VEGAS RESTAURANT ROUNDUP: José Andrés Eateries, Tao Group’s Cathédrale, RIP Stripburger

Posted on: April 4, 2023, 08:20h. 

Last updated on: April 5, 2023, 03:35h.

Corey Levitan Read More
Expertise: Commercial Gaming, Entertainment, Expert Insight, Las Vegas.

Las Vegas apparently can’t get its fill of José Andrés, who plans to open his fifth and sixth restaurants on the Strip in the coming months.

Chef José Andrés’ already operates Jaleo, China Poblana, é by Andrés, and Bazaar Meat on the Las Vegas Strip. He says he has room for two more. (Image: Zaytinya)
Chef José Andrés’ already operates Jaleo, China Poblana, é by Andrés, and Bazaar Meat on the Las Vegas Strip. He says he has room for two more. (Image: Zaytinya)

A third outpost of the celebrity chef’s Mediterranean eatery, Zaytinya, is expected to debut first at the Forum Shops at Caesars. Andrés also announced that he’s opening a restaurant at The Shops at Crystals in Aria Campus (formerly CityCenter), though no details about that restaurant were revealed.

Andrés, the Spanish chef often credited with bringing the small-plate tapas concept to America, debuted Zaytinya in Washington D.C. in 2002, followed by a second location last year in New York. Zaytinya (Turkish for olive oil) spotlights flavors from Turkey, Greece, and Lebanon.

Andrés already operates Jaleo, China Poblano, and é by Andrés at the Cosmopolitan, as well as Bazaar Meat at the Sahara.

No timeline was given for the new restaurants. But they are expected by late 2023 or early 2024.

The Tao Group’s New York City take on Cathédrale. (Image: Tao Group)

Tao Bows New Chow

Tao Group is doing what it does best, finding a Vegas home for clubby upscale Manhattan dining experiences featuring centerpieces of large sculptures. Its latest is Cathédrale, a French-Mediterranean coastal restaurant from the Lower East Side.

Overseen by executive chef Jason Hall and Tao Group Hospitality’s chief culinary officer, Ralph Scamardella, the menu includes an omelet filled with crème fraîche and caviar, a whole Dover sole with lemon caper butter, and a 22-ounce prime aged ribeye with rotisserie leeks.

When it opens May 1 at Aria, guests will enter the 266-seat restaurant through a tunnel lit by flickering candles, then pass through a metal beaded chain canopy to find a monumental ceiling installation looming over the main dining room.

Comings & Goings

Stripburger & Chicken has closed, ending 16 years of unparalleled Las Vegas Strip people-watching on the first floor of the Fashion Show Mall. There’s unconfirmed speculation that Emmitt’s, a new steakhouse from NFL legend Emmitt Smith, could replace it … China Mama at Spring Mountain Road and South Jones Boulevard in Chinatown is temporarily closed by a noninjury kitchen fire caused by cooking equipment that wasn’t turned off.

The Venetian hired Ryan Labbe to operate and reinvent its Dorsey, Electra, and Rosina cocktail lounges. The founder and CEO of Las Vegas’ 81/82 Group, Labbe opened Barbershop Cuts & Cocktails in the Cosmopolitan … Retro by Voltaggio, the temporary first Las Vegas restaurant from “Top Chef” stars and brothers Michael and Bryan Voltaggio, will open May 3 and is now accepting reservations.

The one-year culinary residency supplants Charlie Palmer’s Aureole at Mandalay Bay, which closes for good on April 14.