The Peppermill Restaurant and Fireside Lounge located on The Strip in Las Vegas was one of six recipients this year from all over the United States of the prestigious James Beard Foundation Award as an America’s Classic. Joining us to celebrate this honor is Executive Chef Nicholas Orth who has been working there since high school.
“Opened in 1972 by Nat Carasali and Bill Paganetti, the Peppermill Restaurant and Fireside Lounge has been a Las Vegas icon for over 51 years. It’s appeared in movies like Casino and Show Girls, has been frequented by mobsters and celebrities, and it’s best known for its over-the-top pink and purple neon nights, fire pits, faux botanicals, oversized drinks in the cocktail lounge, and massive platters of elevated diner classics in the family-friendly restaurant.”
“What really makes it special is the welcoming atmosphere. It’s a place where pit bosses, dancers, bartenders and other Vegas industry folk can come after a late shift. It’s a haven, a safe place, described as somewhere no one gets bothered and where longtime waitresses will remember your name.”
“It’s also a place where people want to work and want to stay. Peggy Orth began waitressing at the Peppermill when she was 17, about a year and a half after the restaurant first opened. Decades later, she’s now general manager and her son Nicholas is the executive chef. Not much has changed in the last five decades, and that’s just how everyone likes it.”
This is Tristan Beeman of the Wine Exchange in Santa Ana. We're listening to a spectacular vintage year in food news. SoCal Restaurant Show. Cheers. And welcome back. It is the SoCal Restaurant Show, and we're here with you every Saturday morning from 10 a.m. until 12 noon, right here on AM830, K-L-A-A, the home of Angels Baseball. And you can also catch us on the AM830, K-L-A-A, Angels app. And the halos are on the road. It's a matinee game today up in Oakland, looking to even the score with the A's. And following us at 1230, we'll be the Angel Pregame Show. I'm Andy Harris, the executive producer and co-host of the show. Glad to have you out there. And we're enthusiastically presented each and every week by Melissa's World Variety Produce and West Coast Prime Meats. For 17 years, I wrote for the James Beard Foundation publications. And they are probably best known for the annual James Beard Foundation Awards. And my favorite James Beard Foundation award has always been the America's Classics. And I'll explain what that award is in the moment. But waiting in the wings, one of the six recipients of the America's Classics Award this year is the Pepper Mill Restaurant and Fireside Lounge that has been there in Las Vegas on the strip since 1972. And it is a real pleasure to welcome their executive chef, who actually represents the second generation of the Orth family that works at the Pepper Mill. And I'm pleased to welcome executive chef Nick Orth to the show for the first time. Chef Nick, good morning and so glad to have you as part of the show. Good morning, Andy. How are you doing today? I am doing well, Chef. Chef, let me explain to our audience first about what the America's Classic Award is. This is given out to six restaurants every year in all of the United States. They have the country divided into 12 geographic regions. And every year, they alternate between six regions to select the restaurants. They have to be at least 10 years old. But the way they describe the America's Classics is it is given to locally owned restaurants that serve quality food, have timeless appeal, and reflect the character of their communities. And I must say, being very familiar with the Pepper Mill Restaurant and Fireside Lounge in Las Vegas, that they definitely embody that ideal. And when I heard that they were going to be getting an America's Classics this year, I definitely wanted to get them represented on the show. Nick, to kind of set the stage with our listeners, if you will, tell us about the founders of the Pepper Mill Restaurant in Fireside Lounge, because they're actually based in Reno. And this is still family owned. Absolutely. The founders are Bill Paganetti and Nat Carouseli. They've been best friends since they were teenagers. And they decided to originally start a truck stop up in Reno, Nevada. And it ended up putting a breakfast spot in that truck stop. And moved it down here. And then everything else's history were one of the largest casino-- or privately owned casinos corporations in the country. And that was 50 years ago. And what's really interesting about your founders, Nick, is they constantly put the money in cash flow that their operations generate back into improving the property. Because as you say, the original Pepper Mill in Reno started out as a truck stop. Just to tease our audience, Nick, a minute, if you will, what is the Pepper Mill Resort in Reno looking like these days? Not exactly a truck stop. Not exactly a truck stop. But it is honestly the only casino property that I've ever walked into. And it didn't feel like a casino. It's bright. It's welcoming. The employees welcome you in. It's really an odd feeling. Because being born and raised in Vegas, I've seen many casinos come and go. And there's nothing that you can really compare it to. If it's a great property, and if you haven't been there, I would suggest that you visit some types of-- And as you were explaining to me, your owners are very hands on. They're very visible in the properties at Reno. But when they come down and visit you, they're very engaging. And you were mentioning that you've had many long time employees, which we'll discuss a little later in our conversation. But they know and recognize people and engage with them. Tell us a little bit more because that's unusual. Those two families, Nick, you certainly could say they are casino moguls. The Pepper Mill operation in Reno is huge. I mean, this is not a small