Seasoned Pro

Kirk Baird

Friday, June 4, 2004 | 4:35 a.m.

WEEKEND EDITION

June 5 - 6, 2004

James Beard Award.

To those involved in fine dining, the award is as much of an honor as the Oscar is to those involved in the film industry.

Last month one Las Vegas executive chef and one Las Vegas restaurant received the award. Luciano Pelligrini, executive chef and business partner of Valentino Las Vegas in The Venetian, was named best chef in the Southwest, and the Bradley Ogden restaurant in Caesars Palace was named the best new restaurant nationwide.

Pelligrini, 39, was also nominated for a James Beard Award in 2003.

Pelligrini was raised in a tiny mountain town -- population 1,000 -- north of Bergamo, Italy, and moved to the United States in 1985, where he took a chef's job working for restaurateur Piero Selvaggio.

In three years Pelligrini found himself the de facto head chef of Selvaggio's trendy west Los Angeles restaurant, Valentino at Prego.

When Selvaggio first discussed opening a restaurant in Las Vegas, he approached Pelligrini about his willingness to move as well. Pelligrini agreed, and in July 1999 Valentino Las Vegas opened.

The Las Vegas Sun recently spoke with Pelligrini, who is married and has a 4 1/2-year-old daughter, about the award and what it means for his career, his favorite fast-food restaurant and what he thinks about NBC's reality series "The Restaurant."

Las Vegas Sun: Did you grow up in a restaurant family?

Luciano Pelligrini: No, not quite. I had an uncle that was a chef and he might have influenced me in making my decision. I used to like cooking at home, doing small chores, helping my mom ... and that kind of stuff. But no, my father was a mason and my mother was a stay-home mom.

Sun: What made you decide to become a chef?

LP: At 13 years old, it's not like you have a clear idea that will shape and be a part of your life for the rest of your life. So as much as I'd like to say that I loved being a chef, the profession also chose me in return.

Sun: How has winning the James Beard Award affected you? Or has it?

LP: As far as my regular life, not much has changed. Perhaps perception has shifted somehow. Perhaps now we'll feel more of an obligation to deliver a higher-quality product and a better experience because of all the good things that have been said about Valentino. Not that we didn't feel that we didn't have to deliver the best of the best at all times, but now there's pressure to do so.

As for the rest, it's just like before. We come in to work and we do our things. We research products, we prepare products, we cook products, we improvise and we just keep things interesting. And we try to have fun doing it, so that we come back the day after ready to start it all over again.

Sun: Did you ever dream you might win this award?

LP: Oh, God no. If you asked me 19 years ago when I first got here if I would have gotten to this point, I would have said, "Yeah, sure, what are you smoking?" So, I wish I could claim I had a master plan and I worked all along to get it, but it kind of happened. If nothing else it was a byproduct of consistently giving my best and doing my best and expecting the best from all those who work for me.

Sun: Do you plan on staying in Las Vegas?

LP: I'm here to stay until I'm ready to retire, let me put it that way. I've been doing this now for 26 years. By some standards it's a career and a half. This is a job that will wear you out. But I don't plan to shrivel up and die behind the stove. I'm going to contribute to the community as much as I can and then one day, hopefully, I'll spend more time golfing than serving pasta.

Sun: More and more chefs are becoming celebrities. Is that an ambition that you have?

LP: Um, like I said, it's not that I'm planning it. I think, though, that it's today's reality and is part of the game, I guess, and part of what you have to shoot for in order to better your business. It's all about PR and getting your name out there and capitalizing on it.

Do I need to have my own TV show and to be on par with Wolfgang Puck? I don't necessarily say that's my ultimate goal. But if it happens, it happens. But like I said, I have no strategy to eventually achieve that.

Sun: Are you a fan of the reality series "The Restaurant"?

LP: You know, the first series I watched maybe one or two episodes, or maybe 1 1/2. I don't know what they wanted to achieve with that. Let me put it this way. If certain things were done on purpose to add drama to the thing, then it truly isn't reality TV. (But) if that wasn't the case, then it was a poorly run restaurant (laughs).

Sun: OK, you're an award-winning executive chef at one of the city's top restaurants. But do you ever get a craving for fast food?

LP: Yeah, I'll eat the occasional burger or the occasional taco. My daughter loves McDonald's, so I have to eat a McDonald's burger every now and then. But I favor In & Out. I used to love Jack in the Box ... Taco Bell, I go to on occasion.