After hosting several food TV shows, penning lifestyle and cookery books and a stint as a caterer, popular celebrity chef Giada De Laurentiis has opened the doors to her first brick and mortar restaurant in Las Vegas.
Giada opened this week at The Cromwell Las Vegas, billed as the first boutique hotel on the Strip, where diners tuck into homestyle, Italian fare like lemon spaghetti, roasted chicken cacciatore-style, chicken Marsala meatballs, a bone-in Tuscan ribeye and lemon ricotta cookies — foods that reflect her Roman and Californian heritage.
“When guests come to Giada, I want them to feel like they are coming to my house for dinner,” said De Laurentiis.
“All the details of the restaurant are near and dear to my heart. My family was a big inspiration and you can see their influence in the art, decor and dishes.”
The restaurant is located on the second floor of the hotel and can accommodate 300 diners in the dining room, lounge and terrace, with views of iconic sites like the Bellagio fountains and Caesars Palace.
Opened this spring, The Cromwell is a $185 million renovation of Bill’s Gamblin’ Hall & Saloon, with 188 rooms and suites, a 40,000 square-foot casino and a nightclub.
Caesars Entertainment Corporation, which owns The Cromwell, is fond of tapping popular US food TV celebrities to develop their restaurants.
In addition to De Laurentiis, the company also enlisted Guy Fieri to open a restaurant at the Quad Resort & Casino and recently announced three more projects with the star of “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” in Atlantic City, Baltimore and Laughlin, Nevada.