You've worked all over and created a very eclectic career before settling in Vegas. Is there any one place that has impacted you most as a chef?
Todd Clore: Everywhere I've worked has affected me in some part or another. My whole career has been high-end fine dining, and I've tried to take what they gave me and really push the boundaries every place I've been. We've always tried to purchase the best products we can find, and that's something I've never changed. Now, with my own restaurant, I figure it's only up to me to screw it up. I buy absolutely the best. That's my whole philosophy. As long as I do my thing, respect the ingredient, cook it naturally and simply and present it beautifully, my job is done. I've always done it that way.
Why did you decide to open Todd's Unique Dining in Henderson?
I moved to Henderson in 1995 and just fell in love with the place. I have a family, I have two kids, and it was and is a great place for us. The problem was I like to eat, and there really wasn't any place in Henderson to eat. I still don't think there is very many. You don't want to take your kids and go to the Strip. So we have our restaurant and it's close by, and we've had a lot of friends and neighbors, even in the beginning, that have discovered us and kept coming.
So how do you think Henderson stacks up with other parts of town, off the Strip, when it comes to dining?
I guess it ends up depending on the people who are making the big decisions, the guys opening multi-billion dollar hotels and shopping centers. That has been the deciding factor on where the restaurants go around our neighborhoods. There are some great restaurants in a place like Summerlin, but if you look at the rest of the offerings, it's really become a mecca for corporate dining. Everything is chains. And Henderson is like that as well, when you look at what has developed in areas like Green Valley Ranch and Anthem. If you're looking for true, independent restaurants that have lasted, there are maybe 20 in town. But I really like our area. It's friendly. We have great clientele, and we get tourists, too. Most of our clientele is coming from within five minutes of here, but we get tourists, too, and that comes with building a destination restaurant. I guess the Green Valley Ranch area might be the center of dining in Henderson, but when I moved here, it was this area. This was where everything was happening.
Your restaurant certainly has received its share of acclaim. How do you describe its style and cuisine?
We call it unique not to be pompous, but honestly because we didn't know what else to call it. I get in modes where I just fall in love with an ingredient or a cuisine, and you'll see it all over the menu, whether it's something Thai or French. You'll see a lot of different expressions of that, and then I'll tire of it and go somewhere else. It is kind of a fusion. You're going to see a lot of the continental offerings you might see elsewhere, rack of lamb, fish, a filet. But we assure you it will be prepared uniquely and very well in that realm. By that I mean if it's a French dish, it's going to be really French. We like to give our clientele a lot of options, the food is going to be tasty and we're not afraid to use bold flavors.
Has the menu or the restaurant changed much over the years?
I'm rewriting the menu every day. I had some guests recently that came in eight days in a row, and I don't think they had the same thing for dinner twice. That's something that's not really possible at other restaurants. I'm taking them different places. And our changes are really based on the seasons. Heirloom tomatoes just came back in so we're going to do a couple different things with heirlooms. Same with soft shell crabs, but I'm blowing through those as fast as I can get them. And when the season ends, it's over. When halibut season is over, I won't serve halibut again until it comes back up to our standards. Nothing is frozen. We won't do anything that's not in season. I don't do that. The quality isn't where I want it to be so I'll take it off the menu until it is. And I think that gives our customers a lot of confidence that if we have it, it's going to be good. And it gives us the opportunity to showcase different things.
How does running your own restaurant compare to cooking on the Strip?
A little slice of heaven, whatever that may be, that's what owning your own restaurant is like. I did 10 years hard time and that was enough for me. I say that as a joke, but working for a big corporation like that is kind of like being on a big boat in the middle of the ocean. There are 300 people driving that thing but no one is making their own decisions. In a hotel environment on the Strip, it's hard to change anything. By the time you get all the VP's signatures and all that junk, the year is up and you might as well be running the same menu. I ran the Sterling Brunch at Bally's for nine and a half years, and that was my saving grace because I changed that menu every week. We seldom repeated anything, and that was the only thing that kept me going. I kind of got to be the independent guy in the corporate environment, and without that I wouldn't have lasted. It's just not my style.
Where do you take people to impress when you get visitors from out of town?
I take people to the Strip. I take them for the architecture and for the grandeur. Most of my friends are in the restaurant business and at a certain point you just go to look, see what's going on and have fun. There are some good places on the Strip and very few cities that have the type of dining we have there. We're very blessed with that. All it does is take everyone else's game up that much higher. What's phenomenal today will be passe' tomorrow. You've got the stars ... Picasso, Guy Savoy, Robuchon, Alex, all the big names like that. The next hotel to open will be Encore and you wonder what they'll do there. It's always a step up. It's a great place to be. But I just get to be this guy in Henderson. I love to get national attention. I get to feed all the GMs and chefs. I'm just doing my own thing and having fun, and I don't have to deal with all that crazy.
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