James Beard Award Nominee Elizabeth Blau is recognized for the impact of her leadership, innovation, and philanthropy over a nearly four decade career. Elizabeth is widely credited with transforming Las Vegas into a world-class culinary destination. Today, she is renowned for continuing to shape the global dining scene by bringing award winning chefs and restauranteurs to international real estate mixed use projects as well as luxury resort developments.

Elizabeth’s storied career includes high-profile leadership roles such as Vice President of Restaurant Development for Mirage Resorts, Senior Vice President of Restaurant Development for MGM Mirage, and Executive Vice President of Restaurant Development & Marketing for Wynn Las Vegas. In 2002, she founded Blau + Associates, expanding it into one of the leading restaurant development and global consulting companies. Along with her husband Chef Kim Canteenwalla, she operates successful signature restaurants including Honey Salt in Las Vegas and Vancouver, Buddy’s V’s Ristorante on the Las Vegas Strip, a portfolio of acclaimed restaurants at the Parq Vancouver Resort & Casino, and Crown Block Restaurant at the Reunion Tower in Dallas. She is also the author of “Honey Salt: A Culinary Scrapbook,” which was named Best Cookbook of 2018 by Food & Beverage Magazine. Elizabeth serves the global hospitality community through advisory and board roles for organizations such as École Hôtelière de Lausanne, the Cornell Nolan School of Hotel Administration, trustee emeritus of the Culinary Institute of America and global advisory board member emeritus at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. In 2020, she co-founded the non-profit Women’s Hospitality Initiative to develop and implement programs for women to achieve leadership positions in the restaurant industry. Elizabeth and her experienced team, continue to expand Blau and Associates both domestically and nationally.