Giada De Laurentiis Is The First Woman To Open A Restaurant In This Popular Location

Giada De Laurentiis is one of the most beloved and — not to mention — most famous chefs on Food Network, and for good reason. Her many television series — including Giada in Italy, Everyday Italian, Giada Entertains, and of course, her long-running popular cooking show, Giada at Home (via IMDb) — are widely considered fan-favorites of the network. Giada has also hosted or judged shows like Ultimate Thanksgiving Challenge, Winner Cake All, Food Network Star, and Beat Bobby Flay, and has made countless appearances on The Chew, The Best Thing I Ever Ate, Rachael Ray, and more.

Not only is the 50-year-old chef — who seriously looks half her age — an accomplished cook and TV personality, she's also a best-selling author, penning more than ten cookbooks and other publications during her career, including a children's book series called Recipe for Adventure (via Penguin Random House). On top of her many culinary accomplishments, Giada De Laurentiis has opened a total of three restaurants (per her website) in the past decade in the United States: GIADA, Pronto by Giada, and GD Italian by Giada. But, she's notably the first woman to open a restaurant in one of the country's most popular tourist destinations.

Giada De Laurentiis opened GIADA in The Cromwell, the Las Vegas Strip's first "stand-alone boutique hotel" in 2014. In an interview with Elle, the Food Network star opened up about becoming the first woman to open a restaurant in the iconic tourist destination, joining the ranks of other celebrity chefs with Vegas restaurants like Gordon Ramsay, her dear friend Bobby Flay, and Flavortown's very own Guy Fieri.

"It's so funny because, for the longest time, I never saw myself as a female chef versus a male chef. I just saw myself like everybody else. Just trying to make a living and trying to do my job really well and sort of inspire, especially home cooks, to make Italian food at home. It didn't matter whether I was a man or a woman," she shared, adding that the opportunities available for women in the food industry don't come nearly as often as they do for men.

"A lot of people here who work in this industry just said that they didn't feel a woman could handle the pressure. And that's why it's the boy's club. It's also a very tight-knit boy's club that they don't let women in," she added. Maybe that's how it used to be, but with Giada De Laurentiis making her way into this exclusive club, other female chefs could soon follow.