Ray Garcia
Owner & Executive Chef of ¡Viva!
Award-winning Chef Ray Garcia—known for his critically acclaimed past restaurants Broken Spanish and BS Taqueria in Los Angeles, brings a new restaurant concept to Resorts World Las Vegas, called ¡VIVA!.
A proud Angeleno, Garcia graduated from UCLA with degrees in political science and business economics with the intention of becoming a lawyer. Instead, Garcia paved a new path by enrolling at the California School of Culinary Arts. He landed his first job at the Peninsula Beverly Hills, a five-star and five-diamond hotel with a revered fine dining program. Garcia further expanded his training by working with chefs such as Douglas Keane of Cyrus who eventually became his mentor. During this time, Garcia adopted restraint in technique and a deep respect for the integrity of his ingredients, no more evident than from his six-year tenure at FIG in Santa Monica.
In 2013, Jonathan Gold wrote in the Los Angeles Times, “If you could design a perfect chef for Los Angeles, he might seem a lot like Ray Garcia, an Eastside guy who seems to spend almost as much time proselytizing for healthful eating in local schools as he does in the kitchen. Garcia’s menu manages to be satisfying to both the transgressive big-meat guys and the Gaia-conscious vegans; the carb-lovers and the gluten-free.”
Asked to bring his previously closed restaurant back to life during the pandemic, Garcia led Broken Spanish as an extremely successful pop-up at Hollywood’s Neuehouse in 2021, which extended its residency twice due to high demand. Since its opening in June of 2015, Broken Spanish rightfully earned countless accolades and recognition as one of the best new restaurants of the year by Esquire, USA Today, LA Weekly, Los Angeles Times and Los Angeles Magazine.
Garcia has consistently been recognized for his philosophies on environmental stewardship and commitment to responsible farming and food production—as seen with his honorary recognition with StarChefs’ “Rising Star” Award for Sustainability in 2010. In 2014, he took home the title of “King of Porc” at Cochon 555, an event celebrating the heritage breed pig. Garcia was recognized by Esquire Magazine as “Chef of the Year” in 2015.
AWARDS
- “Rising Star” Award
- “King of Porc” at Cochon 555
- “Chef of the Year” | Esquire Magazine
Tal Ronnen
u003cbu003eExecutive Chef Zouk Groupu003c/bu003eu003cbru003ernrnKnown as a pioneer of plant-based fine dining and an award-winning cookbook author, Tal Ronnen is the founder and chef of Crossroads Kitchen, the highly regarded vegan restaurant and LA institution that recently debuted at Resorts World Las Vegasrn
Awards
- New York Times Bestseller | The Conscious Cook
- Los Angeles Times | 101 Best Restaurants
- VegNews Magazine | Best Fine Dining