Chef Jet Tila to open a spot in southwestern Las Vegas

Jet Tila is a familiar face to anyone who watches “Chopped,” “Iron Chef America” or the other food TV shows on which he’s appeared. Local foodies, however, may remember his food from Encore’s Wazuzu, which he helmed until 2011, or his now-closed Chinatown dessert spot, Kuma Snow Cream. Now the chef, who says he’s remained a frequent visitor to the Las Vegas Valley since moving to L.A. eight years ago, is preparing to cook for Las Vegas once again.

Tila’s latest concept, Dragon Tiger Noodle Company, is preparing to open in three Las Vegas locations. The first will be in Southern Highlands Marketplace at Cactus Avenue and Southern Highlands Parkway.

“It’s really, at its core, an artisanal noodle shop,” Tila says of the restaurant. “I’m making three of the four noodles from scratch in house.”

The menu won’t end there, however.

“It’s everything I want to eat. So I’m going to do noodle bowls and rice bowls, artisanal, from scratch. But we’re also gonna have fun little snacks. Like anyone who watches TV or knows me knows that I’m a chicken wing addict. So we’re gonna have fun. The core menu is going to be four noodles, four broths, rice bowls and chicken wings. We know our audience. We’re not trying to create fine dining. I’m trying to create finer quality fast dining.”

He’s hoping to have the Southern Highlands Marketplace location open by the end of the year, but says if he doesn’t make that deadline, “I know it’ll be by January.”