Since news broke in May that Bellagio’s legendary Picasso restaurant was closing and its famed chef Julian Serrano was retiring after nearly 26 years at the helm since it opened, calls, emails and other inquiries have poured in about the potato mousseline that tops the chef’s pan-seared scallops.

You’re closing? You’re really closing? We have to come by one last time (or a few last times).

And so they came. Las Vegas locals. Customers from all over the US and from Europe and beyond. Even people who had never eaten at the restaurant before but recognized that a significant part of the city’s culinary history was coming to an end. Picasso has been completely booked (about 180 seats) since the announcement in May.

“There has been incredible interest,” Serrano said with modest understatement when he sat down with the Las Vegas Review-Journal Thursday afternoon as preparations were underway for that evening’s service and for the final night of worship on Friday.

The chef, who turned 74 in July, seemed clear about the closure and retirement – “Once I make a decision, there’s no turning back” – and he dismissed any suggestions that Friday or the months leading up to it might be of particular significance.

“I’ve tried very hard not to go crazy these last few days – we have good food, good service, consistent, as if we weren’t going to close. It’s like any other night. We do our best until the last minute.”

Of oysters and napkins

On Thursday afternoon, staff practiced the process as they have for a quarter century, straightening tablecloths, arranging place settings and calling out table details. “Thirty-four is a one. Fifty-three is a two.”

In the kitchen, stacks of quatrefoil napkins awaited oysters poached in white wine (from Massachusetts in the summer), which were then served with vermouth beurre blanc and a knot of Ossetra caviar.

The oysters are served in used and disinfected oyster shells that are placed inside the petals of the quatrefoil. The napkins are starched, like Picasso’s origami version, and then sprayed with water to make them pliable enough to fold, but sturdy enough to hold their shape.

“We make thousands,” Serrano said of this art of napkin folding.

Oysters play a role in the Picasso’s closure. A VIP and long-time guest is currently staying at the Bellagio. This VIP has a penchant (to put it mildly) for Picasso oysters and orders three dozen of them (classically served over crushed ice) every day at the restaurant or wherever he dines on the premises.

Does this VIP realize that oysters, at least as prepared by Picasso, have an expiration date? “Yes,” said Serrano.

So sip while you can.

Think about the employees

At a dinner honoring the restaurant’s chef on August 9, Serrano said he almost had tears in his eyes as he recounted his move from San Francisco (where he ran Masa’s) to Las Vegas, a move that uprooted his wife and young daughter and saw him try his luck with this new property called the Bellagio.

The other afternoon, the conversation about the restaurant staff aroused emotions in the chef, as a large portion of them have been working there since day one.

“That’s the hard part. I may never see some people again. And that makes me sad. The hardest part is leaving the staff. They support you and you support them. We’ve spent our lives here.”

A second family

The chef has created an environment that demands top performance but also offers support, say employees.

Brian Kolp, the assistant chef, has worked at Picasso for 14 years. He joined the restaurant as an assistant chef. “It was hard and stressful and the chef was demanding,” Kolp said. “You have to earn his respect.”

Over time, he has settled in. “We are a team. Everything is always a collaboration. Our foie gras, our lobster salad: how do we develop this further? The head chef has always given us free rein to really work together. We spend more time together than with our families.”

“Head in the oven”

Ryland Worrell, executive chef at Picasso, has been with Serrano longer than anyone else at the restaurant. He was executive chef at Masa’s in San Francisco for 12 years, and when the chef was recruited to work at the Bellagio, Worrell asked if he could make the trip to the desert, too.

“Julian said, ‘I can’t promise you anything,’ but I knew better. I knew the restaurant here would be a success.”

Serrano, he said, had set a good example.

“Julian’s head is in the oven every night. He sweats like crazy. When we see him do that, it burns inside us to get down to that level, to represent him, to represent Picasso and Bellagio.”

Career highlight

In addition, there was the success of Picasso.

“It has given us a good income that allows us to send our children to school, make investments and pay the mortgage. For the people here, this is their job and they are proud of it. The guests feel that too.”

After Picasso closed, Worrell said he would take a few months to swim in the pool and think things through.

“It was the highlight of my career. I may never experience it again, I know that. Nothing will come close to what we had here. I get emotional – we basically grew up here. It was a journey and an opportunity. The chef is responsible for that.”

Contact Johnathan L. Wright at [email protected]. Follow @JLWTaste on Instagram.