Pasta Shop Ristorante & Art Gallery
• Address: 2525 W. Horizon Ridge Parkway, Henderson
• Phone: 702-451-1893
• Email: [email protected]
• Website: pastashop.com
• Hours of operation: 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. and 5-9 p.m. Monday-Friday; 5-9 p.m. Saturday and Sunday
• Owned/operated by: Ann Alenik, Bianca Alenik, Clayton Alenik and Trent Alenik
• In business since: 1989
Describe your business.
The Pasta Shop is a collaboration between two artistic minds — husband and wife, chef and artist. It merges gourmet cuisine and whimsical art to create a feast for the senses. It’s a family-owned gourmet Italian restaurant and wholesale business providing fresh, homemade pasta to Las Vegas casinos and restaurants.
Our menu is hip and wholesome, featuring healthy dishes. We have made our own pasta in-house since 1989.
Ann Alenik’s artwork sets us apart. It is displayed in galleries around the world, but her most prized pieces are displayed in our family’s restaurant. The Pasta Shop is like an extension of our home.
What is your most popular entrée or signature dish?
Portofino is our house specialty and best-known dish. It consists of fresh linguini in a diablo sauce with a medley of pan-seared diver scallops, black tiger shrimp and clams. Saffron shrimp sauté is our menu’s most unique dish. It’s made with a black squid ink-infused pasta over a saffron cream sauce and topped with sautéed black tiger shrimp.
What is the best part about doing business in Las Vegas?
Las Vegas is one of the world’s most celebrated cities, and that reflects in the diversity of people we have had the chance to meet. When David died at 58, the community embraced us and everyone was really supportive. Our vendors even helped us out.
What obstacles has your business overcome?
The recession was a difficult time for our business, as it was for most businesses. We are fortunate to have a loyal following that helped us make it through those years.
Then, with the sudden loss of David last year, our family has had to step in and fill his larger-than-life shoes. He was so much a part of the business and spirit that embodies the Pasta Shop. We are a close family, so when our dad suddenly passed, all three of us mobilized and made adjustments to our lives so we could take a more active role to help our mom run the restaurant. Adjusting has been a challenge, but we didn’t lose any wholesale accounts when our dad died, and we have gained some new ones since.
What surprises do you have for the menu?
We just launched a new vegan menu, created by our family and chef Eddie Martinez. It has been a long time coming and we are thrilled to have had such a great response. An exciting new addition is sautéed kale and avocados, a staple in any vegan’s diet. The new vegan menu features nearly 20 dishes. Trent has been vegan for five years and took the lead in this new venture.
Tell us about your charitable giving.
It is imperative that we give back to our great city. We partner with and donate to many charity organizations including Inspiring Children Foundation, for which Trent serves as executive director. The foundation gives at-risk youths the tools needed to thrive through mentorship, education and tennis. The organization has helped more than 100 children earn college scholarship to schools such as Harvard, Princeton, Stanford and Penn. There is also a scholarship fund created in honor of chef David that provides clean eating and living programs for youths.