A chat with a legend: Julian Serrano, master chef at the Bellagio’s Picasso Restaurant
By James Rosenthal
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Julian Serrano is one of the top five chefs in the world today. After revolutionizing what was loosely defined as nouvelle cuisine in the 1980s at Masa’s Restaurant in San Francisco, he has now redefined the standards of absolute quality and creativity for the new genre of finesse cooking at Picasso — the best restaurant in Las Vegas.
Serrano, as adept with a tennis racket — he is blessed with an excellent serve-and volley game — as with a whisk, is that rare chef who actually cooks the superb food you are ordering off the menu, as well as supervising his expert team of sous chefs.
After a quarter-century of setting trends and proving that it is possible to remain imaginative and inspired while turning out 200 plates each night, Serrano strives to stay ahead of the trendy Food Network-hyped TV chefs to raise the bar ever higher for a gourmet gastronomic experience. On a fall day in Las Vegas, your roving reporter discussed the state of gastronomy with the always-busy Serrano:
NATURALTRAVELER.COM: How do you compare the restaurant world of today with the scene in the 1980s in San Francisco?
JULIAN SERRANO: There have been numerous changes and in my view all of them have been positive for the industry. My customers know so much more about food now; everyone who comes to Picasso has done research about the type of food we prepare, the technique and style of cooking, the ingredients are no mystery, and this makes it so much easier for me to feel free in the kitchen. Back in the '80s the perception was that the high-end restaurant patron was very sophisticated, but that was more myth than reality.
NATURALTRAVELER.COM: Would you argue that the sophistication of the customer also carries over to wine?
JULIAN SERRANO: The wine market has changed everything. Our wine list at Picasso started out with 285 selections; now it has more than 1,700 selections. The clientele at a four- or five-star restaurant understands different types of wines, has experience and appreciation for California wines, French wines, Spanish wines, Australian wines and South American wines. In France, it is totally different. French people drink French wine in restaurants — in many cases that’s all they understand. This type of regional bias is true for most Europeans in selecting and enjoying wine, and this is why the customers in the United States are the most educated in the world about food and wine.
NATURALTRAVELER.COM: Compare and contrast what it’s like to be a chef at Picasso versus working in Europe?
JULIAN SERRANO: I prefer the American mentality because all of my menus at Picasso are unique — each dish has its own distinguishing characteristics. In France, you will find that every menu is identical to the one just down the road.
NATURALTRAVELER.COM: Where would I find the best restaurants in Europe right now?
JULIAN SERRANO: Spain, without a doubt. As you are well aware, the French restaurants still have the best reputation, but the changes in gastronomy in Spain over the past 10 years have been simply amazing. The new Spanish cooking means the most excellent local produce and lighter preparations. But one of the most important changes has been the improvement of Spanish wines over the past decade. Every region of Spain has its own local wine, and without fail all of these wines are quite good. People finally figured out that you can make money if the wine is good, and that has led to a golden age of Spanish wine, which has inspired the Spanish chefs to rise to the occasion.