latter fuses French and Japanese baking in her Suzuya Pastries & Crepes. It’s more than just long-timers — such as Julian Serrano, whose Picasso opened in 1998 — appearing alongside pioneers — such as Gina Marinelli of La Strega (founded in 2019) and Harlo (2021) fame. Picasso was a Spanish-influenced-French gamechanger in its day. There’s also more than fusion at play. Evan Glusman built on his family legacy to open Bramàre this year, while Floriana Pastore is rewriting the rules in pizza-making.
Indeed, it’s a little of all that: old meets new, international influences mingle, the courageous take creative risks, and Southern Nevada diners win. Again.
Neighborhood Restaurant of the Year: La Casa de Juliette
When Sand Dollar Lounge partners and hospitality veterans Anthony Jamison and Nathan Grates, along with their longtime bar manager Chase Gordon, set out to open a neighborhood restaurant, they wanted a location where their family-style food would be a community staple. Once they landed on a Tulum-esque saloon concept in the northwest valley, they reached out to Sand Dollar regular (because, as Grates notes, “It’s how we know everyone in town”) Eduardo “Lalo” Saaverda for suggestions as to who might helm the concept. Much to their delight, Saaverda himself wanted to take the lead, and La Casa de Juliette Mexican Cocina, inspirated by Jamison’s grandmother Julie, was born.
Saaverda is a soft-spoken culinarian born of a farming family in Cuernavaca, outside Mexico City. He rose through Vegas’ industry ranks from brewery line cook to Strip executive chef, ascending under the tutelage of local legend André Rochat and renowned celebrity chef Charlie Palmer. And because Saaverda was raised crisscrossing Mexico from Tijuana to Guatemala with his truck-driving father, La Casa’s menu celebrates the diversity of the country’s ingredients and cuisine. Its menu isn’t grounded in a single Mexican state, instead ranging from central-Mexican huauzontle, to Pueblan papalpo, and tejocote — better known as Mexican hawthorn.
Rather than serving combination plates, Casa delivers family-style platters with a variety of accompaniments for a choose-your-own-adventure approach. Diners should not expect the ubiquitous bottomless-chips-and-salsa-joint they can find throughout the valley; here, the popular side arrives with pork cracklings. But do expect lobster accompanied by crab chorizo, queso fundido laced with roasted corn, and quite possibly the valley’s best frijoles. It’s an atypical Mexican experience in a town overwhelmed with the typical variety.
Not to be outdone, Gordon’s
cocktail menu rivals Saaverda’s, ranging from seasonal margaritas based on the Tommy’s margarita (with inspiration from nearby Gilcrease Orchard) to a caffeine-laden carajillo with banana foam. But the pièce de résistance might be the housemade goat’s milk cajeta, Gordon’s take on an espresso martini that entails a five-hour process.
And this is what earns applause for La Casa’s crew: having the courage to open an atypical Mexican joint with upscale-yet-approachable renditions of classic Mexican fare in a part of the valley dominated by chain restaurants. Bravo! — Jim Begley
Restauranteur of the Year: Evan Glusman
Evan Glusman’s father, Freddie, casts a long shadow, but the son is coming into his own light. The elder Glusman founded Piero’s Italian Cuisine in 1982, when Evan was 4. The restaurant would eventually achieve legendary status, drawing celebrities and appearing in movies.
Evan was there. His first job at age 10 was in prep, cutting vegetables and making croutons and salad dressings. As a teenager he bused tables, and by 17 he’d graduated to front-door host.
Piero’s is still thriving and so is Freddie, at age 87. Over the years, Evan branched out a little — he and his brother, Charlie Skinner, operated the now-defunct Piero’s Trattoria in the Hughes Center in the early 2000s — but he’s still heavily involved in managing Piero’s. And he’s coming into his own as a restaurateur.
A few years ago, Evan Glusman and business partner Constantin Alexander were offered a local project, but they ended up pulling out. Then came news that the owners of the venerable Table 34 were planning to retire, and the pair bought it in June 2022.
