Chef/Owner

About Chef James Trees

Born and raised in Las Vegas, NV, James Trees began his culinary career as a teenager at the Mirage Hotel & Casino on the Strip prior to attending the Culinary Institute of America, then rising through ranks under chefs including Heston Blumenthal, Eric Ripert, Bradley Ogden, Michael Mina, Akasha Richmond and Ray Garcia. He opened multiple restaurants across the US as Corporate Sous Chef for the Mina Group, and spent several seasons behind the scenes with Gordon Ramsay on Kitchen Nightmares and Hell’s Kitchen.

His first independent restaurant, Esther’s Kitchen, offering seasonal Italian in the Downtown Las Vegas Arts District, has become a local and tourist must-visit within five swift years. Trees has followed that with Al Solito Posto, featuring refined East Coast Italian and Ada’s Food & Wine in Tivoli Village, as well as other projects exploring Mediterranean, small batch ice cream, and craft sandwiches. A move to a larger building for Esther’s and three other new concepts are in the works for 2023.

Chef Trees’ restaurants have been featured in media including The New York Times, TIME, Washington Post, Travel & Leisure, Robb Report, National Geographic, CNN, The Times of London, Thrillist, and Eater–In addition to a growing number of local accolades including Best Chef and Best Italian nods from multiple media outlets. In 2022, Esther’s Kitchen was listed at #15 on Trip Advisor’s “Hidden Gems” for the entire US. In 2020, Chef Trees was named a Finalist for the James Beard Award: Best Chef Southwest.
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