Ex-French Laundry chef debuts dining residency in Las Vegas
A chef formerly of the acclaimed French Laundry has brought a new concept to a valley restaurant for a short time.
Lilli by chef Tyler Vorce, also the co-founder of Truffle Shuffle, debuted at Durango Social Club (3655 S. Durango Drive) this past weekend and will run Saturdays and Sundays through Dec. 28.
The dinner is a seven-course tasting menu refined by two decades of fine French and Mediterranean dining experience. With one seating at 7 p.m. (doors at 6:30 p.m. for cocktails), the pop-up, or residency as the restaurant calls it, “introduces Vorce’s culinary vision ahead of its permanent home,” according to news release.
The chef, who was raised in Maine, said the menu uses American ingredients with “clarity and simplicity,” calling the menu “honest, thoughtful food.”
“My mom is a fantastic cook,” Vorce added. “She worked, raised all the kids, and still made dinner from scratch every night. That was her love language.”
Vorce joined Napa Valley’s The French Laundry in 2012, where he worked under chef David Breeden and Thomas Keller for five years, before moving on to Troigros and Le Bristol in Paris. In 2018, he founded Truffle Shuffle, an online cooking class company offering Michelin-level technique. The chef moved to Las Vegas last year.
At Lilli, named after his daughter, Vorce imports ingredients from Kerry Clasby of Intuitive Forager for produce, Liberty Ducks from Sonoma County Poultry and wild-caught hake (a relative of cod) from Maine.
On the menu
The menu may change due to seasonal availability. As of Monday, the menu opened with a porcini mushroom bouillon, followed by dayboat scallops served with sunchoke, pear and lemon emulsion. The third dish is hake served with parsnips, tarragon and grapefruit sabayon. The fish is followed by violet artichokes with gigante beans and smoked paprika, then Liberty Duck breast with lardo, sage and green olives.
The sixth dish is lamb saddle, served with stewed plums, a carrot puree and black pepper sauce. For dessert, a fennel pollen pavlova with satsumas and Nevada pine nuts.
The dinner is $125 per person, with blackout dates of Dec. 6 and 7. For reservations, visit lilli.vegas.
Contact Kristen DeSilva at kdesilva@reviewjournal.com. Follow @kristendesilva on X.
