Photo by Jon Estrada
There are other chefs who have more Las Vegas restaurants than Julian Serrano. But they are generally the fly-in, fly-out celebrities who only visit their kitchens a few times a year. No offense to that lot, but Serrano is cut from a different cloth. The Spanish chef is here full time and can frequently be spotted at any of his three Strip restaurants: the eponymous Julian Serrano in Aria and Picasso and Lago in Bellagio. Moreover, the diversity of the trio—from exquisite Mediterranean fine dining to casual Spanish tapas to a thoroughly innovative Italian small-plates format—provides something for just about every mood, taste and price range.