@starchefs Instagram profile, stories

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The Stewart anchors the menu at Yukon Pizza (@yukonpizza ), where Rising Star Community Award winners Alex, Cameron, and Dani White (presented by @resy ) layer sausage and pepperoni over marinara, ricotta, and parmesan. Garlic oil (made with @corto_olive ), oregano, chile flakes, and fresh basil finish the pie, building a balance of richness and brightness across every slice. The Whites have built Yukon into a neighborhood anchor, channeling proceeds back into the local community and offering SNAP and WIC slices to keep the door open to everyone, no matter the budget.⁠ ⁠ Visit Yukon Pizza during the #StarChefsRisingStars Restaurant Week and help us celebrate! More details via the link in our bio.

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6 hours ago

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Rising Star Bartender Kat Calma (@kat_thebartender ) presented by @campariacademy of The Dustland Bar (@thedustlandbar ) moved from the Philippines to Las Vegas at six and grew up in a family that prioritized service to others. At 21, she stepped into hospitality as a cocktail server at Wynn, watching bartenders run the room and knowing that was where she wanted to be. Finding it tough to land a barback role as a woman, she jumped straight into bartending at Twin Peaks, then to The Cosmopolitan under Bartender Mariena Mercer, who taught her to push flavor and boundaries, then to Commonwealth under Cesar Ruiz, who shaped her leadership instincts. In July 2025, she joined Restaurateur Jen Taler's team at The Dustland, where her ten-cocktail menu platforms local artisans through glassware and ingredients alike.⁠ ⁠ Visit The Dustland Bar during the #StarChefsRisingStars Restaurant Week and help us celebrate! More details via the link in our bio.

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23 hours ago

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Bridging land and sea, the ibérico carpaccio at Bazaar Mar by José Andrés (@bazaarbyjose ) layers thinly sliced cured Ibérico ham with Scottish langoustines (@seafoodscotland ) on the same plate, anchored by a crustacean mayonnaise built from the langoustine shells. Black sesame seed praline brings nutty bitterness and crunch, caviar finishes the bite, and chives cut through the fat. Rising Star Chef Daniela Romero (@romerodanni28 ) draws on Spain's coastal traditions while leaning into José's signature playfulness, building toward her broader mission at Bazaar Mar: to make seafood as celebrated on a Vegas table as steak.⁠ ⁠ Visit Bazaar Mar by José Andrés during the #StarChefsRisingStars Restaurant Week and help us celebrate! More details via the link in our bio.

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1 day ago

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Rising Star Pastry Chef Jackie Mai (@maiquirk ) presented by @tchochocolate of Don's Prime at Fontainebleau Las Vegas (@fontainebleaulasvegas ) found pastry while working as a pharmacy technician, spending her free time next door at the Japanese pâtisserie Suzuya. She started training there at four in the morning before her pharmacy shifts, eventually trading her biology degree at UNLV for Le Cordon Bleu. Mai cut her teeth at SW Steakhouse, then earned a spot at L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon after a 10-hour stage, learning classical French brigade work until the pandemic. A formative stretch at Guy Savoy under Joie Griego taught her recipe development and the discipline to think for herself. In May 2025, she joined Don's Prime to lead her own menu, finessing steakhouse classics like baked Alaska with modern sensibility.⁠ ⁠ Visit Don's Prime during the #StarChefsRisingStars Restaurant Week and help us celebrate! More details via the link in our bio.

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1 day ago

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A morita salsa and tahini crema bring smoke and richness to the lamb taco at Milpa (@milpa_lv ), where Restaurateur DJ Flores (@dnflores7 ) builds spiced American lamb shoulder (@fanoflamb ) onto a heirloom corn tortilla pressed in-house. Cucumber pico de gallo cuts the heat with cool acidity, fresh cilantro lifts the finish, and the tahini crema threads sesame depth through the bite, an unexpected anchor that ties the morita's smoke to the lamb's natural sweetness. Flores' approach across Nivel Hospitality leans on Mexican techniques rooted in heirloom ingredients and cross-cultural pairings, and the lamb taco distills that ethos into one carefully constructed bite.⁠ ⁠ Visit Milpa during the #StarChefsRisingStars Restaurant Week and help us celebrate! More details via the link in our bio.

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2 days ago

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Rising Star Chefs Scott Arn (@scott_arn ) and Ramtin Yashar (@cheframyashar ) of Golden Boy Market & Deli (@goldenboymrkt ) met as sous chefs at Esther's Kitchen and built a friendship that turned into a partnership. Arn grew up in Las Vegas burning meals from Food Network reels, then trained at Olives in the Bellagio, Centro in Reno, and a culinary masters in Spain that took him through Alkimia and Mugaritz before he returned to Reno as executive chef of Von Bismarck. Yashar moved from Iran to Los Angeles at five, climbed from dishwasher to chef de cuisine at Rising Stars alum Ludo Lefebvre's Petit Trois, and helped James Trees develop Bar Boheme. In July 2025, the two opened Golden Boy, a sandwich shop built on bold, personal flavors and the regulars they missed in fine dining.⁠ ⁠ Visit Golden Boy Market & Deli during the #StarChefsRisingStars Restaurant Week and help us celebrate! More details via the link in our bio.

