Personalities

Marco Porceddu

To describe him as merely ‘organic’ or ‘Italian’ leaves you with no sense of who Marco

Porceddu really is. As a chef, author, restaurateur, teacher, sommelier, artist, and visionary,

Porceddu possesses passion not often seen. His love of art is demonstrated in his stunning plating

techniques and savored in his dishes that showcase the diversity and freshness of ingredients.

With this in mind, it comes as no wonder that The ONE Group, leaders in hospitality, snatched

him up to be the Executive Chef at their first-ever Italian restaurant, Asellina. Located at the new

Gansevoort Park Hotel, Porceddu is developing and executing the Asellina menu, but is also

spearheading the food and beverage program for the hotel, conceptualizing a casual bites menu

for Plunge, the rooftop pool and bar, as well as handling room service and private events.

Porceddu hails from Sardinia, Italy, an island steeped with a rich culinary history. This

Mediterranean Isle has only known organic, instilling in Porceddu a great appreciation and

understanding of food’s natural essence. With a family-owned restaurant business, his fervor for

food was ignited early on as a child. While attending school he worked in the family restaurant,

learning the business from his father, and cultivating his culinary finesse from his mother.

While in Europe, Porceddu worked at five-star resorts, yet set his sights on the United States—

Las Vegas to be exact. There, restaurateur Franco Nuschese hired him for two of his restaurants

at the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino. After spending several years with Nuschese, Porceddu was

hand-picked by gaming mogul Steve Wynn to create the award winning ‘Francesco,’ named for

Wynn’s then recently-departed friend, Frank Sinatra. While serving as Executive Chef at

Francesco, Porceddu was invited by the James Beard Foundation to participate at the St.

Valentine’s “Best Hotel Chefs in America” dinner. Taking on the nickname “the chef’s chef,”

even Wolfgang Puck touted Porceddu’s talents to national food writer Max Jacobson when asked

where he likes to dine other than at his own restaurants.

Porceddu spent eight years with Wynn before leaving to open his own award-winning restaurant

Bella Luna, also in Las Vegas. While running his own restaurant, Porceddu also expanded into

the consulting field and began Clearpoint Restaurant Solutions. With Clearpoint, Porceddu’s

clients have included Fortune 500 companies to trendy boutique style restaurants in the U.S. and

Mexico. Further credits include having been an Executive Chef for The Morgan Group.

Marco’s desire to spread his zeal for both food and wine led him to become a regular food and

wine contributor for KVVU-TV, a Fox affiliate in Las Vegas. He also recently launched his own

iPhone cooking app, ‘iEats,’ bringing his recipes, techniques and tips to the masses.