Opening: Fontainebleau Restaurants
The Fontainebleau Hotel has re-opened in all of its renovated glory with seven restaurants for your dining pleasure. Only five — Gotham Steak, Scarpetta, Vida, Solo and Fresh — are currently open; the first two officially open tonight, while the other three have been serving customers since Friday. La Cote, a French Mediterranean restaurant, is due December 20, and Hakkasan, with an upscale Chinese theme, won't be open until the new year.
The fact that Alfred Portale — who's a great chef and has done wonderful things with Gotham Bar & Grill — has opened a restaurant in South Florida is exciting, except it'd be nice if the theme weren't so steak-focused. Seriously, how many more steakhouses can this area support? Especially in a recession. Anyway, the food, mostly steakhouse standards, will likely be great.
Scarpetta is the product of another New York City chef, Scott Conant, who is known for his seasonally-inspired and elegant Italian food. The restaurant has yet to send over a menu, but we're told it will look a lot like that of the original Scarpetta in Manhattan. If the food in the new location is as good as New York MenuPages reviewers say it is, then we're in for a treat.
Fontainebleau Hotel [Official Site]
Gotham Steak [MenuPages]
Fresh [MenuPages]
