Chef Biography
Christophe Ithurritze began his career at L’Ecole les Rocailles pastry school in Biarritz, France. After graduating in 1986, he apprenticed under Great Chef Andre Mandion, whose daughter is the wife of Great Chef Joachim Splichal, in Anglet, France.
In 1988, he left for the United States to work for Great Chef Joachim Splichal at his first Patina Restaurant in California. Then he became the assistant pastry chef in 1990 for Wolfgang Puck’s Spago in West Hollywood, California. Spago’s would be his home for the next eight years, working up the ranks of the Puck Organization. He was head pastry chef at Spago’s in Chicago when he was recruited by the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas.
So in 1998 Chef Christophe and his wife, Lisa, moved to Las Vegas and he was the pastry chef at Renoir inside the Mirage Hotel, under Great Chef Alex Stratta. In 1999, the Great Chefs television crew showed up to tape Chef Ithurritze at Renoir restaurant for the Discovery Channel’s Great Chefs of America.
In 2000, Chef Stratta left and overnight they tore down the building inside the Mirage Casino. The next morning, you would never know it was there . . . a French chateau, gone! Chef Christophe returned to the Puck Group as Corporate Chef and Partner, where he stayed until 2006. In 2006 he became the chef and partner with Alex Stratta at Marche Bacchus, and in 2008 he joined Elizabeth Blau & Associates as a consultant. The following year in 2009, he joined the River Cree Resort & Casino in Canada, where he remains today in 2016.
Recipes
Rum Baba and Spiced Pineapple in Aged Rum Sauce
Serving: 8 Print Rum Baba and Spiced Pineapple in Aged Rum Sauce By Great Chefs October 2, 2015 This luscious tropical dessert is an update of the classic Babas au Rhum, or rum-soaked savarin. The traditional babas have currants or raisins baked in the buttery yeast dough. The recipe uses a savarin dough without raisins, […]