Cooking has always been Christophe Ithurritze’s passion. In his early childhood in Basque, Bayonne, located in the south of France, Ithurritze learned to bake from his mother. At the age of 13, he began spending the first of many summers working at the local bakery of a family friend.
Ithurritze attended Les Rocailles in Bayonne in 1987 earning a culinary degree at 17 years old. He then completed a one-year internship with Chef Andre Mandion, a certified master pastry chef in France, whom Ithurritze credits as a strong culinary influence in his early career.
After working with Mandion for one year following his internship, Ithurritze moved to Los Angeles in 1989 to work under Chef Joachin Splichal at his restaurant Patina. Less than one year later, he joined Spago Hollywood as a pastry cook in what was his first of many positions with the Wolfgang Puck family.
Ithurritze moved to Las Vegas in 1992 to open Spago, Las Vegas, where he worked as assistant pastry chef. Four years later, he helped open Spago, Chicago as pastry chef. Ithurritze ran the pastry department at Spago, Chicago for two years.
Ithurritze’s talent and experience made him a valuable commodity in the industry. In July of 1998, he returned to Las Vegas to work with Chef Alessandro Stratta at Renoir at The Mirage as the specialty room pastry chef. Two years later, Ithurritze returned to the Wolfgang Puck family as the new corporate pastry chef. In this role, he oversaw Wolfgang Puck’s five fine dining restaurants in Las Vegas: Spago and Chinois in the Forum Shops at Caesars Palace, Trattoria del Lupo at Mandalay Bay Postrio in the Grand Canal Shoppes at the Venetian and Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill at MGM Grand. Along with the responsibilities of the pastry department, Ithurritze assisted wherever needed in all areas of restaurant production.
In 2007, Ithurritze’s newest adventure will be teaming up with partners Jeff and Rhonda Wyatt and wife Noanie Ithurritze in the purchase of Las Vegas’ best kept secret, Marché Bacchus. It’s a wine retail store and a French Bistro with an amazing terrace on the lakes in Dessert Shores.
Ithurritze has appeared on “Roker on the Road” on the Food Network and was named a “Great Chef of America” on the Discovery Channel series “Great Chefs” hosted by John Shouppe. Ithurritze also participated in the World Pastry Olympics in 2002 at Beaver Creek, Colorado where he placed fourth out of the top 12 pastry chefs worldwide.