Chef NIcole Brisson, who was recently nominated as a semifinalist for the James Beard Award in the Best Chef Southwest division, has left Locale Italian Kitchen, the upscale eatery in Mountain’s Edge Marketplace.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported on April 20 that Brisson and owner Andy Hooper had a mutual parting of the ways. Marc Marrone, owner of Graffiti Bao, will come on as a consultant.
Marrone told the Review-Journal that he hopes to combine “the craft-driven, high-quality Italian fare,” adding “With my grandmother coming over from Italy, I’m excited to have an outlet now to be able to showcase and put forward some dishes that I grew up eating.”
Brisson had posted on her Facebook page that she was “taking a much needed break to focus on my health and well being.” Her lending her name to Locale was a big coup for a neighborhood restaurant and garnered national attention.
The restaurant had only recently opened before the coronavirus crisis forced it into curbside takeout..
Hooper told the Review-Journal that he wants to refocus on his original goal of “making really upscale Italian food along with more approachable red-sauce Italian.”
“Our success during the COVID outbreak has been the red-sauce Italian dishes,” he notes. “But that doesn’t mean the menu is going to be overwhelmed with those dishes.”