September 11, 2025, marks the 10th anniversary of Chef Kerry Simon’s death.
Shortly before his death, Kerry asked me to contribute the memoir portion of a book he was hoping to publish. Because time was short, and his condition had left him unable to speak, I interviewed as many of his friends as possible, collecting stories about his life. Unfortunately, Kerry died before it could be completed.
The short stories in this series are precisely what I presented to Kerry a few weeks before his death, receiving a thumbs-up and nod of approval. They have not been updated. The video trailer in these stories represents preliminary work on a documentary about the chef’s life, which I discussed with him during our final meeting. I still hope to complete that project.
Healthy Living
While Kerry’s restaurants have always been the center of some serious partying, and he’s no stranger to the rock star lifestyle, the chef has always taken care of himself. He exercised, ate healthily, and perhaps most surprisingly, never embraced the extreme behavior that was often on display in front of him.
“He was never a party animal at all,” says music promoter and longtime friend Shep Gordon. “He’d never partake in what was moving around the room. He was always going down to the gym, doing workouts and drinking green stuff.”
“He used to love to go to a little breakfast place in [the suburbs], and he would always get the same thing: a spinach scramble with tofu, something healthy,” his Hard Rock general manager Tobias Peach recalls. “He was into kale when it was still being used on buffets to put fruit salads on. He was kind of ahead of his time with the fresh-pressed juice thing.”
“He was always the healthiest of us all,” says Robin Leach, who has attended plenty of wild nights at Kerry’s restaurants. “He did not get sloshed every night. He did not pop open unlimited bottles of champagne. If he did it, it was for other people. And he was drinking wheat grass and getting ready to get up early and do his bike riding.”
Alice Cooper, no stranger to partying in his day, says quite bluntly, “I don’t think I ever saw him high, or messed up. He was always sort of captain of the ship.”
In fact, his Chef de Cuisine at Simon L.A., Michael Fioreli, says his old boss used to go to extremes not to imbibe, while also not bringing down the party.
“Kerry wasn’t a party guy,” he agrees. “He was a health nut. But because of his long hair, laid-back attitude, and the people who surrounded him, everybody always thought Kerry partied all the time. So people were always buying him drinks. And because he’s such a sweetheart, he couldn’t just be like ‘No, I’m not drinking tonight.’ He couldn’t say no. So in his own restaurant, at the bar, people would send him shots. Sometimes I would just take one for the team and do his, too, and wind up stumbling. But most of the time, what Kerry would do is just throw it over his shoulder. You’d literally see Kerry throwing shots of tequila over his shoulder. And then he would grab the busboy and be like, ‘Dude, I’m so, so sorry, but could you just mop up this area over here really discreetly?’ And there’d be a puddle of tequila at Kerry’s feet.”
F*ck M.S.A.
On December 12, 2013, Kerry announced he was suffering from Multiple Systems Atrophy, a rare form of Parkinson’s Disease. Never one to turn down a charitable appearance, he appeared at a holiday toy drive the same morning. The next evening, Emeril Lagasse presented him with the Visionary Award at the Silver State Awards. And then he began planning what may be the single most extraordinary charity event of his life, and one of the most incredible music and food events Las Vegas has ever seen.
On Thursday, February 27, Kerry and his close friends staged a benefit for Fight MSA (originally named F*CK MSA by Kerry and his friends) at the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health. Food was supplied by an all-star lineup of chefs that included Daniel Boulud, Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Charlie Palmer, Rick Moonen, Michael Mina, Wylie Dufresne, Mark Tarbell, Kim Canteenwalla and Megan Romano. Mario Batali and Todd English contributed items to an accompanying auction. And the entertainment was provided by Sammy Hagar, Vince Neil, Todd Rundgren, Alice Cooper, Slash, Matt Sorum, Billy Duffy and Lisa Loeb, with Bill Murray serving as the evening’s MC.
“It was a carnival of people that you never expected to be able to meet, much less be able to get up and take pictures and shake hands,” says Kerry’s longtime friend Moonen. “My wife was taking pictures with Alice Cooper and Lisa Loeb.”
George Maloof was in charge of rounding up the musical talent.
“They were all great,” he says of their desire to participate. “It was amazing that he has such a command with people, a command in a good way, where these people got the call and it was automatically a yes. It wasn’t like ‘Well, let me think about it. How much do I get?’ It was yes!”
