READY. SET. ACTION!! The New CW Chef Video Series

Spotlight On: Executive Chef/Owner Gina Marinelli of Las Vegas La Strega and Harlo Steakhouse

Offering fantastic voyeur-flavor between CW and some of brightest culinarians in the industry,The CW Chef Video Series, produced by The Chefs’ Warehouse, shines a light on what’s hot and happening now,with tightly edited video bites featuring chefs in their killer venues, bespoke kitchens, and CW ingredient recommendations.

In its most recent installment, The CW Video Series was thrilled to zone in on Executive Chef/Owner Gina Marinelli of Las Vegas diamond venues La Strega and Harlo Steakhouse. Harlo Steakhouse, the location of the CW video shoot, is Marinelli’s latest culinary touchdown and officially opened this past November in stunning downtown Summerlin.

CW Magazine was thrilled to join in onthe action and share what we found.

Chef Marinelli (Winner of Eater’s Chefof the Year 2019) with an emerging television presence (The Globe, 2021,Discovery Channel) and ever-climbing chef/restaurateur trajectory, dove intothe deep-end of culinary as a dish washer after graduating from college andbriefly working in sales.

During a road trip that began in Orlando,Florida in search of a prime culinary city to plant roots, Marinelli dined at Michael Mina’s restaurant in Las Vegas and was suddenly hooked. ‘‘Right there. It wasjust over. I didn’t care where I was living.I didn’t care how much it would cost. Ididn’t care about anything. I just wantedto work there. Fortunately, the restaurant pulled me in right away and I’ve been in Las Vegas ever since.”

After working at D.O.C.G Enoteca at the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas, and almost abandoning her Las Vegas culinary career to to live in Italy, Marinelli was offered the partnership for La Strega. ‘That was my moment. I had been on the strip for a long time and knew I had to take that shot. You only get these shots once.’ Gina shared.

Marinelli, who credits her father Rodney Marinelli, NFL defensive line coach for the Las Vegas Raiders for her unbeatable work ethic, is inherently modest, and very much about supporting and promoting the success of others. ‘I am very happy to teach and nurture anyone who shows up and wants to learn. That’s what it’s all about,’ Gina shared.

When asked specifically about women in culinary, Marinelli offered, ‘As a woman in this industry, you definitely have more to prove. They are waiting for you to quit. I’m very proud to see all the young women coming up as executive chefs and pastry chefs and getting the accolades they deserve. I know how hard it is. The industry is hard, period. Even if you take gender out of the equation, it’s just a difficult lifestyle to live. It’s brutal and you’re under heat. But it feels good to have all these young women thank me for being a shoulder for them. I just tell them “Don’t cry in the kitchen. Don’t let them see you cry. They don’t get that you are just angry and frustrated. They misinterpret crying for weakness and you don’t want that.’’

After the immense success of La Strega, Marinelli shared the challenges of getting Harlo (developed with local restaurateur and partner Jeffrey Fine) up and running while keeping La Strega firing on all cylinders. ‘I’m in overdrive right now. Honestly, I could not do it if it wasn’t for Chef Pablo who has been my right-hand man at La Strega for the past three years. I owe so much to his talent and commitment.’

Harlo Steakhouse & Bar, a classically elegant steakhouse with an art-deco-tinged ambiance, has a distinctly different menu program from that of La Strega’s. ‘We’ve put a lot of our efforts into having a truly amazing steak list, Marinelli shared. ‘One of my favorites is Flannery Beef which we get from The Chefs’ Warehouse.’ What Flannery does for dry aging is just exceptional. The marbling is beautiful, with a perfectly subtle funk. Our caviar service here is also very special,’ Gina added. With Italian cuisine leading Marinelli’s chef-wheelhouse, Harlo’s pasta program is top-tier, created to perfectly pair with ones’ steak of choice. ‘You could come back here twice a week and still have culinary ingredient discoveries,’ Gina offered.