Emeril cooking up new ideas for Las Vegas Sands

By Mark Hansel

Friday, June 5, 2009 | 3 a.m.

Celebrity Chef Emeril Lagasse was a big attraction on opening weekend at Sands Bethlehem, the newest casino from Las Vegas Sands Corp.

Emeril’s Chop House at the Bethlehem, Pa., casino, which opened on May 22, is the third Lagasse restaurant located on a Las Vegas Sands property. He also has Delmonico’s Steakhouse at the Venetian and Table 10 at Palazzo on the Strip.

Lagasse said his relationship with Las Vegas Sands has flourished because he has faith in the company and the people he works with there.

“They are good people, and good operators — that’s the thing, they are quality, great operators,” Lagasse said. “I love (Sands Bethlehem casino president) Bob DeSalvio, I love Rob Goldstein (president of Venetian Las Vegas). They are just great guys.”

Lagasse was on hand to oversee the opening of his latest project and cook a little (actually a lot). He also occasionally wandered out into the restaurant to check on his guests, to the delight of onlookers who crowded the area outside of the booked-up restaurant hoping to catch a glimpse of him.

When Las Vegas Sands first approached Lagasse about opening a restaurant in Bethlehem, he was hesitant for a few reasons.

He had never opened a restaurant in the Northeast, despite growing up in Massachusetts, and he did not immediately grasp the whole casino-on-steel-mill-grounds concept. Las Vegas Sands was also pushing for a Delmonico’s Steakhouse and Lagasse was not crazy about that idea.

“I didn’t really want to do a cookie-cutter thing, but I told them I would give them a steak concept, like a chop house, and I think people would get it,” Lagasse said. “That way we could do seafood and New Orleans and local.”

The penchant for local fare surprised the Las Vegas Sands people, but Lagasse had some connections that they were unaware of. He was familiar with the agricultural history of the region from his Discovery Communications show, “Emeril Green,” and had even had an area farmer on the show as a guest.

The opportunity to explore new restaurant concepts and Las Vegas Sands’ long-term commitment to the region finally won Lagasse over.

“I had a sort of agricultural connection to the area, so I came back and spent some time with the team,” Lagasse said. “You know, they are going to spend $800 million here — that’s a lot of jack. That’s the reason why I’m here.”

While some chefs find a concept that works and stick with it, Lagasse prefers to give each restaurant a unique identity.

In Las Vegas, for example, he has Emeril’s New Orleans Fish House at MGM Grand, in addition to Delmonico’s, which has more of an upscale steakhouse feel, and Table 10 celebrates Lagasse’s history in the restaurant business.

Named after the spot where he sat at his original New Orleans restaurant and planned for the future, Table 10 incorporates many of the concepts Lagasse has developed in his 35-year career, which began in a vocational school culinary arts program.

Despite the current economic woes of both Las Vegas and Las Vegas Sands, Lagasse is bullish on his projects here and his relationship with the gaming company.

“I know who’s behind the wheels (at Las Vegas Sands) and I have confidence in them,” Lagasse said. “Everything is suffering in this economy. I believe in those guys and, at the end of the day, they do as good a job as any, if not better, and their values are in place with where mine lie.”

Now 49 (he’ll be 50 in October), Lagasse talks about slowing down, but just keeps adding more projects.

He plans to add a burger bar, another new concept, to Sands Bethlehem when it expands later this year and has his eye on another spot in Las Vegas, which he hopes to announce soon.

While there has been almost no buzz about a new Lagasse restaurant in town, if Emeril says he has a spot in mind, you can make book on it.

Since 2002, Lagasse has also focused much of his energy on The Emeril Lagasse Foundation.

Based on the core values of the hospitality business — education, mentorship, passion, creativity, self-discipline and pride — the foundation was formed to improve the quality of young people’s lives and is the culmination of a lifelong dream for Lagasse.

“The foundation is doing great,” Lagasse said. “That’s really what it’s all about.”

The foundation utilizes partnerships, special events and individual and corporate donations to grant funds to children’s organizations that have a culinary or educational component.

Its primary fundraising event, the Carnival du Vin, will take place in Las Vegas at the Venetian in November.

Last year the event took place in New Orleans and took in $1.7 million, bringing the total raised by the wine auctions to more than $8 million since 2005.

Mark Hansel covers retail and marketing for In Business Las Vegas and its sister publication, the Las Vegas Sun. He can be reached at 259-4069 or at [email protected].