When the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas opened on the Strip in December 2010, it offered a fresh take on the casino archetype.
Its architecture was more up than out, a modern, glass-encased skyscraper. Its brand was artsy and urbane with an irreverent edge and a sense of humor. It featured unusual amenities (an interactive art studio, a gambling-free lounge space) and lacked the standard fixtures (a sports book, a poker room). It was infused with a sense of big-city sophistication, from the video installations playing on pillars in the lobby to the craft cocktails poured at every hotel bar.
The food and beverage program was especially intriguing, pulling in chefs from New York, Washington and Los Angeles who were opening in Las Vegas for the first time.
Suddenly Jose Andres and Scott Conant had not one but two Strip restaurants, Estiatorio Milos was serving up Greek seafood nightly and the late-night line for Secret Pizza, as it's affectionately known, stretched dozens deep with well-heeled partiers waiting for floppy slices with pepperoni and cheese.
"The original food and beverage lineup was very avant-garde and very cutting edge," said Bill McBeath, president and CEO of the Cosmopolitan.
But in what the CEO calls "the most competitive food and beverage market in the world," a casino cannot rest on its giant paellas or salt-baked sea bass.
Thinly sliced semifatty tuna from Zuma, an outpost of the London-based Japanese restaurant that opened at the Cosmopolitan on Jan. 28, part of the latest wave of eateries that have joined the hotel.
Over the last year, the property has been undergoing a wide-ranging evolution that is also touching the culinary lineup, bringing heralded chefs, buzzy brands and new outposts of coastal favorites to complement the eateries already on site. When the renovations are complete this spring, the Cosmopolitan may stake a claim as the epicenter of the Strip's vibrant culinary scene.
The resort's F&B refresh began in earnest a year ago when Clique Bar & Lounge celebrated its grand opening just off the lobby in the former home of Book & Stage. Then the casino converted an underperforming slot bank into its first full sports book and added a Strip-facing Starbucks with a permanent installation by French artist Georges Rousse.
Tao Group's Beauty & Essex took over the former home of Comme Ca with a gastropub/pawn shop, and L.A. egg sandwich sensation Eggslut arrived over the summer. The iconic Chandelier bar got a quick face-lift, and finally on Dec. 30, chef Christina Tosi debuted Milk Bar, the bakery offshoot of Momofuku, famous for its compost cookies, cereal milk ice cream and crack pie, a salty-sweet creation that the Los Angeles Times once called "dessert nirvana."
"It's been phenomenal," said McBeath of the resort's new bakery. "For a little 1,000-square-foot box, it's going to have a revenue per square foot as high as anything in the building."
The opening of Milk Bar, which has locations in Washington, Toronto and New York, was big news for Las Vegas, but it was really more of an appetizer for meatier developments.
The robata grill at Zuma. Photo Credit: Anthony Mair
Last month, David Chang's Momofuku fired up its grills right next door, making Las Vegas the first Western U.S. outpost of Chang's Asian-infused empire, which includes the Michelin two-star Momofuku Ko, Ssam Bar and beloved ramen spot Momofuku Noodle Bar.
"It's probably the most anticipated restaurant opening, at least by the food community, maybe ever in Las Vegas," McBeath said.
As McBeath tells it, Chang had been courted up and down the Strip for nearly a decade, but when the CEO read in a magazine that the Cosmo was the chef's favorite place to stay in town, he saw an opening.
"We went out to meet him in New York. It didn't take us ... 30 days to hammer out a deal," McBeath said. "Our brands are aligned. It's a great fit. His food is incredible but unpretentious. That makes it a lot like the Cosmopolitan brand."
Following closely behind Momofuku, was the London-based Japanese restaurant Zuma, which started serving contemporary fare, including sushi and robata-grilled skewers, on Jan. 28.
Finally, Blue Ribbon Sushi Bar & Grill, part of the Cosmopolitan's original restaurant collection, closed its doors in January to be replaced by a fresh offering from brothers Bruce and Eric Bromberg.
Simply called Blue Ribbon, the venue was inspired by the Brombergs' original Blue Ribbon Brasserie, which opened in New York in 1992 and gained a reputation for well-executed comfort food and as a clubhouse for off-duty chefs.
"It'll be basically the last piece of the puzzle," McBeath said. "We think that we are going to become the culinary capital of Las Vegas."