Chef Conversations

Chef Fabio Viviani brings culinary star power to Summerlin’s ai Pazzi

By Jen Smith

Chef Fabio Viviani has made it to Las Vegas. The former Top Chef contestant is no stranger to the spotlight, with several cookbooks and a YouTube channel with more than 50,000 subscribers. Viviani operates dozens of restaurants and dining concepts across the United States, and while this is far from his first casino venture, ai Pazzi marks his debut restaurant in Nevada, which opened this summer at Summerlin’s JW Marriott Hotel. Expect classic recipes and creative twists for the local crowd.

What does “ai pazzi” mean?

In Italy, when you cheers to “ai pazzi,” it means you’re crazy. Whatever it is that you’re doing, you’re crazy to be this involved, this passionate. “ai Pazzi” in a restaurant means we’re crazy for food, crazy for hospitality, crazy about making sure you have a fantastic experience. As long as you’re with us, we’re “pazzi” about [ensuring] you have a good experience.

How will ai Pazzi differ from your other casino-restaurant concepts?

This is more like an actual restaurant that just happens to be within a casino. The reality is we’re treating this, for the next decade, as a staple in the Summerlin and Las Vegas outskirts communities.

What can locals expect to see on the menu?

The menu is a combination of greatest hits and some new Las Vegas spins on Italian classics. You can expect the usual suspects. I’ll have a great vodka sauce, because I think I have the world’s greatest recipe; a meatball, because I know I have the world’s greatest recipe; and we’re going to have fresh pasta made in-house. This is Las Vegas, with access to very good quality ingredients. Expect something a little more elevated, something a little more unusual.

When you’re home, what do you cook?

I make fresh pasta every day at my house. It takes me no time — it’s easy, quick, fast. I [also] love sauces. When I’m at home or doing nothing, we just make batches of sauces, freeze them and we have delicious sauces all year round.

ai Pazzi, 221 N. Rampart Blvd., 702-869-7790, aipazzi.com