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Puck’s catering deal stirs up new wave of Vegas developments

Puck’s catering deal stirs up new wave of Vegas developments

LAS VEGAS —Yet another wave of high-profile dining developments is forming along the glitzy Strip here as more big-budget construction projects take shape, including a $3 billion megaresort that has signed Wolfgang Puck to an exclusive catering pact.

That twist on the lucrative love affair between this city’s lavish hotel-casinos and imported celebrity chefs calls for Wolfgang Puck Catering to be the hotelwide caterer for the Cosmopolitan Resort & Casino, slated to open in 2009. —Yet another wave of high-profile dining developments is forming along the glitzy Strip here as more big-budget construction projects take shape, including a $3 billion megaresort that has signed Wolfgang Puck to an exclusive catering pact.

The property would include 2,998 condo-hotel and hotel rooms in two 600-foot-tall towers atop a four-level complex with more than 270,000 square feet of ballroom, convention, conference, spa and casino facilities, fronted on the street by 46 boutiques and 15 restaurants behind a glass façade. —Yet another wave of high-profile dining developments is forming along the glitzy Strip here as more big-budget construction projects take shape, including a $3 billion megaresort that has signed Wolfgang Puck to an exclusive catering pact.

“I’ve been a part of some amazing, cutting-edge endeavors, but this creative partnership…has me especially excited,” said Puck, whose catering firm would handle the resort’s banquets, catering, room service, hotel room mini-bars and employee dining room, though not its restaurants. —Yet another wave of high-profile dining developments is forming along the glitzy Strip here as more big-budget construction projects take shape, including a $3 billion megaresort that has signed Wolfgang Puck to an exclusive catering pact.

Financial terms were not disclosed. —Yet another wave of high-profile dining developments is forming along the glitzy Strip here as more big-budget construction projects take shape, including a $3 billion megaresort that has signed Wolfgang Puck to an exclusive catering pact.

“This collaboration will merge gourmet dining with other nontraditional facets of our hotel,” said Audrey Oswell, the Cosmopolitan’s chief operating officer. —Yet another wave of high-profile dining developments is forming along the glitzy Strip here as more big-budget construction projects take shape, including a $3 billion megaresort that has signed Wolfgang Puck to an exclusive catering pact.

The eight-year-old Puck division operates catering and restaurant services at prominent cultural and entertainment venues nationwide, though it is perhaps best known for its contract for the annual Governor’s Ball after the Oscar awards. —Yet another wave of high-profile dining developments is forming along the glitzy Strip here as more big-budget construction projects take shape, including a $3 billion megaresort that has signed Wolfgang Puck to an exclusive catering pact.

Although Puck’s flagship restaurant Spago is in Beverly Hills, Calif., and his catering company is especially active in Hollywood, the Puck Fine Dining Group is based in Las Vegas, where it has restaurant operations in four resorts, including a Spago branch in the Forum Shops at Caesars Palace. —Yet another wave of high-profile dining developments is forming along the glitzy Strip here as more big-budget construction projects take shape, including a $3 billion megaresort that has signed Wolfgang Puck to an exclusive catering pact.

While leaving development of the Cosmopolitan’s restaurants to others, Puck Fine Dining is planning to develop two new restaurant concepts for the massive, multihotel City Center property nearby. The $7.6 billion mixed-use project by MGM Mirage will cover 76 acres and also is scheduled to open in late 2009. —Yet another wave of high-profile dining developments is forming along the glitzy Strip here as more big-budget construction projects take shape, including a $3 billion megaresort that has signed Wolfgang Puck to an exclusive catering pact.

Other locally based restaurant operators, including the Light Group and Pure Management Group, are planning to expand their lounge and dining outlets along the Las Vegas Strip. Such well-known chef-restaurateurs as Kerry Simon and Philippe Chow also are planning to enter the fray with new concepts, as is chef Adam Sobel, formerly of Las Vegas’ Restaurant Guy Savoy. —Yet another wave of high-profile dining developments is forming along the glitzy Strip here as more big-budget construction projects take shape, including a $3 billion megaresort that has signed Wolfgang Puck to an exclusive catering pact.

