Secret to Las Vegas restaurant’s pasta sauce: its 100-year-old chef

Government chef Maria Perry consults with chef Alan Guzman within the kitchen of the Bootlegger Bistro.
(Jay Jones)

Las Vegas locals love an Italian restaurant referred to as Bootlegger Bistro. The key to its nice sauces? It’s govt chef Maria Perry, who, at 100 years previous, nonetheless works two or three days every week to verify the whole lot is ideal.

“I nonetheless go in there and test the sauces,” she stated of the marinara sauce served at Bootlegger. Perry nonetheless oversees the standard of the seasoning packets used within the sauces.

Bootlegger Bistro

Spaghetti and meatballs is without doubt one of the basic dishes served at Bootlegger Bistro. Jay Jones

“That’s how we're capable of keep the consistency,” she defined.

Perry has been within the kitchen on the restaurant, three miles south of Mandalay Bay at 7700 S. Las Vegas Blvd., because the place opened in 1972. Earlier than that, she and her husband, Albert, ran a small pizzeria.

Perry, who will flip 101 in March, not works 12 to fifteen hours a day. She realized the recipes as a younger woman whereas her grandmother ran a boarding home in Niagara Falls, Canada. “My grandma was a very good cook dinner,” she stated.

Bootlegger Bistro

Dishes with Maria Perry's basic marinara sauce, together with the lasagna, are prime sellers. Jay Jones

Bootlegger’s menu is expansive, however the conventional spaghetti and meatballs ($18), made with a mix of floor beef and pork, and ricotta-oozing lasagna ($21) are persistently the most important sellers.

The restaurant and lounge are open 24 hours a day, seven days every week. Nightly leisure is a mainstay, together with Monday’s common Open Mic evening hosted by native singer Kelly Clinton. And, no, it's not newbie evening.

“Whoever’s engaged on the Strip will are available and carry out,” stated Lorraine Hunt-Bono, Maria’s daughter and the restaurant’s co-owner. “This isn’t karaoke.”

Reservations are strongly inspired for Monday evening leisure, which begins at 9 p.m. and continues into the wee hours, similar to the after-show exhibits of way back.

Bootlegger Bistro

Lorraine Hunt-Bono, co-owner of the Bootlegger, stands beside one of many banquettes by which celebrities similar to Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra as soon as dined. Jay Jones

Plaques and images above the banquettes attest to the lengthy checklist of celebrities who've dined or entertained on the Bootlegger over the a long time: Tony Curtis, Jack Jones, Steve Lawrence and spouse Eydie Gormé, Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra, to call just a few.

Hunt-Bono can even identify a handful of mobsters who often loved the Italian meals when gangsters dominated Vegas.

Howard Hughes was Hunt-Bono’s boss when she entertained on the lengthy gone Landmark resort and on line casino. The cash she saved was used to purchase the land for the Bootlegger’s authentic location.

Information: Bootlegger Bistro, (702) 736-4939

ALSO

Post a Comment

Previous Post Next Post