If you ask Jeff Kops, executive general manager for BOA Steakhouse at The Venetian Resort, what he loves about the restaurant industry, it’d be a simple answer: Everything. It would have to be for a man who has spent more than three decades running restaurants from Miami, Boston and New York to Dallas, Los Angeles and now Las Vegas.
“I’ve always loved food and watched cooking shows before there was a food network,” Kops says. “I honestly believe had paths gone differently I would’ve wound up as a chef or back of house. I just found out that I loved it. I love the hospitality of it, the connections you make with people, the leadership, the teaching, all the things that go along with being a manager, a leader.”
As the manager of BOA—a role he took on a month ago when he moved to Vegas for the position (he helped break ground with the restaurant last year)—Kops’ favorite part of the job is “the leadership/teaching part of the job,” he says. “I love developing talent. My greatest accomplishments in my career aren’t mine—they’re watching people grow and develop and attain their goals.”
And goals at BOA are giving the guest the best experience possible. “You’re going to get a great meal, service and hospitality,” Kops says. “We are a high-end steakhouse with great culinary twists. It’s not just pretty presentations though; we back it up with flavor.”
Photo by: Christopher DeVargas
Libation: Bandero Style Espresso Martini
When Kops says the Bandero Style Espresso Martini is money, then you just must try it. And? He’d be right. The BOA Steakhouse version of the classic is a blend of Bandero Café blanco tequila, espresso and sea salt, and is French-pressed tableside and finished off with a chocolate baton.
Benefit: Kops’ favorite special combo and menu tip is to add an order of shrimp scampi to any steak.
The Venetian Resort. boasteak.com
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