Las Vegas nightlife and restaurant group, DW Enterprises
Names Respected Culinary Veteran as Executive Chef
Rick Giffen brings his reputation for culinary excellence to
Trader Vic's Las Vegas and other new properties
Las
Vegas, Nev. (October 1, 2007) DW Enterprises, a leading
Las Vegas developer of nightlife, entertainment and restaurants,
today announced that respected chef Rick Giffen has been named
Executive Chef for the company. In this role Giffen will serve
as Executive Chef for the soon-to-open Trader Vic's restaurant
at the Miracle Mile Shops as well as assisting in the development,
management and operations of other restaurant properties that
will be announced shortly.
Widely
recognized as one of the industry's top executive chefs, Giffen
has spent the past 20 years at the forefront of numerous culinary
ventures including Mon Ami Gabi at the Paris Hotel & Casino,
where he was executive chef for the last two years. In that time,
he was instrumental in generating revenues of over $22 million
annually.
Prior
to that, Giffen served as a consultant for Caf Wasabi where he
was successful in securing a contract to be the primary sushi
vendor at seasonal conventions. Other career highlights include
his work as regional corporate chef for China Grill Management
at Mandalay Bay and western regional corporate chef for Planet
Hollywood, Las Vegas. Giffen has been active in the community
by supporting such charities as Taste of the Nation, AFAN, and
Opportunity Village.
Now
Giffen has joined the management team of DW Enterprises, the developer
of numerous Las Vegas restaurant and nightclub venues including
the legendary Trader Vic's Las Vegas which will open inside the
Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood in early October. DW Enterprises
will also develop restaurant and nightclub concepts at the Cosmopolitan
Resort & Casino, the Showcase Mall, and other soon-to-be announced
venues on the Las Vegas Strip.
"As
DW Enterprises continues to build our team of A-List talent, the
hiring of Rick Giffen is a significant benchmark," said Doc
Wiener, founder of DW Enterprises. "He has enormous experience
in the kitchen and the boardroom and we believe his industry insight
will provide a solid operational platform for Trader Vic's and
our other upcoming business ventures."
Giffen's
first task will be overseeing the day-to-day operations of Trader
Vic's Las Vegas, a legendary restaurant brand which has experienced
a recent resurgence across the United States and abroad. In his
role as executive chef, he will manage a staff of 50 culinary
employees while ensuring that monthly financial goals are met
and food quality, service, and sanitation standards are maintained.
Trader
Vic's is one of the pioneers of American culinary folklore. As
the inventor of the Mai Tai and the first to import Polynesian
dishes and dcor to the United States, Trader Vic's defined an
era with libations and cuisine that "transported its customers
to the tropics" an experience that placated generation after
generation of customers.
Spread
over 15,000 sq. ft., Trader Vic's Las Vegas will be unlike any
of the other Trader Vic's found in the United States, Europe,
the Middle East, and Asia. Instead, the Las Vegas location will
include three separate dining and entertainment venues featuring
a ground-level restaurant and Strip-side patio that opens onto
Las Vegas Boulevard and a second-level Tiki Club-ultra lounge,
both providing customers with panoramic views of the Bellagio
Fountains, the Eiffel Tower, and City Center.
Although
inspired by Trader Vic's famed tropical island motif, Trader Vic's
Las Vegas will build upon the signature Polynesian dcor of towering
wooden tikis and amplify the tropical theme with two separate
DJ booths, a 20-foot outdoor bar and lanai surrounded by palms,
thatch, a sweeping shingled roof, and an upstairs Tiki Club-ultra
lounge.
Construction
of Trader Vic's Las Vegas is currently underway at the north side
of Planet Hollywood and is scheduled to open in early October
2007.
About
Trader Vic's Las Vegas
Owned and operated by DW Enterprises, a Las Vegas-based development
group led by entrepreneur Doc Wiener, Trader Vic's Las Vegas is
positioned to be the franchise's premier restaurant. Steeped in
a rich history as one of the world?s most recognized culinary
experiences, Trader Vic's Las Vegas builds upon a tradition that
dates back to 1934 when Vic "The Trader" Bergeron, a
San Francisco Bay Area cuisine pioneer, founded his first restaurant.
Mr. Bergeron based his original Trader Vic's on the simple premise:
"an escape from ordinary life." He went on to create
an illusion that one had fled to a tropical island. From then
on it became a tropical restaurant and bar, which specializes
in serving world-famous island cuisine and tropical cocktails
inside a refined exotic atmosphere. Trader Vic's Restaurant Group
now includes an expanding collection of upscale, company-owned
and franchised restaurants steeped in island-style service and
atmosphere, stretching from the United States to Europe, the Middle
East and Asia. Incorporating different cultures from around the
world, Trader Vic's brand of hospitality has garnered international
acclaim for introducing unique foods, careful preparations and
welcoming service, as well as for inventing exotic, crowd-pleasing
drinks such as the world-famous Mai Tai. Today, Trader Vic's has
become a world-renowned corporation in the restaurant business
with over 30 restaurants in 22 cities around the globe. For more
information, visit www.tradervicslv.com.
|