property. Oh, yeah, absolutely. Bill, unfortunately, passed in December of last year. And then Nat is getting a little bit older. So he's kind of staying up up in the Reno area. But when Bill came down here, he was, like you said, very engaging, very aware of his long time employees. And they're new employees too. He would ask me who's dad, how long they've been with us. And then the following visit, do you remember that person? Say hello by name. Thank you for your great service and so on and so forth. One of the things that keeps me at the Pepper Mill is the family environment. And Bill, and Bill's legacy. I want to make sure that we make him proud and continue to make him proud even after he's passing. To help our listeners, Chef Nick, a little bit. In the old days, we would have called the Pepper Mill restaurant in Fyroside Lounge on the strip in Las Vegas a family restaurant. That really-- that terminology is really not used as much these days. And you're certainly an elevated family restaurant if you want to put it in that category. For our listeners that might not be familiar with the Pepper Mill restaurant, how do you like to describe it? Because we should let our audience know-- we'll discuss this a little more in a minute, Nick. You've been involved in that restaurant on and off since you were a sophomore in high school. So that says something. Actually, I've been involved. So I was born July 23, 1982. And on that same day, my mom actually brought me to eat breakfast, not physically, but in there. And she was a manager at that point. And so I've been involved and been around that restaurant for my entire life. And it's changed along the years. You know, you can't have a successful restaurant without modifying something. And the restaurant itself now, I think, is a perfect mix of new and old school. We have things on the menu that have been on the menu since day one. And then we have new, eclectic things that we've been put on the menu four times a year. And I think it's a perfect mix of new and old school. And I think to continue our success, we need to make sure we continue to do that. Now, Nick, let's mention your mother, Peggy, who is the general manager of the Pepper Mill restaurant in Farside Lounge. How many years has she been affiliated with the restaurant? She just had her 50th anniversary two months or two months ago. So she's been involved with the Pepper Mill for 50 years. And how many days of the week can she still be found there? And she's not hiding back in an office, correct? No. Sometimes she doesn't even get her purse upstairs to the manager's office. And she's on the floor, and she's talking to customers. And making sure that everything's running correctly. But she's there five days a week, 10 hours a day. I love right alongside me. And a lot of people talk about, you know, I can't work with family and this and that. But I couldn't imagine doing my job without her. Well, and also Nick, we should mention that in terms of the orth family and their association with the Pepper Mill restaurant in Farside Lounge, you have a grown daughter that also works at the Pepper Mill. Mention that to us briefly. She actually started working with us at 15 and 1/2 the day after, you know, you're legally able to be employed by a collaboration. And she's been there for the last seven years. She worked through high school. She just graduated college in business management and hospitality. Congratulations. She was on the team. She's being glist all the way through all four years. And now she's trying to figure out what she's going to do. But in the meantime, she's working full time for me. Got to love it. And the one thing we didn't mention along the way, Nick, how many years have you been executive chef at the Pepper Mill? It'll be 16 years, just May. Congratulations. That is an amazing tenure. Chef Nick, before we take our top of the hour, break and come back and pick up the conversation on the other side. I've been explaining the importance of this America's classic recognition from the James Beard Foundation. The awards ceremony was a little earlier in the summer. Who from the orth family was able to attend? My mother and my daughter actually attended, unfortunately, due to the Pepper Mill working me to the bone, just kidding. I tore my retina, so I was unable to travel. And they represented the Pepper Mill with grace and class. And I was so proud to have them represent the Pepper Mill for us. Well, Chef Nick, again, congratulations. That's just an absolutely tremendous honor. And our listeners should know the James Beard Foundation Awards, the ceremony. This is held in Chicago. It's a black tie affair. It's-- in terms of the pomp and circumstance, it definitely is all there. It is quite a sight to behold. And if you happen to be in Chicago during the time of the James Beard Foundation Awards and their two ceremonies, we're talking about for America's classics, this is the chef and restaurant presentation, which is the bigger affair. But if you go into any restaurant in Chicago during that period of time, and you know who some of the more prominent chefs and restaurateurs are in the United States, and you see a lot of these people on food TV, you will walk in and look around, and you will see, wow, I recognize that person. I know that chef. I've seen him on Food Network. It is a big, big deal. Nick, we're going to take a short pause here. Don't go away. It is the SoCal restaurant show. We are talking with one of the six recipients this year of the very prestigious America's Classics Award by the James Beard Foundation. We're specifically talking about the Pepper Mill restaurant in Fireside Lounge, which is a freestanding restaurant located on the strip in Las Vegas, if you can believe it, opened in 1972. And we're talking about their longtime executive chef or talking to their longtime chef Nick Orth. We will be back on the other side. Don't wonder far. [MUSIC PLAYING]
