Spiedini in Las Vegas changing hands as chef Gustav Mauler retires
Pioneering Las Vegas chef Gustav Mauler announced on Sunday that he was retiring, effective that day. As a result, his Spiedini Italian Ristorante at JW Marriott Las Vegas will be closed through July 9. It will reopen on Wednesday, July 10 with the resort taking control of its operation. Mauler had previously said the restaurant would reopen Friday.
“The hotel actually is taking the restaurant over — keeping the name, keeping the website, keeping the employees,” the 69-year-old Mauler told the audience at The Smith Center’s Myron’s Cabaret Jazz, where he was one of three chefs being interviewed by Norm Clarke as part of the Conversations with Norm series. “So you will still see Speidini, but you won’t see me.”
The Austrian-born Mauler first came to Las Vegas in 1987 to work at the Golden Nugget. He later took a position as vice president overseeing food and beverage for Mirage resorts, before founding his own company. He’s been operating Spiedini since 1999.
“I’ve worked 56 years,” he told Clarke and his audience.
“I never worked five days. I never worked eight hours. As all chefs know, you’re married to your job. And I’m so happy my wife always understood why I was working and taking care of things. But … I turn 70 in four months. And I thought ‘You know, if I have to collect Social Security (a few) months from now, I might as well retire.”
Contact Al Mancini at amancini@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlManciniVegas on Twitter.
