By Jessica Tripp
The dining room at Terra Verde is a beautiful blend of upscale and comfort dining.
The open kitchens and friendly wait staff makes you feel as if you are dining at the home of an old friend—and that old friend has incredible taste. They serve risotto with aged Carnaroli rice imported from Piedmont, Italy. Their wine cellar is stocked full of Italian wines. And everything can be topped with fresh parmesan cheese hand-grated at your table.
“Best lamb chops ever,” says Anne Ward from Phoenix. She prides herself on being an expert on gourmet food, and she likes Terra Verde so much she is planning on returning to the restaurant the next day, and bringing all of her clients.
“Best pasta in town,” says Mike Tavich from Las Vegas. “Reminds me of Italy.”
Along with a beautiful atmosphere and wonderful food, the restaurant inside Green Valley Ranch has a little extra something that makes guests flock to Terra Verde. That something is Hell’s Kitchen winner Rock Harper. The chef from Spotsylvania, Virginia, won the position of head chef by outlasting 11 others and living up to the standards of perfectionist chef Gordon Ramsay on the popular reality show.
Bartender Mario Fleming says that Harper’s smiling presence adds to the homelike atmosphere of Terra Verde. “We welcome guests with open arms and take care of them like family,” Fleming says.
After opening the winning door on the Hell’s Kitchen Season 3 finale, Harper, his wife and their two children had their lives changed forever. They moved from small-town Virginia to Las Vegas, where Harper earns six figures running Ramsay’s new restaurant.
“I wouldn’t change it for anything, I’ll tell you that,” Harper says. “My life is better now than it was.”
In addition to the restaurant, he has a book deal in the works. It’ll be a combination autobiography and cookbook that should hit stores in late 2008. Harper describes it as a “good reading piece that you can cook along with, too.”
Terra Verde is a southern Italian-themed restaurant, and the current menu was put together by Executive Head Chef Massimiliano “Max” Campanari from Wynn Las Vegas’ Bartolotta Ristorante di Mare.
Now that Harper has begun to settle into the workings of the restaurant, he plans to add his own flair to the menu. He says he may “somewhat create a new cuisine—[I] don’t know if it’s been tried before—mixing great American and Italian.” His signature surf-and-turf dish from Hell’s Kitchen will be on the menu, but Harper is experimenting with how to add a slight Italian flair to the old favorite. He also has new ideas galore.
For example, the menu may soon offer sweet-potato ravioli. “Ravioli is Italian, but it’s a sweet-potato ravioli with an Italian creamy, very rich cheese, and a French vanilla touch of cinnamon and nutmeg, salt and pepper, very simple toasted butter and herbs. It’s Italian, but I add a Southern flair.”
Harper promises that Chef Ramsay will not be absent from his kitchen either, at least in spirit. The qualities Harper gained from competing in Hell’s Kitchen will influence how he cooks forever.
Terra Verde is open for dinner at 5 p.m. every night. Reservations are recommended and can be made by calling 617-7075. Guests can sit inside the candlelit dining room or dine on the private patio under the stars. And as always, Rock Harper will be there with a smile and a plate of good food.