It did so well that they planned to expand, and a real estate search led them to a space at 3900 Paradise Road. In July they opened Bramàre, with “inspired Italian” food representing all regions of the Boot and an industrialized aesthetic inspired by New York warehouses.
But there’s more to come, and soon. Local developer and Table 34 regular J. Dapper offered a spot in Centennial Hills, where Glusman and Alexander plan to open the coastal-California Harvest + Vine in February.
And there’s more down the line, they say.
“I could possibly see taking Bramàre to another city,” Glusman says. “I think it really has legs. We have other concepts, but right now we’re going to focus on getting Bramàre fully up to speed, keeping Table 34 as it is, and then getting into Harvest.
On his longest-standing gig, he adds, “Piero’s has been one of the most successful restaurants in the history of Las Vegas, and I would be one of the worst operators in the world if I tried to change what it is. I’m not getting away from it by any means, but I’m in my 40s and I want to be creative and just do some cool stuff.” — Heidi Knapp Rinella
Rising Star: Floriana Pastore
“She’s the first person I send people to whenever they tell me there is no good pizza in Las Vegas.” The words are spoken by pizza maven John Arena, but the sentiments are shared by many, when it comes to Floriana Pastore.
Since raising Vegas’ pizza IQ with her Italian-designed pizza truck in September 2020, the Salerno-born Pastore has broken molds and perceptions. She slings wood-fired Neapolitan pies to a loyal following, who await her weekly location announcements with bated breath.
These are not quick-baked carbo-bombs done on the cheap, but handcrafted gems made with superior ingredients by the first (and only) woman ever to win the “Pizza Maker of the Year” (2013) and “Best of the Best”(2015) awards at the International Pizza Expo in Las Vegas. Watching her work the dough is “poetry in motion,” according to Arena, and he marvels at how she nurtures every pizza as if it were one of her children.
The pandemic forced Pastore into a food truck instead of the brick-and-mortar restaurant she envisioned when she moved here, but her dreams will finally become reality when Signora Pizza Lab opens early next year on Rainbow near Summerlin. Aficionados are already salivating over the prospect of a fixed location, where they can grab a pizza al portafoglio (literally “wallet” pizza in Italian), fried pizza, and other not-so-humble pies. Pastore makes them with smoked provola, real parm, or fior di latte mozzarella, and a San Marzano tomato sauce that will make you question all others.
When the pizzaiola won her first championship, she spoke no English. Fluency took less than a decade, but speaking pizza is obviously something she’s done since birth. — John Curtas
Hall of Fame: Julian Serrano
Chefs are a peripatetic lot. So it was with Julian Serrano, whose early years saw him move from his native Madrid to culinary school in Marbella, Spain, then from Carnival Cruise ships to Nashville and California, before being lured to Las Vegas to helm the most eye-popping restaurant this city had ever seen.
“The Bellagio changed everything,” is his quick response when asked to describe his legacy in Las Vegas. “After it opened, everyone copied us. They all had to have an entire lineup of great restaurants.” He is, of course, being both accurate and modest. The act of featuring him in his signature restaurant, 26 years ago, was a seminal event. Picasso by Julian Serrano wasn’t some celebrity chef-branding outpost. It was where San Francisco’s best chef had decamped after 14 years at Masa, then widely considered the best restaurant in that food-mad town.
This was a bona fide culinary star planting his flag on our home turf and announcing to the world that Las Vegas was now a destination dining city, worthy of attracting world-class kitchen talent — and the customers who travel the globe to sample their wares. And the foodies did flock to Picasso, a jaw-dropping temple of haute cuisine featuring exquisite plates of refined French cooking, framed by the blazing colors of Pablo’s masterpieces.
Over the years Serrano became one of our own. Two more restaurants followed (a namesake Spanish spot at the Aria, and the Italian Lago in the Bellagio), and most nights he seemed to be in all three places at once. The dozen Picassos may be gone now, along with the restaurant whose walls they hung on (it closed earlier this year), but the effect of what Serrano did for Las Vegas a quarter century ago remains.
