Sin City is home to a lot of restaurants and bars, but there are tons of hidden gems that the majority of Las Vegans aren't unearthing. To help guide us to these potential discoveries, we've enlisted some of our city's food players to share their recommendations for a weekly feature dubbed Dining Confidential. Know a chef who wants to share some top dining spots? The tipline is open.
Stephan Hopcraft [Photo: The One Group]
Stephen Hopcraft's Midwestern upbringing shines through in the dishes he serves as executive chef of STK at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. The former contestant on Bravo's Top Chef moved to the Monterey Bay as his career was just starting to work with Thomas Vinolus of Bittersweet Bistro. Vinolus encouraged him to enroll in the California Culinary Academy of San Francisco, where he landed an internship with Charlie Trotter in Chicago. From there Hopcraft went on to develop a relationship with Michael Mina, and spent 10 years working for his restaurant group in many of Mina's restaurants, including Arcadia, Stripsteak and Seablue. Here he shared three of his favorite restaurants in Las Vegas, including places his kids like to dine.
Which restaurants do you turn to when you're not working?
Oyshi Sushi, Fish… Delish and Scarpetta.
What dishes are most memorable?
Oyshi — Madison and Chloe (my four-and-a-half year old twins) love their miso soup... I love their hand rolls, their sushi and their management team.
Fish… Delish — I love their catfish, their sole "soul," any of their fish! Great place to get fish to-go or dine-in… and you can bring your own beer. Their hot sauce is on the top of my list.
Scarpetta — Perfect pasta every time. Great duck and foie ravioli.
Why do you enjoy going there?
Love to bring the family in for the food and the great people that run the restaurants.
Would you like to include any other information?
For a beer after work, Dean's Place on Blue Diamond and Dean Martin is the best place to go.
· All Coverage of STK [~ELV~]
· All Dining Confidentials [~ELV~]
