‘The Beast’ of the Feast
with Todd English and Executive Chef Sani Hebaj
THE BEAST, located in immersive Entertainment Complex Area15, off the strip in L.V. is a techno-vibrant food hall created by four-time James Beard Awardwinner Todd English, and boasts a high-end ‘wizard behind its culinary curtain’ in Executive Chef Sani Hebaj. Accustomed to serving his beautiful creations on Bernadotte china at his previous Executive Chef gig at The Plaza Hotel in NYC, Chef Hebaj, a New York native, shared how his classical training benefits his current culinary adventure. ‘We’re using the same techniques at The Beast as I’ve used before, but our plating here is very whimsical, wild, and eccentric. The dark room here, the aesthetics, the visuals, the music, the lights….we have so much going on and want the food to be as fun as the unique environment. Todd’s always thinking of wacky things to do and constantly has new ideas. He’s texted me about six times this morning already. We try to add a little bit of craziness to the menu wherever we can. We like to call it Mad Max meets Burning Man.’ Sani, who comes from a multi-generation culinary family (including his two sisters and brother-in-law) studied at Culinary Arts & Sciences at California Academy. Having moved to Las Vegas from NYC for the unique Executive Chef position at The Beast, Chef Sani cheekily shared
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one of his favorite aspects of the geographical change up, ‘I’ve lived here for about nine months now and I have to say one of the best parts about being in Vegas is the commute. It’s wonderful. Getting to work is super easy!’ The Beast team, comprised of 130 employees, with 34 of them in the kitchen, has to fire on all cylinders to successfully deliver the expansive, ‘something for everybody’ menu. ‘It always shocks people when they try the food here because they’re not expecting this level of quality inside of Area15. They’re like ‘Oh my God, I’ve been to all the top places in Las Vegas, and this has the best food and service.’ And I’m just like, ‘Wow, that’s a great compliment to get’ offered Hebaj. The Beast’s food hall, Chef Hebaj shared, is more like a restaurant with high-level food hall offerings. It has a bespoke ‘Beast’ for everybody, including ‘Belly of the Beast Pizza’ with topping options like Peking Duck or Smoked