And it’s a moment that may never be equaled — a top toque at the top of his game, putting down roots in Las Vegas and helping to redefine it as a restaurant mecca. — John Curtas
Strip Restaurant of the Year: Kyu
When Fontainebleau opened at the tail end of 2023, it unleashed a spate of new restaurants — many with ties to the original Fontainebleau’s south Florida home — upon the Strip. A number of them merit consideration for best new Strip restaurant, from Evan Funke’s Hollywood-born Mother Wolf to the intimate, scenic Ito perched atop the hotel tower. But the most intriguing and accessible of the lot is Miami-import Kyu.
Kyu — a play on the “Q” in BBQ — is a festive Asian wood-fired concept geared toward group dining with a variety of shared dishes and an upbeat environment. In an expansive room outfitted in light-colored woods and faux foliage just off the Fontainebleau’s main level, it’s afforded one of the new resort’s few Strip views.
At Kyu, you get hits such as stone pot Thai rice. And regardless of the version — pick from veggie, duck confit, or king crab — Kyu’s rendition of Korean bibimbap delivers an interwoven play of textures, with the crispy nurungji (the scorched rice at the bottom of the pot) countering the rest of the fluffy bowl. Broiled king crab legs are another winner, a lemon herb butter-crusted play on crab casino, while succulent duck breast burnt ends elevate the fatty fowl in the best possible BBQ fashion.
But not everything has to be wood-fired to work. Krunchy Kale doused in funky, spicy nam prik might be as annoyingly misspelled as it is addictive, while wagyu tartare mixed tableside with a dollop of roasted bone marrow is a unique take on a steakhouse standard.
And Kyu’s cocktail menu is among the valley’s more inventive. Where else could you order a Japanese sweet potato-inspired cocktail, the Yaki Imo Tini? Yes, it tastes like it sounds. A little more mainstream, although not wholly so, is the Always Money in the Banana Stand — a refreshing banana-infused rum old fashioned with coconut water ice.
With libations as playful as the menu itself, and a vibe to match, Kyu has all the makings of a top Strip destination. — Jim Begley
World Cuisine of the Year: Moia Peruvian Restaurant
The term “hidden gem” may be overused, but Moia Peruvian Restaurant truly fits the bill. Located on Bonanza Road, at the southwestern edge of Las Vegas’ Historic Westside, it’s a rare Nikkei restaurant.
Nikkei cuisine is the magnificent mashup of Peruvian and Japanese cuisines. Think Peruvian ingredients created with Japanese techniques. It started in Peru in 1899, when hundreds of Japanese farmers moved to the country in need of work. The two governments made a deal. It didn’t come without conflict, but despite the politics, a delectable food tradition emerged.
One of Nikkei’s amazing food babies is tiradito — thin slices of raw fish marinated in a spicy, citrus sauce. One bite of Moia’s hamachi tiradito with diced mangos, and my head filled with Gary Wright’s 1975 hit song, “Dream Weaver.” It’s punchy and fresh, with a nice balance of salty, sour, and sweet. The pescado a lo macho, a spicy seafood stew, was thick and robust, yet comforting.
Since its opening in December 2022, with minimal marketing, Moia has gained a word-of-mouth reputation among foodies. We know that, when it comes to small, locally owned businesses such as this, it helps no one to keep such a gem hidden from everyone else. — Lorraine Blanco Moss
New Restaurant of the Year: Bazaar Mar
If, as a food writer, I ask myself during a meal how soon I can come back, I know it’s something special. I had that experience at José Andrés’ Bazaar Mar, a salute to the sights and savor of the sea.
Head chef Daniela Romero says every aspect of the restaurant is crafted with passion. “This dedication transforms each meal into more than just dining,” he says. “It’s a celebration of the ocean’s bounty, told through flavors that are as exciting as they are memorable.”
Disclaimer: I am a former cook at a José Andrés restaurant (I helped open Bazaar Meat in 2014). In my experience, it wasn’t just a job; it was a lifestyle. The staff is a culinary family with lasting connections, bound by their dedication to the craft.
Romero says, “When everyone feels invested in the success of the restaurant, it not only fosters a positive work environment, but also elevates the guest experience. This sense of pride and responsibility translates into excellent service.”
