Kerry Glen Simon (June 17, 1955 – September 11, 2015) was an American celebrity chef and restaurateur based in

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

. Simon was also known by the

moniker A nickname, in some circumstances also known as a sobriquet, or informally a "moniker", is an informal substitute for the proper name of a person, place, or thing, used to express affection, playfulness, contempt, or a particular character trait ...

"Rock n' Roll Chef", given to him by ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

''. He was the executive chef and proprietor at his namesake restaurant "Simon" at Palms Place in Las Vegas. His other restaurants included Simon LA, in Los Angeles, Simon Prime in

Atlantic City, New Jersey Atlantic City, sometimes referred to by its initials A.C., is a Jersey Shore seaside resort city (New Jersey), city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Atlantic City comprises the second half of ...

, along with KGB and Carson Kitchen in Las Vegas.

Biography

Simon was born in Philadelphia and grew up in

Evanston, Illinois Evanston is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States, situated on the North Shore (Chicago), North Shore along Lake Michigan. A suburb of Chicago, Evanston is north of Chicago Loop, downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skok ...

, a suburb of Chicago's North Shore region. He initially had plans to become a musician, but eventually developed a passion for cooking. Simon attended school at

The Culinary Institute of America The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) is a Private university, private culinary school with its main campus in Hyde Park, New York, and branch campuses in St. Helena, California, St. Helena and Napa, California; San Antonio, Texas; and Singa ...

Hyde Park, New York Hyde Park is a town in Dutchess County, New York, United States, bordering the Hudson River north of Poughkeepsie. Within the town are the hamlets of Hyde Park, East Park, Staatsburg, and Haviland. Hyde Park is known as the hometown of Fra ...

. While in school, Simon was in an apprenticeship with Jean Morel.Q&A: Kerry Simon
''Las Vegas Sun'' Upon graduation, Simon worked at restaurants such as

La Côte Basque La Côte Basque was a New York City restaurant. It opened in the late 1950s and operated until it closed on March 7, 2004. In business for 45 years, upon its closing ''The New York Times'' called it a "former high-society temple of French cuisin ...

and Lutece before becoming the personal chef for notable persons such as John Addey and

Saul Steinberg Saul Steinberg (June 15, 1914, Rm. Sărat, Romania – May 12, 1999, New York City) was a Romanian-born American artist, best known for his work for ''The New Yorker'', most notably ''View of the World from 9th Avenue''. He described himself ...

. In 1989 Simon was hired by Ivana Trump to be the executive chef in the

Plaza Hotel The Plaza Hotel (also known as The Plaza) is a luxury hotel and condominium apartment building in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is located on the western side of Grand Army Plaza, after which it is named, just west of Fifth Avenue, ...

Edwardian Room In the United Kingdom, the Edwardian era was a period in the early 20th century that spanned the reign of King Edward VII from 1901 to 1910. It is commonly extended to the start of the First World War in 1914, during the early reign of King Ge ...

and in 1991, Rolling Stone named him one of the top personalities of the year. In 2001, Simon was approached by Elizabeth Blau and Peter Morton about partnering in a restaurant bearing his name and showcasing his cuisine, resulting in the October 2002 opening of Simon Kitchen & Bar at the

Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Hard Rock Cafe, Inc. is a chain of theme bar-restaurants, memorabilia shops, casinos, hotels and museums founded in 1971 by Isaac Tigrett and Peter Morton in London. In 1979, the cafe began covering its walls with rock and roll memorabilia, a ...

. The restaurant was selected as one of "America's Best New Restaurants" by ''

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentleman ...

''. Simon partnered with several people to open many restaurants, such as the Blue Star, Starfish, Max's, and Mercury. He has also been a partner at Mercer Kitchen in Manhattan and executive chef/partner at Prime in Las Vegas. In June 2013, Simon opened the Simon Mansion & Supper Club, located in the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. Simon was diagnosed in 2013 with multiple-system atrophy (MSA), a degenerative neurological disorder. He died on September 11, 2015, in Las Vegas while under

hospice Hospice care is a type of health care that focuses on the palliation of a terminally ill patient's pain and symptoms and attending to their emotional and spiritual needs at the end of life. Hospice care prioritizes comfort and quality of life b ...

care.

Television appearances

In 2001, Simon challenged and lost to Iron Chef American

Todd English William Todd English (born August 29, 1960) is an American celebrity chef, restaurateur, author, and television personality, based in Boston, Massachusetts. He hosted the TV cooking show, ''Food Trip with Todd English,'' on PBS. In 2005 he was a ...

(in Battle

Dungeness Crab The Dungeness crab (''Metacarcinus magister'') makes up one of the most important seafood industries along the west coast of North America. Its typical range extends from Alaska's Aleutian Islands to Point Conception, near Santa Barbara, Califo ...

, a.k.a. ''Las Vegas Showdown'') in one of only two produced episodes of ''

Iron Chef USA is a Japanese television cooking show produced by Fuji Television. The series, which premiered on October 10, 1993, is a stylized cook-off featuring guest chefs challenging one of the show's resident "Iron Chefs" in a timed cooking battle buil ...

''. In the second episode of the 2005 season, Simon appeared on ''

Iron Chef America ''Iron Chef America'' is an American cooking show based on Fuji Television's ''Iron Chef'', and is the second American adaptation of the series, following the failed ''Iron Chef USA'' that aired in 2001. The show is produced by Food Network, wh ...

'', challenging and defeating

Cat Cora Catherine Ann Cora (born April 3, 1967) is an American professional chef, television personality, business person, and cookbook author. She is best known for her featured role as an "Iron Chef" on ''Iron Chef America''Yancey, Kitty Bean"'Iron Che ...

in Battle

Hamburger A hamburger (or simply a burger) consists of fillings—usually a patty of ground meat, typically beef—placed inside a sliced bun or bread roll. The patties are often served with cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, bacon, or chilis ...

. He was a judge for ''Iron Chef America''. Aside from ''Iron Chef America'', he also made appearances on ''

Hell's Kitchen Hell's Kitchen, also known as Clinton, or Midtown West on real estate listings, is a neighborhood on the West Side of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York. It is considered to be bordered by 34th Street (or 41st Street) to the south, ...

'' (Season 8) and can also be seen on an episode of the

Fine Living Network Fine Living (Sometimes called Fine Living Network or FLN) was a European television channel, initially owned and operated by Scripps Networks Interactive and later by Discovery Inc., from 2018 onwards. It broadcast from to . It featured document ...

's '' What Makes it Tick''.

References

External links

*
StarChef bioOfficial SimonLA restaurant page
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Simon, Kerry 1955 births 2015 deaths Businesspeople from Evanston, Illinois People from the Las Vegas Valley American chefs American restaurateurs Culinary Institute of America Hyde Park alumni Deaths from multiple system atrophy Neurological disease deaths in Nevada 20th-century American businesspeople