Culinary Innovation

The history of culinary innovation at The Mirage Hotel & Casino dates back to the earliest plans entrepreneur Steve Wynn had for the property, in which he wanted to set himself apart from the “cheap food and lodging” available elsewhere on the Las Vegas Strip. Upon opening, The Mirage Hotel & Casino featured nine restaurants representative of an eclectic variety of international cuisines, ranging from Japanese and Italian to steakhouses and pizzas. Additionally, the property had a snack bar, an ice cream parlor, banquet facilities, and extensive room service options. It is estimated that during the first year of operations, The Mirage Hotel & Casino was serving over 25,000 meals per day. The property’s culinary innovation extended to its employees and contractors as well, who had unrestricted access to a private eatery, Mangia, located behind a nondescript door simply labeled “Employees Only.” This eatery was accessible around the clock and overseen by the same chefs and staff who worked at the property’s other, public-facing restaurants. Mangia had a reported operating budget of over $1 million every month.

In June 1990, The Mirage Hotel & Casino hosted a “Chef of the Year” competition from the Fraternity of Executive Chefs of Las Vegas; those competing included Van Atkins (Caesars Palace), Larry Chumley (Gold Coast), and Gustav Mauler (Mirage). Mauler is a Certified Master Chef from the American Master Chefs’ Order and eventually worked as the Vice President of Food & Beverage at The Mirage Hotel & Casino. In this position, Mauler would have overseen the entirety of the food and beverage offerings at the property’s various eateries. Before retiring in 2019, Mauler also worked for Stations Casinos and ran his own restaurants and consulting companies around the city.

As part of mid-2000s redesign of their buffet, which had gone largely unchanged since the property first opened, The Mirage Hotel & Casino invested an estimated $14 million into a new buffet concept, overseen by architect and hospitality designer Adam Tihany, once described by the Las Vegas Weekly as “architects Frank Geary and Alvar Aalto rolled into one for the restaurant world.” Tihany had previously designed restaurants at the Mandalay Bay and Venetian properties in Las Vegas, as well as dining spaces in Los Angeles, Istanbul, Venice, and Palm Beach. At The Mirage Hotel & Casino, Tihany reimagined the standard Las Vegas buffet by having a variety of food prepared directly in front of guests, rather than behind closed doors. Menus were frequently changed and adjusted to encourage repeat visitation. Other properties around the city have since adopted this model. At its peak, Tihany’s buffet served over 5,000 guests daily.