Joseph Marsco was just 26 years old when he joined Andre Rochat as general manager of Alizé, the French fine-dining restaurant on the 56th floor of the Palms. “The energy that was at the Palms was like nothing I had ever experienced and made for very exciting times,” Marsco said. Today, he is president and managing partner of Alizé and Andre’s Restaurant and Lounge at Monte Carlo, both Michelin-star restaurants.
What is the most challenging part of your job?
Adapting to the trends of business and being able to strategically forecast. The Las Vegas consumer has changed over the years. When I first came to Las Vegas, conventions sometimes would be four or five days long, and every restaurant in town was very busy. Today, major conventions may peak at one or two days, and customers’ spending habits have changed. A certain trade show that entertained in fine restaurants around town five or six years ago now may do much of its entertaining in nightclubs or events centers. This has changed my role in recent years; I spend a lot of time working on the business instead of in the business.
How has the local restaurant industry evolved over your 15-year career?
The fascinating thing about restaurants is that for as much has changed, there is just as much that has remained the same. Las Vegas continues to evolve as a dining destination. It is clear the city is attracting just as many, if not more, people for the entertainment, food and beverage experience as for the casino/gaming experience. There has been so much growth over the past 15 years, it is almost hard to remember when the major Strip properties were only one tower and what the Strip was like pre-Cosmopolitan and CityCenter.
That growth spurred an evolution in and of itself that can be likened to the fall of the tablecloth and the rise of the burger. In addition to growth, the restaurant industry changed due to technology advancement. It is essential with so many offerings in Las Vegas to maintain your relevance online, whether it be social media, email marketing, search engine optimization, maps, online reservations or online concierge services.
How did you begin your restaurant career?
I was born into food. Growing up in an Italian-American family in Ohio, I grew up at the apron strings of my grandmother, and food was the center of every gathering and event. My father always operated restaurants and bars, so I worked my way through high school making pizza and pasta.
You manage two Michelin 1-star restaurants; are there any low-key places where you dine on your days off?
I enjoy going around town and checking out what is happening and what is new. I do not know that it can be characterized as “low-key,” but it would not be unusual for you to catch me at the bar at B&B enjoying some pasta and a bottle of wine. If I stay off the Strip, I enjoy sushi at Sen of Japan or a quick lunch at MTO Café.
What are you reading?
I try to start my day and end my day reading. I have a routine in the morning where I spend 30 minutes to an hour reading something new that inspires performance or a new idea. I am always looking for ways to be more effective and improve as a leader. At night before bed is when I do some re-reading because I think every good book should be read more than once. My morning reading right now is “The Entrepreneur Roller Coaster” by Darren Hardy, and I am re-reading “Man’s Search for Meaning” by Viktor Frankl. It is a classic and one of my favorites.
What do you do after work?
I spend most of my time working — it is just in my blood to be involved most of the time. I still enjoy cooking and do quite a bit of entertaining friends at home. If I take more than one day off, I use it as an opportunity to get out of town, unwind and of course enjoy the dining scene outside of Las Vegas, wherever my travels may take me.
Blackberry, iPhone or Android?
Android. I miss the days of pencil and paper.
Describe your management style.
Seek out incremental improvements in everything we do from everyone in our organization. I try to work with and inspire my team to always improve but never lose focus on the customer and the value of the experience we deliver. If your service staff is improving while your cooks are improving and your chef and management are improving, it is a winning formula. You are a student all your life in this industry, and there is always room for improvement.
What is your dream job, outside of your current field?
I could not imagine myself completely outside of industry, but I enjoy teaching and mentoring staff. I believe something that is missing from the industry overall is a focused standardized training for service. There are college courses on hospitality and culinary courses, but there is not extensive training for service and hospitality that I believe are essential to the success of any restaurant. One of my favorite quotes is from Rabindranath Tagore: “I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and, behold, service was joy.”
Whom do you admire and why?
The person I most admire in the industry is Danny Meyer of Union Square Hospitality Group. Who would have thought a restaurateur would be named in Time Magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world?
What is your biggest pet peeve?
Cellphones in the dining room, when the customer is consumed by the mobile phone and does not engage in the dining experience. It is hard to be at your best when the people you are performing for are not where they are.
What is something people might not know about you?
I am a fan of poetry and get a great deal of inspiration from the great poets. I enjoy all of them, from Rumi to William Blake, Maya Angelou to Mary Oliver.