From Paris, New York, and beyond, some of the world's biggest restaurant brands (and chefs) are arriving in Vegas. Here are six to check out.
1. Mario Batali brings his signature Italian-via-New York fare to Las Vegas at B&B Ristorante, which opened at the Venetian in April 2007. The extensive dinner menu features specialties such as whole grilled branzino with fennel, Gaeta olives, and lemon oregano jam. Batali's business partner, winemaker Joseph Bastianich, provides bottle selections from every region of Italy. The 6,500-square-foot, 140-seat space can be reserved for private events.
2. Not content with one new place in town, Batali and Bastianich also opened Enoteca San Marco adjacent to B&B Ristorante. The casual 160-seat restaurant re-creates an Italian-style town square in the Venetian's Piazza San Marco, complete with European street performers, high-topped marble tables, an impressive antipasti menu, and, of course, plenty of vino.
3. Famed French chef Guy Savoy opened his first stateside restaurant in the Augustus Tower at Caesars Palace in June 2006. The intimate 75-person dining room replicates the layout of his Parisian institution, including an enclosed patio, fireplace, and champagne and wine bar. The menu prestige is a 10-course extravagance, while six guests can dine at the chef's table in the kitchen. Two semiprivate rooms seat eight and 15, while a private dining room holds 35.
4. Another renowned Frenchman, chef and chocolatier Francois Payard, brought his cuisine to Caesars with Payard Patisserie, which opened in November 2007. The three-pronged space includes a specialty-goods station where guests are served fresh breads and sweets in the atmosphere of a Left Bank pastry shope, a coffee-liquoir-panini counter offering quick meals around the clock, and a small dining room adjacent to the open-air kitchen.
5. Next door to Payard is Italian restaurant Rao's, which opened in December 2006. A 10,000-square-foot reimagining of New York's 10-table original, this event mecca features six separate spaces, including two 10-table "Rao's Rooms" that emulate the original Harlem space, a "Feast Room" inspired by New York's many street festivals, and an outdoor patio with a boccie-ball court.
6. New at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino is Cafe Martorano, an outpost of the South Florida dining-and-DJ spot known to command a four-hour wait. The 7,000-square-foot restaurant, which opened in February 2007, is headed by Philadelphia chef Steve Martorano, who simultaneously cooks up an Italian menu while manning the DJ tables—with his music offerings complementing the cult movies played on flat-screen TVs throughout the space.
This information was previously published in the 2008 BizBash National Venue Guide.
