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Gordon Ramsay at the Snow Patrol concert at Boulevard Pool in the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas on Saturday, May 12, 2012.
Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2012 | 12:27 p.m.
If you thought chef Gordon Ramsay delivered the ultimate knockout punch with his first Strip venue -- Gordon Ramsay Steak at the Paris -- think again. We’re revealing that his Gordon Ramsay Pub & Grill at Caesars Palace is set to soft open Dec. 10 as the ultimate haymaker.
Bold, brave, unique, extraordinarily sassy and sexy, the gastropub dazzles even during construction. With only nine weeks until the first diners, Vegas DeLuxe has learned some of its incredible secrets.
We’re speculating -- but on knowledgeable grounds -- that it won’t just be the amazing restaurant designs of its different dining areas or the two new expanded and unexpected London pub street scene patios that delight. One will be onto the casino floor behind historic columns, metal fences and bollards, all with an Underground feel. It’s a sight to dazzle the senses and will become the hottest holiday venue on the Strip.
It will match -- perhaps exceed -- the already amazing demand for Caesars’ new $17 million Bacchanal Buffet, where lines stretch in threes as diners wait an hour or longer to get one of the 600 seats at the dining emporium. Already crowned top buffet in Las Vegas by USA Today, it features nine global kitchens with more than 500 never-ending (well, from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.) menu items.
Back to Gordon’s gastropub: Wait till the fashion show of staff uniforms from Hollywood costume designer Allison Leach -- no relation -- go on parade two weeks ahead of the opening. Fans of National Finals Rodeo will even be distracted from the excitement of stomping bulls at the Thomas & Mack.
Bacchanal Buffet at Caesars Palace
The “Mad Men” designer who stunned with her outfits, including a dagger in the garter belt, for Gordon’s debut in Las Vegas is going one step farther for his gastropub. Allison isn’t holding back on her sexy treatment of innovative nostalgia.
Call it Carnaby Street flash, London sass or Twickenham tart in a play on pies and naughty ladies, all with a very smart Savile Row-tailored elegant edginess. The ladies will wear sexy lingerie waist-cinchers and scandalous London tabloid newspaper headlines and stories overprinted on various materials. The bareback of the checkered living art dresses is (modestly) revealing.
You are going to fall in love with the logo that will be plastered discreetly everywhere: It’s Gordon’s actual British bulldog Rumpole (named after the U.K. TV series of a barrister in the Old Bailey top court of the British Empire) daubed in Union Jack colors.
You will be dazzled by the psychedelic, striped London taxicab. You will be bowled over by the traditional U.K. red phone booths hanging over the Telephone Bar with more than 40 worldwide beers -- not just British pints -- and also served at the Atlas Bar.
Additionally, the former Bradley Ogden restaurant space has been transformed into different rooms with Carnaby Street stripes leading to walls of metal barrels that steer diners to the Stripe Lounge, the Skyline Room and the Buckingham Room sectors. There’s a super-private, high-roller, eight-seat VIP dining area. Photographs of my old London hometown skyline and other English capital tourist sights are prominent.
Gordon will play hide-and-seek with diners, allowing them to track down the Royal Family crowns that have been hidden into the furnishings. The Scottish-born superstar chef will be in Las Vegas for the opening week of gastropub, which will coincide with the debut of Las Vegas Food University. We’re expecting full details of that addition to the culinary scene next week.
Critics are already betting the bank that Gordon Ramsay Pub & Grill will be the hottest new restaurant opening of the year with lines of cheery customers. Next up for Gordon: his burgeoning Burger Bar at Planet Hollywood in 2013.
Robin Leach has been a journalist for more than 50 years and has spent the past decade giving readers the inside scoop on Las Vegas, the world’s premier platinum playground.
Follow Robin Leach on Twitter at Twitter.com/Robin_Leach.
Follow Vegas DeLuxe on Twitter at Twitter.com/vegasdeluxe.
Follow VDLX Editor Don Chareunsy on Twitter at Twitter.com/VDLXEditorDon.
Transport yourself to the opulent and excessive Roman Empire at Caesars Palace. But the ever-changing Caesars Palace is far from ancient. The hotel and casino is constantly raising the bar for what visitors can expect in a Vegas resort experience.
Caesars Palace features 3,348 rooms and suites in five towers, including the new luxury boutique Nobu Hotel and Restaurant, which opened Feb. 4, 2013, in the totally remodeled Centurian Tower. Caesars features 129,000 square feet of gaming space, including the Strip’s largest poker room and a 250-seat sports book. Other amenities include about two dozen restaurants, a four-level shopping mall, four pools, a spa, Pure and Poetry nightclubs and Pussycat Dolls.
Dining options include restaurants from world-renown chefs Guy Savoy, Wolfgang Puck, Bobby Flay, Gordon Ramsay and, on Feb. 4, 2013, Nobu Matsuhisa.
You never know what characters you’ll run into at Caesars with regular performers like Jerry Seinfeld, Bette Midler, Elton John and maybe even the emperor himself.
The buffet at Caesars is excellent. Waited 45 minutes a few ago and it was well worth it. Excellent and fresh seafood. Presentation and service was top notch. Just hope that they do not corners in six months. Gorden Ramsey's new place will most likely be very expensive with small portions which is typical of his places.