Industry Weekly

[Architect]

Andrea’s chef Joseph Elevado is always the man in Vegas’ coolest kitchen

Image
When you’re at Andrea’s, Chef Joe is going to make sure you’re having fun.
Photo: Jon Estrada

Chef Joseph Elevado has a knack for being the man in the kitchen at the coolest restaurant in Vegas.

Elevado was tasked with opening the very first Las Vegas version of Nobu in 1999, sent from New York City to bring the legendary Japanese restaurant to the Hard Rock Hotel just off the Strip. “I thought I’d be here for a year,” he says. “Now it’s 17 years later, and I kinda like Vegas. It’s relaxed. New York is a lot of fun, but I don’t know if I’d do a restaurant there now. Too crazy.”

Back then, Las Vegas didn’t have anything like the number of fine dining palaces that decorate the Strip today. Elevado recalls one standout meal at the late chef Jean-Louis Palladin’s restaurant at the Rio. “It’s insane how much things have changed,” says the chef, who stayed at Hard Rock’s Nobu until 2006 before moving on to another Asian restaurant with a serious scene, Social House at Treasure Island. “It was a cult favorite,” he says of Social House. “That was a different era, too, but we used to get so many Strip entertainers coming in. It was just a cool restaurant.”

Elevado took a break from Vegas to run the four-star L’Ermitage Beverly Hills hotel’s food and beverage operations, everything from in-room dining to the restaurant lounge’s bar menu. It was a different experience, one that primed the veteran chef for what would come next—opening the “vibe dining” palace Andrea’s at Encore.

“This was the only reason I came back to Vegas,” he says of the ultra-hip restaurant headquartered between Surrender Nightclub, Encore Beach Club and the casino’s new Encore Players Club. “I came into the project a little late so it was stressful, but it was one of the smoothest openings I’ve ever done. The network and support this hotel gives you, it’s really like nothing else.”

Even for someone with such a precise level of experience, Elevado knew there would be pressure to deliver an unparalleled experience at Andrea’s. But he was, and is, the man for the job. “I knew the menu had to have a balance of fun, shareable items with more luxurious things, and it always has to stay true to the cuisines I’m representing,” he says. Indeed, Andrea’s menu stretches from sushi to seared foie gras, Thai tom kha gai soup to ramen sliders, prime steaks to Filipino pork belly sisig.

“I have noticed today that our guests who may be [going to the clubs] are more into food, more open to trying different things,” Elevado says. “And just being in this restaurant, I can see why people love to come here. When this place is really humming on a Friday or Saturday night, tables full of shellfish platters and big magnums coming out, it’s just a lot of fun.” Andrea’s at Encore, 702-770-5340; Sunday-Thursday 6-10:30 p.m., Friday & Saturday 6-11:30 p.m.

Share
Photo of Brock Radke

Brock Radke

Brock Radke is an award-winning writer and columnist who currently occupies the role of editor-at-large at Las Vegas Weekly magazine. ...

Get more Brock Radke
  • Because who can watch the Super Bowl without a 3-liter bottle of Dom?

  • “It’s always been a dream to reach this level.”

  • The mantra is “handmade with love, from scratch, daily,” and you can taste it in every bite.

  • Get More Industry Weekly Stories
Top of Story