jose andres

Jose Andres To Open Two Las Vegas Restaurants

Filed under: Dining

Chef José Andrés, who was on 60 Minutes over the weekend (the interview with Anderson Cooper is after the jump), is headed to Las Vegas. Andrés, who already has even restaurants including one in Washington D.C. and one in Beverly Hills, will open two restaurants at the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas. One will be a tapas restaurant similar to his Jaleo restaurant. This restaurant will include a wood-fired pit for making paella, the traditional saffron rice and seafood dish made in a large shallow pan.

The other will be a new concept, a take on a Chinese and Mexican menu. This fusion restaurant will have tortilla makers up front and planned dishes like shumai wrapped in mango. The Washington Post reports that Andres has visited China and plans to go back for research several times the restaurant opens. Tonight Andrés is a contender for the James Beard Foundation's "outstanding chef" award in New York City.

The Cosmpolitan will features several other restaurants including Blue Ribbon by restaurateurs Bruce and Eric Bromberg; Comme Ca by Los Angeles chef David Myers; New York City's Estiatorio Milos by restaurateur Costas Spiliadis; Scarpetta and a new casual wine bar by chef Scott Conant; and the steakhouse STK from The One Group. The Cosmopolitan project is planned to open in December. Many are skeptical about the hotel's viability in a town already packed with luxe options. Fine dining will be a lure but Las Vegas is now host to many fine restaurants including those at the Wynn hotels and at CityCenter. As a recent BNET article pointed out, with tourism down the competition is fierce for less visitors and opening a billion-dollar hotel right now is a risky venture. The popular chef has his work cut out for him.

[via Las Vegas Review-Journal]

Tags: chef, cosmopolitan, jose andres, las vegas, star chef

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Ferran Adria, Harvard Professor

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining

The man who many considered the world's best chef has a new gig, Harvard professor. Adria, who announced in January that his El Bulli restaurant in Spain would be closing in 2012, will teach at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences this fall. He will be working with Harvard University on an undergraduate course in culinary physics. The course will use food to explain principles of soft matter physics in which culinary creations like suspensions and gels play a role. Adria is famous for his work in molecular gastronomy, framing food in new ways and new consistencies. The course will also include guest lectures from Wylie Dufresne, chef-owner of New York's wd-50, José Andrés and Dan Barber, co-owner of several restaurants in New York specializing in farm-to-table dining.

Tags: cooking, ferran adria, harvard, Jose Andres, molecular gastronomy, wylie dufresne

Is The Bazaar by Jose Andres The Perfect Storm of Restaurants?

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining

Is The Bazaar by José Andrés in the SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills the future of restaurants? An article in the Wall Street Journal takes a long analytical look at the restaurant's appeal. The article breaks down the allure of the restaurant which was also Esquire's restaurant of the year. The trendy bar and restaurant serves a tapas-style menu and caters to a lively bar scene. This along with its trendy hotel location are components that the Wall Street Journal sees as a major key to the spot's success in a time of restaurant failures and slow business. Bazaar has grossed $13 million making it a bright light in SBE Entertainment Group chief executive Sam Nazarian's portfolio of hotels and nightclubs.

Why so popular? Part of it is the Beverly HIlls location, part of it is the celebrity watching factor but it is also the fact that the food is more experience than sustenance. José Andrés serves food with a molecular gastronomy angle making use of liquid nitrogen, spun sugar and other theatrical food displays. As the WSJ article points out, the restaurant combines a bunch of things that are currently trendy and makes them work but whether or not any of these trends will stick around is anyone's guess. The Bazaar is a unique place combining lots of flash with a bit of substance and while the individual components that make it popular can be replicated the magic of this one particular spot likely cannot be.

Tags: jose andres, JoseAndres, sam nazarian, SamNazarian, sls hotel, SlsHotel, the bazaar, TheBazaar