By Don Chareunsy
Celebrated restaurateur, hospitality expert and dynamic leader Elizabeth Blau is one of the most respected and powerful people in the culinary world of Las Vegas and beyond.
The talented and charismatic Blau is behind Honey Salt in Summerlin, Buddy V’s in The Palazzo, restaurants in Texas (Dallas-based Crown Block) and British Columbia, most recently the first and successful Revelry culinary festival at Wynn Las Vegas and so much more.
With more than 30 years of hospitality experience and a reputation for transformative innovation, Blau is well-positioned to offer insights into the trends, challenges and opportunities in today’s hospitality industry.
Vegas Prime Magazine sat down at the newly remodeled Honey Salt for a catch-up and photo shoot with Blau – here are highlights:
With all your time in Las Vegas, what do you think is the best thing in Las Vegas right now?
It’s hard to believe it’s been more than 27 years, but the best part of living in Las Vegas is this community keeps evolving. It keeps getting more and more exciting. We were a gaming destination, then we were an entertainment destination with all the incredible Cirque du Soleil shows.
Then we became a food destination, then a wine destination. Now we have more mixologists and exciting cocktail programs. Then came sports and The Smith Center. We have the arts. There is no better place to live because there is so much to do here.
And when you think that we can’t possibly begin to reinvent, Madison Square Garden brings us the Sphere. People are talking about it. The creativity they have. It’s really amazing how this city continues to reinvent itself.
What do you think is going to be the next big thing in the culinary world in Las Vegas?
You have this extraordinary plethora of options on the Las Vegas Strip. You have some of the most talented celebrity and Michelin-starred chefs. We just had The World’s 50 Best hosted here, but what makes us unique as a culinary destination is what’s happening off the Strip and what’s happening in our communities.
Our Chinatown has quadrupled in size, so whether it’s Koreatown, Thai, Vietnamese, bubble teas, it’s just incredible what the options are that we have.
Watching this next generation of incredibly talented chefs who all got their legs working for celebrity chefs on the Strip but have gone on to greatness – Brian Howard, James Trees, Nicole Brisson – that’s what gives us the gravitas that we’re evolving as a culinary destination.
My wish and my hope for the future is more farms. We have Sandy Valley and Pahrump, but the more we can get the product to source with more farms and accessibility to great product, the better.
You mentioned The World’s 50 Best. Tell me about Revelry, your first one.
The Wynn, when they were Mirage Resorts, really brought culinary to this town with Bon Appetit and the wine and spirits focus and Uncork’d. It really grew into an incredible citywide event. Like any great event, it had its life.
There was a void, a hole here, and with all the incredible talent here, we needed an event to celebrate it. There was a colliding and great timing of The World’s 50 Best wanting to bring an event to North America, the LVCVA partnering with Wynn and The Venetian and Resorts World.
Revelry not only celebrated the Wynn culinary team and wine team and what Mariena (Mercer Boarini) is doing with her incredible mixology team but also these young, up-and-coming talented chefs from all over California and the region. It was really exciting, and I hope it becomes an annual event. There was a lot of revelry to be had by all.
When we talked last week, you were very passionate about expanding into education and culinary training and mentioned working with UNLV.
Our Women’s Hospitality Initiative was launched right before the pandemic to counter the gender inequality in the business and not blame anybody. It’s men and women working together to help elevate women.
Everyone knows about the glass ceiling, but there was a fascinating study that noted not the glass ceiling but a broken rung on the ladder. Women and men were entering the workforce in equal numbers, but women were falling behind on the ladder starting with entry-level positions.
Our Women’s Hospitality Initiative, despite launching weeks before the pandemic, we were able to launch this course, “From the Classroom to the Boardroom: Leadership for Women in Hospitality.” Four institutes have taught it. UNLV and the Culinary Institute of America were the first to take it on, then it was Florida International and San Diego State.
Julian Serrano is retiring. There is a lot of movement in the culinary industry right now. Do you think it’s just timing?
Yes! You have to remember we’ve all been here and at this for so long. Bellagio just celebrated 25 – I mean 25 years, restaurant years are like dog years, it could be 150. These have been extraordinary runs, and nobody should be anything except incredibly proud of what they’ve brought to this city.
People’s tastes change and times change. It’s the natural evolution to make way for new concepts. It’s good for our city and it’s healthy. This is a really tough business. I hope Julian is going to play a lot of tennis and enjoy himself!
Honey Salt just had a refresh.
It’s incredible that Honey Salt is 11 years old. I just walked in one day and thought, “It’s been 11 years. Honey Salt needs a refresh – we need a little facelift here.” We were able to do it in five days, just some fresh paint and wallpaper and curation of the bookshelves and finishing up the kitchen. I think it’s a warm, cozier feel. It’s not jarring. It still has preppy plaids and my New England roots. It needed to be spiffed up, and I’m thrilled how it turned out.
It’s 2024, and you still need a reservation for lunch at Honey Salt during the week. What is your secret to success?
That is a testament to an incredible team of people at both Honey Salt and Blau + Associates who are just passionate about putting out the best-quality products. We don’t rest on our laurels, and we stay creative. We are very fortunate.
