Aria Announces Las Vegas Strip’s Newest Upscale Food Hall

Posted on: September 20, 2022, 02:43h. 

Last updated on: September 21, 2022, 02:21h.

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

Clique Hospitality is about to unveil a new upscale food hall, Proper Eats, in the space once occupied by the buffet at Aria.

Proper Eats rendering
Proper Eats, as envisioned in this rendering, will debut in early winter with 12 new dining concepts, including the first Seoul Bird outside of London and the first Wexler’s Deli outside LA. (Image: MGM Resorts)

Set to open in early winter, the 24,000-square-foot area — designed by Italian designer Munge and his firm, Studio Munge — will boast 12 dining concepts on Aria’s second-level promenade. These include the first Seoul Bird outside London and the first Wexler’s Deli outside Los Angeles.

This is a dream destination for me,” said Andy Masi, founder of Las Vegas-based Clique Hospitality, in a press statement. “Our team is bringing together cocktails and cuisine from some of our favorite places in the world in one strikingly beautiful space in the middle of the Las Vegas Strip.”

Proper Eats will join the likes of other upscale Las Vegas Strip food halls, including the Famous Food Street Eats food hall at Resorts World, the Block 16 Urban food hall at the Cosmopolitan and Eataly at Park MGM.

Korean Soul Food with a Side of Lox

Created by chefs Judy Joo and Andrew Hales in 2019, Seoul Bird is a Valhalla for Korean fried chicken and other street food inspired by Joo’s Korean-American heritage and the pair’s food tours across South Korea.

“We have been looking for the ideal place to introduce Seoul Bird to the United States for a while,” Joo told Forbes.com, “and when Andy Masi reached out about partnering with Proper Eats, we knew we had found it.”

Wexler’s Deli, which offers classic (though not kosher) Jewish food, claims to be the only deli in LA that smokes and hand-slices all meat and fish in-house. It was founded in 2014 by chef Micah Wexler and his business partner, Mike Kassar, in the Grand Central Market downtown. Later, it added a Santa Monica location. It’s now run solely by Kassar, Wexler having exited the partnership in 2020 to launch grocery items featuring the brand.

“We are extremely honored to be part of Proper Eats, which will showcase a variety of vibrant flavors,” Kassar told Forbes.com. “We are excited to bring our homemade deli classics to one of the finest hotels on the Strip.”

Proper Eats will include Clique’s newly created Temaki sushi restaurant and New York’s breakfast-centric Egghead by Tao Group Hospitality — best known for egg and cheese on potato brioche bread.

A Foodie Hall

Masi has partnered with hospitality leaders Jason McLeod, culinary director of Proper Eats, and Oliver Wharton, founder of A Perfect Bite, to curate this foodie collection. Previously Corporate Executive Chef of Consortium Holdings, McLeod is behind some of San Diego’s top dining destinations, including Born & Raised and Ironside Fish & Oyster.

Wharton has long been one of the foremost hospitality experts in Las Vegas, working alongside renowned chefs Jose Andres and Michael Mina and holding pivotal roles within some of the city’s hottest restaurants and clubs.

“The addition of Proper Eats to ARIA’s food and beverage portfolio will deliver a fun and lively communal dining experience to our resort,” said Aria president and chief operating officer Anton Nikodemus in the press statement. “Every detail has been carefully curated — from creative concepts to venue design — bringing together a first-class culinary epicenter that is approachable with a variety of options to choose based on preference, taste, or mood.

“This, along with the collaborative partnership of visionaries at Clique Hospitality and Studio Munge, will elevate our food hall into a memorable destination for guests to return to time and again.”