The Venetian seems to be cleaning house with regard to its restaurants, and not in a good way. On the heels of the announcement of the intention to close Piero Selvaggio Valentino in June, a mistake I think, more so given the shabby treatment the restaurant was given in the complex bringing in not one, but three, Mario Batali venues (and don’t get me wrong, B & B is a brilliant restaurant), it has announced the immediate closures of two Sammy DeMarco venues, First Food & Bar, and Rattlecan.
These two closures are huge losses. Everyone with better than a Tyvec palate knows that Sammy is one of the best culinary minds in the West, and a great technician. And Valentino’s Luciano Pellegrini is a James Beard Award Winner, frevvinsakes. I’m sure that Looch, as we call him, will be snapped up by another casino. I’m not sure what the Samster wants to do.
This is a disturbing trend, but then, the Venetian has always run against the wind. The leasing agent seems to ignore exclusives, and leases to what looks like the best bet at any given time. So sayonara Bottles and Burgers on the mezzanine level at Palazzo, a swift kick in the rear to the flagging Table 10 up there, and who knows what will be next to drop.
Rumor has it Daniel Boulud will move into the vacated Valentino space. It’s an open secret that he’s been hankering to get back to the Strip since his well documented split with Steve Wynn, and his success at the Sands Singapore, also owned by Mr. Adelson, means he’s a go to brand for this group.
Strip restaurants in a state of flux, and the impending openings of first the SLS (in the old Sahara space), and later, a project by a Malaysian gaming group, Genting, to revive the Echelon (on the dynamited site of the Stardust), means there will be lots of action to keep desk jockeys like me busy for a long time, so I ain’t complaining.
Good luck to the prospective tenants at the Venetian. You’re gonna need it.
From Sammy D, et al:
An official statement from the ownership team (VV Ventures) of FIRST Food & Bar and Rattlecan regarding the recent closures:
“After years of enjoyment by our customers of FIRST Food & Bar and the initial success of Rattlecan, we have entered a mutual agreement to relocate the restaurants from their current locations. Both restaurants are closed at this time and we look forward to announcing a new Las Vegas home for Rattlecan in the near future. We couldn’t be more proud of these two unique restaurants and our amazing staff members. The owners deeply appreciate the amazing press, reviews and customer support that the restaurants have enjoyed over the years.”