A highly anticipated location opportunity is City Center, whose officials have remained tight-lipped about possible restaurant concepts being planned for the development, although word is beginning to trickle out. —Yet another wave of high-profile dining developments is forming along the glitzy Strip here as more big-budget construction projects take shape, including a $3 billion megaresort that has signed Wolfgang Puck to an exclusive catering pact.

Tom Kaplan, managing partner of Puck Fine Dining, offered no details but said his company was in discussions with City Center about two venues there that would house a contemporary, fine-dining brasserie and an adjacent, more casual operation. Both would be located in a retail area of the complex, Kaplan said. —Yet another wave of high-profile dining developments is forming along the glitzy Strip here as more big-budget construction projects take shape, including a $3 billion megaresort that has signed Wolfgang Puck to an exclusive catering pact.

Puck Fine Dining also has scheduled a December opening for a Las Vegas branch of its acclaimed Beverly Hills steakhouse, Cut, in the new Palazzo tower of The Venetian resort. —Yet another wave of high-profile dining developments is forming along the glitzy Strip here as more big-budget construction projects take shape, including a $3 billion megaresort that has signed Wolfgang Puck to an exclusive catering pact.

Puck had considered developing a restaurant in the Cosmo-politan, but, because it would open around the same time as City Center, decided not to spread his staff too thin, Kaplan explained. —Yet another wave of high-profile dining developments is forming along the glitzy Strip here as more big-budget construction projects take shape, including a $3 billion megaresort that has signed Wolfgang Puck to an exclusive catering pact.

Although Cosmopolitan officials declined to identify other possible restaurant developers, they said New York-based chef-operator Chow’s fourth high-end Philippe branch would have the resort’s only Strip-front dining terrace. Known for such signatures as green shrimp, crispy beef and Peking duck, Philippe also would run a 2,000-square-foot noodle annex on the casino floor. —Yet another wave of high-profile dining developments is forming along the glitzy Strip here as more big-budget construction projects take shape, including a $3 billion megaresort that has signed Wolfgang Puck to an exclusive catering pact.

Chow once cooked at the power-dining concept Mr. Chow, the Los Angeles-based fine-dining chain founded and owned by its namesake, Michael Chow. A Mr. Chow restaurant is also coming to City Center as the signature restaurant for the Harmon Hotel, a 400-room boutique property. —Yet another wave of high-profile dining developments is forming along the glitzy Strip here as more big-budget construction projects take shape, including a $3 billion megaresort that has signed Wolfgang Puck to an exclusive catering pact.

Among several hotels planned for City Center, the Harmon will be operated by the Las Vegas-based Light Group, which is known for two hotel-based steak-house concepts: Fix Restaurant and Bar in the Bellagio and Stack Restaurant and Bar at the Mirage, as well as several nightclubs along the Strip. —Yet another wave of high-profile dining developments is forming along the glitzy Strip here as more big-budget construction projects take shape, including a $3 billion megaresort that has signed Wolfgang Puck to an exclusive catering pact.

Mr. Chow, which has locations in London, New York, Beverly Hills and Miami, was deemed an ideal complement to the Harmon concept because of the restaurant’s chic design and high-end menu, Light Group managing partner Andy Masi said. —Yet another wave of high-profile dining developments is forming along the glitzy Strip here as more big-budget construction projects take shape, including a $3 billion megaresort that has signed Wolfgang Puck to an exclusive catering pact.

City Center, he noted, is bringing together noted designers and architects who are expected to create a new generation of casino-hotels, with contemporary dining, partying and shopping venues aimed at a younger audience. —Yet another wave of high-profile dining developments is forming along the glitzy Strip here as more big-budget construction projects take shape, including a $3 billion megaresort that has signed Wolfgang Puck to an exclusive catering pact.

