Hotel Valley Ho executive chef Russell LaCasce snagged his first restaurant job washing dishes when he was 13. He didn’t get serious about cooking until a decade later, attending Arizona Culinary Institute and working his way through the kitchen brigade at T. Cook’s at Royal Palms Resort & Spa. He then served as executive chef at elements at Sanctuary Camelback Mountain before landing at Hotel Valley Ho six years ago. LaCasce is proud of the positive culture he’s created at the iconic hotel’s signature restaurant, ZuZu, where he says teamwork, learning and creativity thrive.
What trends are you seeing in the culinary industry?
One of the cool things that’s happening right now is that young entrepreneur chefs are cooking from their cultures and then becoming extremely popular. I love seeing the pop-ups of guys that worked with me and had a dream. To see them being successful is great.
What music rocks your kitchen?
I listen to hip-hop, classic rock, ’80s rock, hair-band stuff. We blast Christmas music around the holidays and then I’ve been getting into this cumbia-style, traditional [Colombian] music with a hip-hop beat. It’s kind of nice in the kitchen because you look around and everyone is moving their head a little bit. It’s good background music for the kitchen.
Is there any dish that you’ve wanted to conquer but haven’t done yet?
I recently saw someone cook a whole side of beef and I would love to do something like that. If I had my choice to cook any style, it would be everything over open fire. That resorts back to the pioneer days of cooking when we didn’t have all this fancy equipment. It was a little more about cooking with your senses. I love that. My dream some day is to have a big open-fire setup at my house.
What dishes do you never make at home, but always order out?
I love pâté, but I never make it at home. Crudos – raw fish and beef tartare.
Foie gras.
