The chef initially planned for NFL legend Emmitt Smith’s long-awaited but ultimately short-lived Las Vegas Strip steakhouse — who later left the project amid a $67 million lawsuit — has died in a car crash in Southern California, according to multiple media reports this week.
Rainer Schwarz, 59, died Monday afternoon in Dana Point after his car swerved from the road soon after he’d left his two restaurants in Laguna Beach. The cause of the crash is being investigated.
In April 2022, the hospitality group behind Emmitt’s Las Vegas announced the hiring of Schwarz as executive chef for the restaurant. News of the steakhouse emerged in December 2021, with its location unknown at the time. The restaurant finally opened in February 2024 in Fashion Show mall.
A lawsuit, then closing
By that time, Schwarz was no longer involved with the steakhouse. A lawsuit filed by Schwarz’s limited liability company in August 2023 in Clark County District Court alleges that some of his former business partners and other parties “arranged a conspiracy to steal the opportunity to open and operate Emmitt’s for themselves, while cutting Chef Rainer LLC.”
The complaint also alleges that the LLC was owed more than $1.1 million in startup costs, including equipment and vendor contracts, that had not been reimbursed. The complaint argues that unless the defendants were enjoined from opening the restaurant, the LLC would not receive more than $67 million in salary and profit sharing it was entitled to under the management agreement.
In September 2025, Emmitt’s closed after failing to pay more than $400,000 in rent. Landlord Brookfield Properties, owner of Fashion Show, changed the locks on the restaurant, which reportedly cost about $18 million to develop.
ontact Johnathan L. Wright at [email protected]. Follow @JLWTaste on Instagram.