Nevadan At Work: When the kitchen’s hot and humming, chef is happiest

It's been less than six months since Susan Wolfla was named executive chef at Mandalay Bay. A new executive chef being appointed at a Las Vegas resort might not seem like much, since they tend to come and go regularly.

But Wolfla is special -- she is the first female executive chef of a hotel on the Strip.

In 2005, she was on her third stint living in Las Vegas, when Mandalay Bay hired her in as an executive sous chef. Her first visit was 15 years ago as an intern at Caesars Palace, where she spent a month working in the resort's butcher shop and learning ice carving.

"I thought I was going to be a great restaurant chef," she said. "I said, 'Let me go to Las Vegas and see this part of the industry I have no interest in.' I worked at Caesars Palace and it was amazing."

Her second extended stay in Las Vegas included another stint at Caesars Palace before moving on to The Venetian.

The Indianapolis native's résumé includes jobs at the Canterbury Hotel in Indianapolis, and a three-year stay in the Bahamas, where she worked at the Atlantis Resort.

Now she oversees all aspects of the dining program at Mandalay Bay. She has set out to make it the pre-eminent resort for restaurant-quality food at any catered event.

"The main focus of our business here is banquets," she said. "It's more than half of our business. We do $60 million in banquet revenue a year."

Wolfla expects that figure to reach $70 million next year.

As executive chef, she also oversees seven restaurants, in-room and employee dining with a combined culinary team of more than 500 chefs and cooks.

While cooking and gardening are just two of her many passions, Wolfla was very close to a career in the sciences after receiving her degree from Purdue University in cell and developmental biology.

While working at a liquor store in Indianapolis after college, she met a chef for the Canterbury Hotel. After getting a job the next day, Wolfla knew working in a kitchen would replace a life spent in the lab.

"I've been very fortunate during my career," Wolfla said.

Question: What brought you to Las Vegas for the first time?

Answer: As part of your education at Culinary Institute of America, you have to go on an internship. At the time, I thought, "Let me go see a part of the industry I never want to be a part of." I thought I was going to be a great restaurant chef. I said, "Let me go to Las Vegas and see this part of the industry I have no interest in." I worked at Caesars Palace and it was amazing. The executive chef at the time was John Coletta, who let me do amazing things from spending a month in their butcher shop to working at Empress Court.

Question: When you were in Las Vegas for the first time, had the restaurant scene begun to change?

Answer: It was just barely starting to change, I think John Coletta and Caesars Palace were the first ones to say (that) not only does food need to make money, but also it has to be good. It just can't be a large amount, but it has to be a quality product. To me that was the beginning of food becoming important in Las Vegas.

Question: How did you become executive chef at Mandalay Bay?

Answer: I was hired her as executive sous chef about five years ago. I did that for a couple of years and then I was promoted to assistant executive chef. An executive sous chef can mean you are the chef's No. 2. Here we have four executive sous chefs. It's broken up by shift, because we need to have an executive sous chef on every shift.

Question: Are restaurants, the buffet or catering most important to generating food revenue?

Answer: The main focus of our business here is banquets. It's more than half of our business. We do $60 million in banquet revenue a year. I hope we are going to reach $70 million next year. That's just banquets at Mandalay Bay.

Question: Why study biology at Purdue?

Answer: I came from a family of scientists and it was expected that you would get a degree in the hard sciences. They were paying for it so it was expected. My brother (Christopher) is a brain surgeon, my father (Thomas) is a metallurgical engineer and my mother (Madeline) has a master's degree in nursing. That's the family business.

Question: Was your family worried that your love of cooking would lead you to choose a new career?

Answer: I think they thought it would be OK, as long as I was going to be good at it. I think at one time they were very concerned, but they didn't express that to me. It has only been recently that some of my father's colleagues have come to me and admitted that my father was really worried.

Question: What got you hooked on food?

Answer: My whole childhood I'd been cooking, my mom was busy getting her master's degree. And, when I was growing up my father was traveling a lot. So my brother and I learned how to cook in self-defense. My mother maybe slightly embarrassed, but we learned how to cook because we wanted to have great meals. It just never occurred to me that I could do it for a living.

Question: When did you decide you wanted to cook professionally?

Answer: After graduating from college (in 1988) I joined the Peace Corps. During my training several missionaries were killed in Haiti, where I was going to be stationed, so I quit and went back home. I took six months off and got a job as an assistant manager at a liquor store. I said, "What would you do if no one was looking?'' There were no expectations. I said, "I would be a chef."

Question: When did you get your first opportunity to work in a professional kitchen?

Answer: This guy comes in (to the liquor store) in checks and a white jacket, so I asked him if he was a chef. He said yes. I told him I would like to do that. He happened to be the sous chef at the only four-star restaurant in Indianapolis (The Canterbury Hotel). He said, "We have job for a cook, why don't you come down tomorrow and talk to me about it." That was it right there. I got the job and spent three years there working for longtime chef Volker Rudolph.

Question: How did it prepare you for future opportunities?

Answer: They gave me the hardest job in the world. I was the pantry person at night in this four-star restaurant. They had high tea, so my job was to make fresh scones, tea pastries and finger sandwiches for how many reservations were on the books, plus some extra. Then I made the meal for the staff and then would work dinner, preparing all the deserts, cold appetizers and soufflés to order.

Question: How long did it take you to adjust to the demands of the job?

Answer: Not very long. That's why I knew this was the right thing (for me). I did things most people wouldn't do. I would come in early and stay late. I think in my first year I never took a break. Within the next year I had worked every station on every shift. I got to the point where I though I knew what I was doing.

Question: What finally led you to the Culinary Institute of America?

Answer: The sous chef left, so I went to Volker and said I wanted to be the sous chef. He told me in his lovely German accent, that I would never be the chef here. I was so mad. He said the only experience you have is here. That's not enough. The next day I went out and got another job at a restaurant. Then I applied for CIA.

Question: How was your experience at the institute?

Answer: I was very well prepared. I became very grateful to Volker at that point because I realized that he taught me the right way to do things, which gave me an advantage. It was not like going to a regular college, there is a bar on campus staffed by the students. They want you to learn to pair wines. If you are 18 or 19 you might not understand that. There is a lot more freedom there than you have at Purdue. CIA is staffed with people who have tons of experience and a wealth of knowledge.

Question: What's a typical day at work like?

Answer: It varies. As I've said most of our business is driven by banquets. So (recently) we had IBM here and breakfast started at 6 a.m. so I'm here at 4:30 a.m. Other days, I'm here by 9 a.m. for meetings. We had the Latin Grammys, so those were be some late nights ... with a reception not even starting until 8 p.m.

Contact reporter Chris Sieroty at csieroty@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893.