Elizabeth Blau

James Beard Award Nominee Elizabeth Blau is the founder and CEO of restaurant development company Blau + Associates, a firm dedicated to creating world-class hospitality experiences, and is widely credited with transforming Las Vegas into the world-class culinary destination it is today. A judge on CNBC’s Restaurant Startup, she also operates several restaurants in Las Vegas and Vancouver with her husband chef Kim Canteenwalla including: Honey Salt and Buddy V’s Ristorante, a collaboration with TV’s Cake Boss Buddy Valastro.

With an impressive career spanning three decades, James Beard Award Nominee Elizabeth Blau is the founder and CEO of restaurant development company Blau + Associates and is widely credited with transforming Las Vegas into the world-class culinary destination it is today. A renowned restaurateur, Blau’s skilled touch defines her work in Las Vegas and around the world.

A graduate of the prestigious Cornell School of Hotel Administration, Blau began her career in New York with legendary restaurateur Sirio Maccioni, proprietor of the iconic Le Cirque, and worked with him to expand the brand to Las Vegas. After opening Le Cirque at the Bellagio, Blau was recruited to Mirage Resorts as Vice President of Restaurant Development. In that role and in her subsequent evolution to EVP of Restaurant Development and Marketing for the Wynn Las Vegas, Elizabeth developed and oversaw every aspect of food and beverage concept creation, development, operations, and promotion for hundreds of restaurants. With her vision, Blau inspired award-winning chefs, and convinced them to venture to Las Vegas and join with her in transforming the culinary culture and dining experience there. This quantum leap forward and focus on fine food, were revolutionary to the once buffet focused dining scene.

Elizabeth founded Blau & Associates in 2002 and made it into one of the foremost restaurant development and consulting companies in the field. She went on to open a series of successful restaurants across Las Vegas.

In 2012, Blau and husband chef Kim Canteenwalla embarked on their first solo independent venture, Honey Salt. The next year, Blau & Associates partnered with Buddy Valastro, star of TV’s Cake Boss, to open Buddy V’s Ristorante on the Las Vegas Strip. For the Parq Vancouver Resort & Casino, which opened in 2017, Blau conceptualized, developed, and assembled a world-class portfolio of five restaurants, including a new location of Honey Salt in the JW Marriott, which they continue to operate today.

Elizabeth lives in Las Vegas with her husband Kim, their son Cole, and their two golden retrievers Brookie and Dodger.