Paul Bartolotta OUT at His Namesake Las Vegas Restaurant, Mark LoRusso IN

Huge late breaking news out of Wynn Las Vegas. James Beard Foundation Best Chef: Southwest winner in 2009 Paul Bartolotta is leaving his namesake restaurant at the resort and Botero executive chef Mark LoRusso takes his place.

LoRusso officially takes over as executive chef full time early in 2016, when Bartolotta departs his Bartolotta Ristorante di Mare.

“It has been a staple of the Wynn culinary philosophy that the chef whose name is on the menu is the person who actually prepares your meal,” Wynn says in a press statement. “Full-time, resident chefs are essential to deliver on the expectation and promise of a Wynn dining experience.”

Bartolotta, who opened the restaurant when Wynn debuted in 2005, is known for importing up to 1.5 tons of seafood a week and serving it within 48 hours of being caught in the Mediterranean. The restaurant is one of only a few in the Western Hemisphere that serves fresh-caught langoustines.

Before taking on Botero, the steakhouse at Encore Las Vegas with its Fernando Botero bronze Seated Woman anchoring the dining room, LoRusso was the executive chef of Tableau at Wynn Las Vegas and worked as the executive chef of Michael Mina’s Aqua at the Bellagio for seven years.

After graduating from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y., he moved to Los Angeles to work under Thomas Keller and then Charlie Palmer at Aureole in New York City.

LoRusso plans to put his own imprint on Bartolotta. No word on whether the name of the restaurant that was remodeled in 2013 will change names.