Collaborative dinners pairing chefs from different kitchens are always exciting – usually because they allow each participant to explore new territory, inspired by a new partner. The wine dinner taking place July 16 at Bar Boheme in The Arts District will be exciting because it reunites a pair of long-term friends and collaborators, Sean O’Hara and Tyler Vorce, who are cooking for the public for the first time since they worked together in the kitchen at The French Laundry.
Dubbed Bar Boheme x Lilli, the sold-out event is a collaboration between Vorce and three members of the Timeless Hospitality culinary team: Chef/Owner James Trees, Corporate Executive Chef Sean O’Hara and Executive Pastry Chef Jake Yergensen. That’s an impressive lineup. And the reunion of O’Hara and Vorce also offers a chance to watch two of Las Vegas’ hottest young chefs recapture the chemistry they shared as they came up together.
Old Friends
Their relationship stretches back nearly two decades. It began in culinary school, continued through New York City kitchens and eventually brought them both to Thomas Keller’s French Laundry in Yountville. Now it has brought them together again in Las Vegas, where they’ve become two of the city’s most exciting chefs to watch.
Vorce is currently hard at work opening a permanent incarnation of Lilli on Spring Mountain Road, after stunning local foodies with his extraordinary residency. O’Hara is busy fine-tuning all the restaurants in Trees’ Timeless Hospitality portfolio, having recently launched a brunch menu and monthly bakery pop-ups at Bar Boheme. Even with all that on their plates, they say this collaboration has felt almost effortlessly familiar.
“Honestly, it was like sitting down at 2 a.m. on the stools again,” Vorce told the Food and Loathing podcast.
Collaborating Again
“It was really great… At first, we were thinking Chef James would have some dishes, I’d have some dishes, and Chef Sean would have some dishes. But honestly, as the three of us were sitting down at the table and kind of riffing on ideas, all the dishes are kind of a blend of all of us together.”
O’Hara said years of working side by side created an easy shorthand in the kitchen.
“Tyler and I ultimately speak the same language,” he said. “We wrote menus together for years, every single day. So that part was easy. But having James as part of it was actually really fun because he kind of put a different twist on what Tyler and I probably would have come up with in the first place.”
The resulting menu reflects classical French technique without being constrained by tradition. Seafood courses give way to duck and venison, with ingredients and flavors shaped as much by the chefs’ shared backgrounds as by their fine-dining résumés.
“I would say French technique-based, but by no means held in by French flavors,” Vorce said, pointing to dishes that borrow inspiration well beyond France while remaining rooted in classical cooking.
For those unable to score a reservation, both chefs have plenty on the horizon.
What’s Next
At Bar Boheme, O’Hara said brunch has exceeded expectations, while Yergensen’s first bakery pop-up sold out in less than an hour. Additional bake sales and wine dinners are already in the works.
Meanwhile, Vorce is preparing to welcome diners to Lilli’s first permanent home, where guests can choose between four- and seven-course tasting menus or relax in a lounge serving smaller plates. Located within the Green Leaf Lotus apartment complex on Spring Mountain Road, just a mile and a half off of Las Vegas Boulevard, it’s positioned to attract both locals and tourists who want something a little different.
“Our goal is that you come here, you’re able to step out of the busyness of the Strip, step away from the hustle and bustle of Spring Mountain Road and step into someplace where you’re able to relax, hang out and have a night with someone special,” Vorce said.
At this point, no opening date has been set for the new restaurant.
You can hear the complete interview with O’Hara and Vorce on the July 10, 2026, episode of the Food & Loathing podcast.
