Luxury hotels in two cities are slated to get new restaurants from notable chefs early next year.
Las Vegas
After 16 years headlining Mesa Grill at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, chef Bobby Flay plans to introduce a new restaurant concept, Amalfi by Bobby Flay, following the Southwestern restaurant's final service on Nov. 14. Inspired by Flay’s travels to Italy and the Amalfi Coast, this will be his first Italian restaurant concept. Amalfi is currently slated to open in late spring.
“We have all learned during this unfortunate pandemic, and one of the things I’ve held closely to is to focus on the things you’re most passionate about—for me, right now, that passion is Italian cuisine, especially from the Amalfi coast,” Flay said. “Mesa Grill has meant so much to me over these last 16 years, but it’s important to evolve and stay ahead of the curve, especially in Las Vegas.”
Amalfi will serve a wide range of pastas—both house made fresh and dry—including green tomato risotto with sea scallops and Osetra caviar; lobster pasta with yellow tomatoes, basil and Calabrian chiles; spaghetti with sea urchin and tomato; and paccheri with scorpion fish, cherry tomatoes and green garlic. A focal point of Amalfi will be a fish and seafood display, inspired by Italian markets and staffed by a fishmonger who will be available to answer any guests’ questions—from where the fish is from, when it arrived in Las Vegas and more.
Designed by Olivia Jane Design & Interiors, Amalfi will have a natural palette and touches of greenery throughout, blended with elements like organic fabrics, stone and wood materials. Amalfi will offer four spaces—the bar and lounge, the grille/main dining room, the market room and a private dining room.
New Orleans
Chef Alon Shaya is set to a debut restaurant and bar in the Four Seasons Hotel and Private Residences New Orleans. Scheduled to open in early 2021, the restaurant will offer a fresh perspective on a classic Louisiana dining experience in a festive and inviting atmosphere at the hotel’s street level.
“There’s no question that New Orleans has long held an influential place in America’s culinary evolution,” said the property’s GM, Mali Carow. “Our aim at Four Seasons Hotel and Private Residences New Orleans is to continue that tradition while forging an imaginative new path into the future.”
Shaya, who has earned several James Beard Foundation awards and nominations, was born in Israel and raised in Philadelphia, and studied at the Culinary Institute of America before interning in Las Vegas.
A New Orleans resident for nearly two decades, Shaya and his wife Emily created Pomegranate Hospitality, which opened the city’s Saba restaurant in 2018 and serves dishes from the Middle East, Europe and North Africa with a Louisiana twist. Shaya is also the author of "Shaya: An Odyssey of Food, My Journey Back to Israel."
The restaurant will emphasize Gulf seafood, vegetables and other ingredients sourced from Shaya’s network of fishermen, farmers and other purveyors.