Las Vegas’ top female chefs and bartenders plan Picnic in the Alley

Picnic in the Alley, a new fall food event in Las Vegas, stars women in every lead role, from chefs to bartenders, musicians, organizers, volunteers and publicists. The downtown event employs a familiar dine-around format where guests amble from one chef station to the next, cocktail in hand. The picnic twist? Each guest receives a picnic basket to fill with to-go dishes served at each chef station.

“The entire event is designed to raise awareness that women in the hospitality industry here are doing really great things for their restaurants and also for the community,” said Nicole Brisson, former top chef of Eataly Las Vegas at Park MGM and now the chef and co-owner of her own off-Strip restaurant, Locale. “When you’re working in a busy resort kitchen all day, you sometimes lose track of the depth of Vegas as a culinary city and the number of strong women who built their careers in hospitality.”

Participating chefs include Locale’s Brisson, Rooster Boy Cafe’s Sonia El-Nawal, Honey Salt’s’ Elizabeth Blau, Gordon Ramsay Hell’s Kitchen’s Jennifer Murphy, and La Strega’s Gina Marinelli. Plus mixologists Sarah Gage of Corduroy, Sonia Steela of Ada’s and Juyong Kang of The Dorsey at the Venetian.

Info:
Picnic in the Alley is planned for 7 to 10 p.m. Oct. 6. Tickets cost $100 ($125 after Sept. 5). A portion of each ticket has been earmarked for Dress for Success Southern Nevada, a nonprofit organization that provides a support network, career development assistance and professional attire to women who need help achieving economic independence.