Chef
Sarah Thompson
Executive Chef, Casa Playa
- Discipline
- Chef
Made By record
Awards & recognition
5 total
2 winners
Portrait of Sarah Thompson
i. Biography
Sarah Thompson is the executive chef of Casa Playa at Wynn Las Vegas, where she leads a coastal Mexican concept inside Encore Las Vegas. Wynn’s official coverage says she opened Casa Playa as executive chef in 2021 and later won the 2026 James Beard Award for Best Chef: Southwest, becoming the first female chef on the Las Vegas Strip to receive that honor. Wynn also notes that Thompson previously worked with Michael White, Wylie Dufresne, and Andrew Carmellini before moving to Cosme, where her interest in Mexico’s ingredients and flavors deepened.
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Read about chefs like Sarah Thompson in the Sunday email.
Every Sunday we send a lead story and up to four more about the chefs, winemakers, sommeliers and hoteliers behind the restaurants, bars, wineries and hotels we cover.
Recent stories
Free. One email a week, and you can unsubscribe from any issue.