After nearly a decade as the corporate executive chef of the wildly successful Tao restaurants in New York City and Las Vegas, toque Sam Hazen has said goodbye to the giant Buddha. While at Tao, chef Hazen helped bring the restaurant to its current position as one of the highest grossing venues in the nation – Tao Las Vegas had more than $66 million in sales in 2007, according to the trade mag Restaurants & Institutions. Hazen is leaving Tao to focus on his consulting business, and his position has been filled internally by chef Ralph Scamardella, who was previously the executive chef at Tao New York.