Q&A With Executive Chef
Carlos Guia of Commander's Palace in Las Vegas
 Chef
Carlos Guia, a Venezuelan with roots in New Orleans, has been cooking
up a storm in Sin City for four years. Still, he's had his challenges
making the Las Vegas Commander's Palace compare to the real
thing in New Orleans. Here's how he's done it.
CMEPlanner: You're from Venezuela, a place that isn't known
for having a lot of famous chefs. How is it that you came to love
cooking?
Guia: I grew up cooking with my mother, who is from New Orleans.
When she wrote a cookbook for charity I helped her. I remember helping
to cook my first big meal on Thanksgiving, which in Venezuela is
at the same time it is in the United States. I was ten. Actually
I always wanted to be a chef but my dad opposed it. I spent two
semesters in college and then enrolled in the CIA (Cooking Institution
of America). I just had to be in the kitchen. That was it for me.
CMEPlanner: So your true roots are in New Orleans.
Guia:
I am always going back there even though I spent time cooking at
Le Bernardin in New York before moving on to Commander's
Palace in New Orleans. I worked there for four years with Tory
McPhail before being asked to head up the operation in Las Vegas.
I guess I'm just the nomad chef.
CMEPlanner: How has living in all these different places colored your cooking?
Guia:
Well, my classic training is French so there's plenty of that in
my dishes. My Venezuelan roots play into dishes such as the coriander-dusted
snapper with boniato smashed potatoes. I also use yams and South
American root vegetables, plantain chips and mango salsas in many
of my dishes. And, of course, because Commander's Palace
is southern-based, I use all the ingredients you can get in New
Orleans - oysters, alligator, crawfish.
CMEPlanner: There's a lot of competition in the Las Vegas dining scene these days, lots of big name chefs are moving to town. How do stay viable?
Guia:
Our biggest competitor is Commander's Palace in New Orleans
and we strive constantly to compare favorably to it. I don't worry
about the celebrity chefs moving in. We're so unique with what we
do and people already know that. We try to use the seasonal approach
to cooking but being in land-locked Las Vegas we have to do more
out-sourcing. We have most of our seafood imported from New Orleans.
At least we are able to get it on the same day. But our proximity
to the produce that comes from California is the highlight of having
moved out here. There is so much wonderful organic produce just
hours away.
CMEPlanner: What's your biggest challenge living here?
Guia:
Teaching people who live here what Southern hospitality means. The
Brennan philosophy doesn't rule by fear. We all work together as
a team and we are on the lookout for career-minded people instead
of someone who just wants a job. About one-third of our staff comes
from New Orleans and the rest we hire from Las Vegas.
CMEPlanner: Right now you are located in the Aladdin Hotel and Casino. What do you think will happen when it becomes a Planet Hollywood?
Guia: There
will be some renovation in the casino, which will hopefully bring
in more high rollers. We personally don't have any renovation plans.
We have an entrance from the outside so people don't have to go
into the casino to get here, which makes a difference. We hope to
have some outdoor furniture for patio dining in the future. We already
have a good following from people who know the New Orleans restaurant.
We get lots of locals and, of course, many people from Louisiana
come to Las Vegas and they all come here.
CMEPlanner: What's the main difference between you and Commander's in New Orleans?
Guia: There
is no jacket or tie required here as there is in New Orleans. Still,
we are a dressy restaurant and our service is very formal.
SIGNATURE DISH
Louisiana alligator "Cordon Bleu" with house-made Creole mozzarella
and prosciutto di Parma. Served with a 2003 Duckhorn sauvignon blanc
from Napa
Commander's Palace
Desert Passage at Aladdin
Suite 730
3663 Las Vegas Blvd S.
Las Vegas, NV 89109
(702) 892-8272
www.commanderspalace.com/las_vegas
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