By Stacey Gualandi
Las Vegas entrepreneur Jeffrey Fine is many things: Financier. Founder. Father. Foodie?
“I think to call yourself a foodie, you need to be able to actually cook yourself,” Fine jokes. “I don’t think anybody would want to eat anything that I’ve made for them.”
That may be true, but this renowned restaurateur is doing, well, just fine.
As President and CEO of the Las Vegas-based The Lev Restaurant Group, Fine oversees and develops a diverse culinary collection that continues to expand eating experiences across the Las Vegas Valley.
Everything from Harlo Steakhouse and Al Solito Posto to La Strega and The Golden Tiki – and let’s not forget his latest eponymous venture, Fine Company – The Lev Group has got dining out down to a fine art.
“I very much believe in the future of what’s happening here, and this is my way of being part of the growth,” Fine says. “I’m a local. I grew up here, and I’ve been here for a long time.”
In fact, Fine is a third generation of Fines. Among numerous accomplishments, his father Mark is the godfather of Las Vegas master-planned communities, and like father, like son, he is following in his father’s footsteps by successfully developing retail, real estate and gaming industries right in their own backyard.
“Our approach is to just stay here, close to home, in a place that we know well and where we can leverage our resources,” Fine says about carrying on the family tradition. “[But] if I could have been a professional baseball player, I would’ve done that. Ha!”
While Fine has no plans on leaving Las Vegas, he is a fierce proponent of getting out of town, especially to Maine in the summer.
“I like exploring, traveling and importing places that are doing well back here to Las Vegas,” Fine says.
“Driving up and down the [Maine] coast, there’s lobster shacks, clam shacks, and just the whole experience of doing that inspired me, for instance, to bring a lobster roll business to Vegas.”
Founded in 2002, The Lev Group began as a way to “inspire, create, develop and operate world-class experiences for food and beverage concepts in the restaurant industry.” Their initial growth came down to being “opportunistic.”
“I think a lot of what we were doing in the beginning was more of ‘see an opportunity and then figure it out later,’ but I think we’ve gotten more strategic,” Fine says.
Fine says the name Lev also has a special significance. It is the Hebrew word for “heart” and the name he gave his son Levin, who was born with Down Syndrome.
“He is the heart of our family, and at the time, we were just very inspired by him and the way the community came together and supported us. That’s why we named the company after him, in a nutshell.”
Anyone who knows the restaurant business says that to be a destination dining experience, like Harlo Steakhouse in Summerlin (the Snake River Farms Ribeye Cap is his go-to!), you have to put your heart into your work.
“The secret sauce is the people. End of story.”
While Fine says he’s had to kiss a lot of frogs along the way, he is a matchmaker of sorts when it comes to putting together a team at each of his new restaurants.
“You have to find a group of like-minded people who are motivated by being on a team and creating success for everybody. Then the right things will start to happen,” Fine emphasizes.
As far as future plans, he admits that there are challenges right now.
“There’s disruption in the labor market. Not as many people are working in food and beverage as there used to be, and then on the technology side, there’s just the way people eat, order and dine. It’s different than it was not very long ago.”
But an optimistic The Lev Group has several projects on “the dry board.”
“I want to continue doing great things with great people and try to have some fun along the way,” Fine adds.
Of course, I couldn’t let him go without asking which of The Lev Group’s restaurants is his favorite. “Oh, I can’t do that.”
But after a beat, he adds with a wink, “There is only one with my name on it.”
Check, please!
Photo by Shane O’Neal.
