Celebrity Chef Vic Vegas — known for appearances on the reality TV show Bar Rescue — has been named Executive Chef at The 51 House on the Edenton, North Carolina waterfront, owner Rose Tummarello has announced.
Vegas played a lead role in the restaurant’s launch in fall 2016. Now he’s back to help oversee restaurant operations and spice up its culinary image.
He’ll also take charge of all culinary aspects of Tummarello’s dream project — transforming the second floor of the restaurant into the region’s premier event space for weddings, banquets, corporate events and private parties. Construction is underway, with a grand opening gala planned for mid-March 2018.
Chef Vic specializes in traditional Italian and contemporary American comfort food, or, as he calls it, “food people like to eat.” He’s known for a unique style that blends Vegas flair with the traditional recipes he learned from his mother and grandmother back home in Brooklyn.
“They’re the reason I took this position,” he said in an interview. “I’m involved in a lot of projects, but being a restaurant chef isn’t one of them right now. This is my way of paying homage to them, to get back to the basics they taught me. So when Rose called, I didn’t hesitate.”
He first gained national television exposure in 2008, when he won the Gold Medal in the Food Network Challenge Big Bash Catering competition, followed by making the finals of the Food Network’s Next Star competition in 2010.
Chef Vic first came to Edenton in 2016 when Tummarello called in Jon Taffer — the founder of Taffer Dynamics consulting team and the star of the Bar Rescue show — to flip his usual script and help her start the restaurant.
“Jon and his team usually come in to save restaurants from failing,” Tummarello said. “I decided to bring them in at the beginning, to make sure we did things right from the start.”
Taffer’s team developed the restaurant’s concept, design, decor and menu. But its most important contribution might well have been bringing in a charismatic chef named Vic Vegas.
The 51 House restaurant is located at 108 Wharf Landing Drive, Edenton NC. It is online at the51house.com.
The town of Edenton is in Chowan County, part of the state’s Inner Banks. Area information may be found on the town website.
Source: The 51 House
Edited by Kay Whatley.
