Chef Mike Minor leaving Border Grill, Las Vegas

Executive chef Mike Minor will be leaving Border Grill at the end of December.

“I think it’s time for me to explore another city,” says the 47-year-old Minor, who moved to Las Vegas in 1982.

The chef and his wife, Natalia, will relocate to San Diego. The couple have been frequent visitors to the Southern California city for more than 20 years. But the craziness of 2020 is prompting the move.

“Through this COVID situation, I’ve really had time to sit back and think about my life — things that I haven’t done and wish that I would have done, and things that I still think I can do in my lifetime,” Minor explains. “And I want to take that opportunity and that chance. I don’t want to have something happen to me and go ‘I wish I would have done this,’ or ‘I wish I would have done that,’ or ‘Why the hell didn’t I do that? Nothing was stopping me?’ So I’m going to do it.”

Beyond the climate and the lifestyle, Minor is excited about having access to San Diego’s farmers markets and being close to the water.

“I’m really big into sustainability and saving the planet and being part of that,” he says. “And if I can get closer to the ocean, and somehow get involved with something down there, that would just be icing on the cake for me.”

Minor began his tenure at Border Grill at Mandalay Bay in 2004, after serving as the Hard Rock Cafe’s assistant general manager of culinary, overseeing the chain’s West Coast outlets. After progressing from a sous chef position to the restaurant’s executive chef, he left in 2014 to launch a food truck called TruckU BBQ. He then opened Lorena Garcia’s Chica at The Venetian as executive chef, before returning to Border Grill in 2017.

Throughout it all he’s remained close with Border Grill owners Susan Feniger and Mary Sue Milliken. So it’s not surprising that they have been supportive of his decision to move on.

“When I told them I was going to make the move, the first thing they did was say they would help me find a job in San Diego, because they know a ton of people,” the chef says.

While Minor hasn’t lined up his next gig yet, he says he’s excited to take the skills he’s developed in Las Vegas to a new market.

“I want to go down there and show those guys what Vegas is all about.”

He also plans to remind Las Vegas what his cooking is all about with a farewell meal. It probably won’t be at Border Grill, however. Instead, the chef says, he’s looking for an independent location to host a pop-up meal before he packs up his things and relocates to the Golden State. Details should be announced shortly.

The Review-Journal is owned by Las Vegas Sands Chairman and CEO Sheldon Adelson. Las Vegas Sands operates The Venetian.

Contact Al Mancini at amancini@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlManciniVegas on Twitter and Instagram.