Slash learned about it from his friend Matt Sorum, and says he “wanted to do the gig and was glad to do it, hoping it would have an impact.” As for the music, which included a serious jam session, he recalls it as “a fun gig, very crowded, very chaotic, but on stage it was great.”
Grant MacPherson, who organized the evening’s culinary lineup, says the evening lacked the egos and politics you’d usually expect from a collection of that much star power.
“The nice thing about that evening was that there was no bullshit. It was about Kerry. And a lot of money was donated.”
And while he says the music was great, the thing that stood out for him was “seeing how happy Kerry was seeing old friends. It was like the good old days when we opened Bellagio; it was a special time.”
Alice Cooper vividly remembers how Kerry looked that night.
“He was still smiling, still laughing, still telling jokes. He wanted to be in the middle of everything. And then you looked around and you saw who was there supporting him. And man, it was everybody!”
Sammy Hagar says that after all these years as Kerry’s friend, his favorite memory of their time together is that night.
“You could just see it, he was really happy,” he says before pausing to regain his composure. “It chokes me up a little bit. But I just liked the way he felt that night. I think he felt really good.”
That evening raised over $500,000 for Kerry’s Fight MSA fund.
Looking Forward
AUTHOR’S NOTE – THIS SECTION WAS WRITTEN IN 2015, AND REFLECTS THE STATE OF AFFAIRS AT THAT TIME.
The Kerry Simon empire continues to grow, expand and adapt. Simon Hospitality Group began as a partnership between Kerry and his friend Cory Harwell, and Kerry’s brother and longtime collaborator Scott now directly oversees the family’s interest in that company. Their first opening was in Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic. That was followed by the opening of Chuck’s in Chicago, where Scott helms the kitchen on a day-to-day basis.
But their most considerable success has arguably been at Carson Kitchen in the revitalized Downtown Las Vegas. After decades of neglect and failed revitalization attempts, Downtown Las Vegas began to develop significantly after Zappos founder Tony Hsieh relocated his company there and invested $350 million in The Downtown Project. That organization immediately began purchasing real estate in run-down areas and seeking business partners to turn those spots into thriving businesses. While they were initially successful in establishing a string of trendy bars and cocktail lounges on East Fremont Street, the dining options remained somewhat lacking until Kerry got involved.
“In May of 2013,” Harwell recalls, “we walked around the property of the John E Carson Hotel Downtown. And it was just completely run down. The place was an old flophouse. It required a lot of vision to imagine what it could be. But Kerry walked the property with me and decided yes, let’s go ahead and do this.”
They joined forces with Hsieh and created Carson Kitchen. It was located on Carson Avenue, just a block off the newly revitalized Fremont Street, but still a run-down drag where tourists rarely ventured.
“I think he was more excited about that project than any other,” says Harwell, “for the sole reason of its location. It wasn’t in a big hotel. It was truly going to be seen as a local community-driven place.”
Carson Avenue already had a critically acclaimed breakfast and lunch spot, but Kerry offered Downtown’s first true dinner destination worthy of a trip from The Strip.
“Kerry coming in just proved that [breakfast and lunch spot EAT] wasn’t just a fluke,” says Hsieh. “This can actually happen downtown.”
The menu was more elevated than the comfort food that had made him famous in Las Vegas, but the food was still approachable. Standout dishes included deviled eggs with caviar as well as bacon jam with brie.
But, Hsieh insists, “It was not just the food, but also the ambience. It was completely the opposite of what people would have expected from downtown a year earlier. It was designed to be comfortable, like [Kerry’s] home. And so it feels that way when you walk in. And the reputation of downtown several years ago was not that.’
Carson Kitchen was an overnight success. Within its first year, it won numerous awards in nearly every major Las Vegas newspaper and magazine and was praised in the New York Times. Other businesses quickly followed Kerry’s lead. And today, Carson Avenue may be Downtown Las Vegas’ primary dining drag.
Kerry continued to advise Harwell on menu changes at Carson Kitchen until his death. Simon Hospitality Group continues to look forward, guided by his vision. The company has opened a restaurant in Palm Springs. And they’re moving ahead on a project in the Las Vegas suburb of Henderson. Cory and Scott are determined to keep delighting fans with Simon’s unique cuisine for many years to come.
FOR MORE POSTS IN THIS SERIES, PLEASE SEE:
Remembering Kerry Simon: Intro & NYC
Remembering Kerry Simon: The Miami Years