Although this restaurant only opened in August, the food and service were impeccable. From my first bite of Maine lobster croquetas to my last spoonful of citrus merengón — a meringue dessert with arroz con leche espuma (foam), blood orange granita, and Thai basil — everything felt fun and original.
Romero says it all begins with José Andrés’ distinctive style, which “celebrates ingredient-driven cuisine with a whimsical, playful touch.” — Lorraine Blanco Moss
Pastry Chef of the Year: Misuzu Ebihara
Crêpes are, you might say, Misuzu Ebihara’s muse.
A native of Japan who came here for culinary school at the College of Southern Nevada, Ebihara introduced her bijou pastries to the world in 2012, when she opened Suzuya Pastries & Crepes on Durango Drive. There, she fused venerable French and Japanese culinary traditions into creations that might combine fine Chantilly cream, custard, or meringue with flavors such as yuzu, green tea, or red bean paste. They included many-layered mille crêpe cakes, cream puffs, madeleines, mochi, delicately latticed apple pies, towers of technicolor macarons in nine flavors, and more.
It didn’t take Las Vegas long to discover them and her, and by 2019 her success was choking out a favorite dish.
“The space was so small we had to stop making crêpes,” Ebihara says, referring to herself and her husband, Mike Plourde, whom she met while working at Wynn Las Vegas. “Overnight, we had to decide: We were going to get rid of crêpes right now.”
But she was determined. “We wanted to move to a bigger space, so we could have crêpes back,” she says.
And so was born Suzuya Patisserie & Cafe on South Buffalo. It opened in January 2020, six weeks before the COVID lockdown started. There were plenty of doubts — should they have stayed at the smaller place? — but she was again serving crêpes, and this time in a cafe that also offered sandwiches and salads and an expanded coffee menu, along with her finely crafted pastries.
A Chinatown location would follow, opening in July.
Among all the exquisite pastries and delicate crêpes, one staple remains most popular by a margin of two to one. “Strawberry shortcake is always No. 1,” Ebihara says a little sheepishly.
But why?
“That’s my question.” — Heidi Knapp Rinella
Excellence in Service and Management: Wineaux
Wine is for the whimsical. A true oenophile enjoys the journey … the nose of the wine that brings nostalgia, the first taste that transports, and the finish — that lasting impression. Wine tasting isn’t just about whether you like it or not; it’s about how you connect with the glass (or bottle!) and how it draws the people drinking it together. And that’s why Wineaux at UnCommons deserves a reverent, “Cheers!”
Every sommelier in this desert chic space offers the unique story behind each bottle. You might be a casual sipper or a wine worshipper like me; either way, you’ll enjoy the service — catering to however much or little you’d like to know.
“We wanted a bold, fresh take on the wine-buying experience,” chef partner Shawn McClain says. “And to bring to the Las Vegas community a personalized and curated brand that is equal parts lifestyle brand, wine boutique, and great social destination.”
The wine bar recently rolled out its wine club for locals. For $72 a month, the Explorer program gets you two bottles picked expertly by their somms, preferred invites to wine events, and a pickup party with special tastings and delicious snacks (I recommend the hamachi & caviar; it arrives in a delightful tin with avocado puree, onion crème fraiche, and lime zest.)
Food is an important part of the wine experience, and here too, Wineaux excels, with a stunning menu. There’s no downside to Wineaux, and a lot of good grapes to discover. — Lorraine Blanco Moss
Chef of the Year: Gina Marinelli
In ancient Italian folklore, witches took care of the neighborhood, passing out presents to those who were worthy. This is not dissimilar to chef Gina Marinelli, who’s bestowed two delicious gifts on an area that’s been known more for its upscale homes than its fine dining.
The chef’s first Summerlin restaurant, aptly named La Strega (“the witch” in Italian), brings bright, coastal Italian cuisine in a charming, feminine setting. Her second restaurant, Downtown Summerlin’s Harlo Steakhouse & Bar, offers a warm, stunning steakhouse that rivals any high-end spot you can find on the Strip. Marinelli’s menus are consistently fresh and intelligent.
