Wynn Magazine - Las Vegas
Issue link: http://digital.greengale.com/i/98961
EXECUTIVE CHEF DEVIN HASHIMOTO REVEALS THE LAYERS OF JAPANESE CUISINE AT MIZUMI. BY MAX JACOBSON PHOTOGRAPHY BY JEFF GREEN M Executive Chef Devin Hashimoto. izumi is the new star in the Wynn restaurant galaxy, thanks to a brilliant design by Roger Thomas, and the talents of another star, Hawaiian-born chef Devin Hashimoto. Hashimoto, who is fluent in Japanese, began his career at Sam Choy's in Honolulu before diving into French cuisine in various restaurants throughout Las Vegas. Japanese cooking is multifaceted, so it's fitting that one of the first things one notices at Mizumi is a series of Noh masks over the bar, part of this lavish décor that features bricks painted in a shiny gold, a wall draped in antique obi (sashes for kimonos that can be more expensive than Versace eveningwear), and table surfaces inlaid with reflective pearl shell. The space was dazzling even before Thomas decked it out in crimson and gold, accented with white leather chairs with red trim—the space took over what was formerly a private dining room with direct views of the restaurant's waterfall and brought it to the dining public. Look to a green mountain open to the sky just beyond the far edge of the dining room, and you'll see one of this restaurant's unique features, a Floating Pagoda Table, perched on a wooden dock under a waterfall. The private table is available for special-occasion dining, usually reserved for parties of eight, and is reached by a small Japanese bridge, an exquisite wooden structure similar to what you see in a traditional Japanese garden. Hashimoto's cooking is equally colorful. The menu is stocked with fusion dishes as well as all the customary Japanese favorites, such as sushi and teppanyaki, sashimi, WYNN 086-090_W_DINING_FFT_Winter13-2.indd 87 87 12/12/12 5:24 PM