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2 days ago

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The lingue di pizza at Bar Birba (@barbirbabk ) comes from movement and appetite rather than nostalgia. Chef Matt Diaz (@mpdiaz86 ) traces the dish back to days spent bouncing between forni in Rome, drawn to slices that were fast, focused, and built on heat and timing. The dough is stretched long and thin, designed to blister quickly and carry just enough topping without weighing it down.⁠ ⁠ “This is an homage to hanging out in Rome and jumping around and eating at every forno I could find in the city,” says Diaz. Thin-sliced French shallots (@fruitvegfromfr ) and crushed tomatoes bake together in six minutes, their sharpness softening as sweetness and acidity settle into the crust. Finished simply with olive oil, parsley, and flaky salt, the shallots do the quiet work of rounding the pizza without pulling attention away from the bake itself. Get the full recipe via the link in our bio.

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3 days ago

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Rising Star Sommelier Cristie Norman (@cristienorman_somm ) of Delilah (@delilahlv ) at Wynn Las Vegas (@wynnlasvegas ) has been working in restaurants since she was 15, slinging plates around her Valencia, California hometown until a fine dining steakhouse opened nearby and she talked her way into a job, drawn by a sommelier-turned-GM and her own fascination with wine. ⁠ ⁠ She passed her Level 1 at 21, then drove an hour each way to land a sommelier role at Spago Beverly Hills, where she studied a 4,000-selection list and started a peer wine education group that grew from eight people to over 200 California sommeliers by 2020. Today, Norman leads the floor at Delilah, runs monthly in-person tastings and an online Wine Course for Beginners, and co-founded the United Sommeliers Foundation, which has distributed $1.8 million to wine professionals navigating crisis.⁠ ⁠ Visit Delilah during the #StarChefsRisingStars Restaurant Week and help us celebrate! More details via the link in our bio.

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3 days ago

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A decade-old Riesling can develop honey, elderflower, and citrus peel without losing its acid spine, which is exactly what makes Hugel's Grossi Laue from Alsace, France pour like a sommelier's secret. Rising Star Sommelier Josh Dunson (@sammyjd94 ) of Ocean Prime Las Vegas at 63 CityCenter (@oceanprimelasvegas ) leans on the 2014 vintage to open a meal, banking on Riesling's acidity and minerality to wet the palate without overpowering the food. He treats the producer as one of Alsace's benchmarks, the Grossi Laue designation as the region's grand cru equivalent, and the wine's aromatic complexity as proof that a properly aged Riesling earns every guest's first sip.⁠ ⁠ Visit Ocean Prime Las Vegas at 63 CityCenter during the #StarChefsRisingStars Restaurant Week and help us celebrate! More details via the link in our bio.

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4 days ago

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Rising Star Chef Aaron Lee (@lee___aaron ) of Winnie & Ethel's Downtown Diner (@winniedineslv ) started his career on Lake Tahoe, snowboarding by day and cooking seasonally at The Beacon. After catching the hospitality bug in Portland at Pok Pok under Rising Stars alum Andy Ricker, he returned to Nevada to cook at Chef James Trees' Esther's Kitchen, where ingredient-driven Italian cooking shaped his scratch-made philosophy. ⁠ ⁠ A billboard for The Great Las Vegas Coffee Shop Giveaway changed everything — Lee beat 80 contestants to win the grand prize, opening Winnie & Ethel's with his wife Mallory Gott and naming it for his grandmother and her great-grandmother. The diner runs on scratch-made comfort executed with detail, like malted pancakes with Steen's cane syrup.⁠ ⁠ Visit Winnie & Ethel's Downtown Diner during the #StarChefsRisingStars Restaurant Week and help us celebrate! More details via the link in our bio.

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4 days ago

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Coffee belongs in more than just the cup, and we've teamed up with Nespresso Professional (@nespressousa ) to prove it. Enter The Golden Capsule Challenge for your shot at an all-expenses-paid trip to either New York City or San Francisco (or opt to take the $6,000 in cash). ⁠ ⁠ Sixty (60) finalists will receive a Nespresso Vertuo Pop machine and capsules to develop one original savory or pastry recipe putting Nespresso's gold-standard coffee to work as an ingredient. More details via the link in our bio.

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5 days ago

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Rising Star Baker Andrea McLean (@andrea.mclean_ ) of Popnpies (@popnpies ) built her chocolate-peanut butter pie around her favorite candy bar. An Oreo crust gives way to a peanut butter mousse she lightens by folding whipped cream into peanut butter, cream cheese, and sugar, then she finishes the top with a chocolate ganache made from a 64% Berkeley dark and a scatter of salted peanuts. It's been on the menu since day one and remains one of her top two sellers, the kind of straightforward pie that proves restraint is a discipline. ⁠ ⁠ Visit Popnpies at Antidote during the Las Vegas #StarChefsRisingStars Restaurant Week (May 6 to 20) and help us celebrate! More details via the link in our bio.

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5 days ago