“I’m always reading — constantly researching,” the James Beard award-nominated chef says. “I’m looking at new ways to incorporate seasonality and proteins.”
A graduate of Le Cordon Bleu, Marinelli knows that keeping a restaurant relevant can be exhausting, but she continues to challenge herself. At Harlo, each month she offers a new tasting menu that spans the globe. For France, you could indulge in escargot spaghetti with parsley butter and garlic breadcrumbs. And in September, diners could be transported to Argentina with grilled dorade marinated in oregano and Bloomsdale spinach. The mild, flaky fish plays well with the veggies’ rich, nutty flavor.
“I never want to be forgotten and use that fear as the driving force for the daily push,” Marinelli says. “Honestly, I (expletive) love cooking… so it’s very natural to be constantly pushing.”
You can taste the passion in the handmade pasta and feel the sizzle in her dry-aged steaks. The chef partner has taken the skills she’s learned in the kitchens of culinary giants such as Michael Mina, Shawn McClain, and Scott Conant, and transformed them into her own neighborhood restaurants.
Marinelli says she’s got something new brewing in 2025: a third restaurant concept. It’s secret for now, but you can bet it’ll stir up buzz. Marinelli told me years ago that she wanted to create a “safe space for young chefs to blossom.” Innovative, inclusive … enchanting. — Lorraine Blanco Moss
Restaurant of the Year: Endo by Aburiya Raku
In Las Vegas culinary circles, chef Mitsuo Endo needs no introduction. After debuting Aburiya Raku, generally heralded as the harbinger of 2008’s local Japanese restaurant renaissance, the multi-time James Beard award nominee has opened a series of intriguing restaurants, including dessert spot Sweets Raku, which is now defunct but bent genres in its day, and Toridokoro, a chicken-centric yakitori spot. But the chef’s exclusive namesake restaurant, Endo by Aburiya Raku, is his most epic yet.
Endo’s eponymous, six-seat restaurant sits just doors away from the original Raku in the vaunted Seoul Plaza on Spring Mountain. (It used to house storage for its older sibling!) With his desire to open an intimate venue where he could personally cook for a limited number of guests, Endo transformed it in a secluded enclave — an escape into a space reminiscent of those he both cooked in and frequented in Japan.
In his own words, “It’s everything to me.” For Endo, this translates to inordinate attention to detail. It begins at the unmarked, speakeasy-esque 200-year-old bank lockbox doors leading into the space and continues throughout the experience: handpicked glassware, a cultivated selection of cooking and serving vessels, sightlines where utensils and appliances remain unseen. Like a complex movie requiring multiple viewings, every visit reveals previously missed minutiae. It’s never the same experience twice.
Similarly, the menu evolves, both seasonally and with each visit. While the only real constant is the excellence with which the everchanging menu is served, guests are likely be welcomed with 30-minute fresh kokumi tofu — even better than the acclaimed version for which Raku is known — and a dashi broth made from Dewasansan water and a healthy heaping of three-year fermented bonito, from the Kushu prefecture, oozing with umami.
From there it’s a dozen-course flurry, including zensai (appetizers which, on one visit, included soft-shell turtle), market-fresh sashimi flown in from Japan, steamed mushimono, entrées, rice, and noodles, to name a few, showcasing A5 wagyu, uni, tako, ankimo, and all things in between. And because Endo believes his cuisine is best paired with sake, staff will be glad to run you through a gamut ranging from uncommon to obscure.
The service is doting, yet relaxed, a hallmark of Endo’s venues; there are practically as many staff as customers at any given time. This allows for an intimate experience rarely found outside the highest-end Strip venues. Endo serves as the lead, the kitchen his stage. There isn’t a venue in town where diners have such ample access throughout a meal to a chef of this caliber.
To be sure, this is not an everyday experience. Reservations are difficult to get for nonmembers — membership is invite-only, in case you’re wondering — but persistence is key. And this level of experience does come at a price. But there is nothing else like it in Vegas … and arguably anywhere outside Japan. Endo the restaurant is the essence of Endo the chef, an experience unlike any other. — Jim Begley