“City Center will evolve Las Vegas,” he said. “The old-school casinos are going away.” —Yet another wave of high-profile dining developments is forming along the glitzy Strip here as more big-budget construction projects take shape, including a $3 billion megaresort that has signed Wolfgang Puck to an exclusive catering pact.

Also for City Center, Masi added, the Light Group is planning an as-yet-unnamed sushiand-steak restaurant, a 35,000-square-foot nightclub inside the main casino, a restaurant and lounge, and foodservice operations to be situated around an adult-oriented pool. —Yet another wave of high-profile dining developments is forming along the glitzy Strip here as more big-budget construction projects take shape, including a $3 billion megaresort that has signed Wolfgang Puck to an exclusive catering pact.

The Light Group isn’t limiting itself to City Center, however. This week, the company is planning to open the Mexican-theme Diablo’s Cantina at the Monte Carlo Resort and Casino. Diablo’s menu was developed by Noe Alcala, former executive chef of the Los Angeles-based Pink Taco chain. —Yet another wave of high-profile dining developments is forming along the glitzy Strip here as more big-budget construction projects take shape, including a $3 billion megaresort that has signed Wolfgang Puck to an exclusive catering pact.

Next February, the Light Group plans to open a high-end steakhouse called Hide, followed in April by an upscale Japanese restaurant in the Bellagio called Yellowtail. Chef Akira Back, formerly of Matsuhisa Aspen, is to helm Yellowtail’s kitchen. —Yet another wave of high-profile dining developments is forming along the glitzy Strip here as more big-budget construction projects take shape, including a $3 billion megaresort that has signed Wolfgang Puck to an exclusive catering pact.

Meanwhile, MGM Mirage is planning to revamp its Luxor Las Vegas resort, which would include the launch of at least two new dining venues. —Yet another wave of high-profile dining developments is forming along the glitzy Strip here as more big-budget construction projects take shape, including a $3 billion megaresort that has signed Wolfgang Puck to an exclusive catering pact.

In October, Pure Management Group, operator of several nightclubs and restaurants in Las Vegas, including Coyote Ugly and Dick’s Last Resort, is scheduled to open Company American Bistro at the Luxor. Guy Savoy veteran Sobel has signed on to be Company’s chef. Hotel heiress Nicky Hilton, actor Wilmer Valderrama and singer Nick Lachey are among the celebrity backers of Company, which is being designed with an Aspen-ski-lodge look to feature steaks, chops, seafood and an extensive wine list. —Yet another wave of high-profile dining developments is forming along the glitzy Strip here as more big-budget construction projects take shape, including a $3 billion megaresort that has signed Wolfgang Puck to an exclusive catering pact.

Chef Simon, known in Las Vegas for his Simon Kitchen & Bar at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, also is planning a combination restaurant and “ultralounge” at the Luxor called Cathouse, which is scheduled to open in December. —Yet another wave of high-profile dining developments is forming along the glitzy Strip here as more big-budget construction projects take shape, including a $3 billion megaresort that has signed Wolfgang Puck to an exclusive catering pact.

At the nearby Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino, where the New York-based Glazier Group recently launched the seventh branch of its Strip House steakhouse concept, Las Vegas developer DW Enterprises is planning to open a 15,000-square-foot franchised outpost of Trader Vic’s, the 30-unit Polynesian-theme brand owned by Corte Madera, Calif.-based Trader Vic’s Restaurant Group. —Yet another wave of high-profile dining developments is forming along the glitzy Strip here as more big-budget construction projects take shape, including a $3 billion megaresort that has signed Wolfgang Puck to an exclusive catering pact.

Planet Hollywood’s version of Trader Vic’s would include three dining and entertainment venues: a ground-level restaurant, a Strip-side outdoor patio and an upstairs Tiki Club lounge overlooking City Center, the neighboring Paris resort’s Eiffel Tower replica and the Bellagio’s dancing fountains. —Yet another wave of high-profile dining developments is forming along the glitzy Strip here as more big-budget construction projects take shape, including a $3 billion megaresort that has signed Wolfgang Puck to an exclusive catering pact.

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