Katelyn Ix, general manager for Hexx Kitchen & Bar, wants guests to know one thing: “We welcome everyone into our home. We want everyone to come in as a guest and leave as friends and family.” That’s the type of atmosphere and service Ix and her team create at the Stripside venue at Paris hotel.

Ix, an Ohio native who grew up in Switzerland, traveled throughout Europe with her family while she was young. Her exposure to different cultures led her to discover a fondness for the culinary arts, and she worked in several restaurants as a teen. But interacting with guests prompted Ix to pursue a front-of-house career. After attending Cornell University, Ix decided that management was where she should be.

“I love cooking, but I had an itch to engage more with guests,” she said. “I wanted more exposure to the operations side.” So, after graduating, Ix worked in management jobs that have included L.A.’s Four Seasons Hotel and Michael Mina’s Bourbon Steak. Nearly two years ago she got an offer to move to Las Vegas and take a position at Hexx.

As general manager Ix oversees day-to-day operations, but also helps grow the business and develop the Hexx identity. When it comes to her staff, “I’m a very hands-on manager,” she said. “There’s nothing that I would ask of my team that I wouldn’t do myself.”

After all this time, does she ever get an itch to move back into the kitchen? “I love to cook at home, but no, no desire to go back of house,” Ix said. “I love engaging with guests—being a part of their experience. I can’t imagine doing anything other than what I do.”

Hexx Cocktail

Right next door to the restaurant is Hexx’s retail confection store and chocolate factory. That’s right, there’s a chocolate factory on the Strip! The joy of it? The restaurant uses the freshly made sweets in many of its dishes and cocktails. And, one seriously delicious specialty selection is the Hexx Cocktail. Think chocolate milk … but grown-up and better. The house-made Peruvian cocoa syrup and cocoa-sugar rim balances a mixture of Absolut vodka, Licor 43, Nocello liqueur and heavy cream. I dare you to only drink just one!