Sartiano’s Italian Steakhouse will have its grand opening on The Wynn Las Vegas Wednesday, March 4, and Bond Hospitality founder Scott Sartiano knows this is a big undertaking. The Las Vegas restaurant is a more nutritious and over-the-top version of the original This is Sartiano’s place at The Mercer in New York.
Sartiano’s Italian Steakhouse will be adjacent to the members’ club Zero Bondwhere Sartiano will host a special grand opening event on Saturday, March 7. There will be much more to be revealed soon about Zero Bond, including an incredible art collection, extensive food and beverage menus and a private casino, but Sartiano is taking things in a moment as he sets the highest expectations for himself and his team.
“We want this to be the best thing people have ever seen,” Sartiano told the Observer. “We’re not just trying to open a restaurant or a members’ club. I really want to make the whole place a work of art.”
At Sartiano’s Italian Steakhouse, culinary director Alfred Portale and chef Michael Rubinstein showcase the finest dishes from New York Sartiano’s while adding sumptuous seafood towers and luxurious meat carts of great cuts to be cut tableside.
“We’re in Las Vegas and, according to the presentation, we wanted to build a theater into a restaurant,” Portale tells the Observer.
Most meals at Sartiano’s Italian Steakhouse will undoubtedly start with the caviar cannolis that Sartiano is known for in New York.
“When I first tasted it, I said, ‘We’re going to sell a thousand of these a night in Las Vegas,'” Rubinstein told the Observer. “It’s the perfect caviar car. It’s charming, it’s festive, and it’s just delicious.”
During its preview and soft opening, Sartiano’s Italian Steakhouse saw a huge demand for caviar cannolis.
“We have tables for them to order so they can get a good meal and order another round of dessert,” Rubinstein said.
Sartiano’s Italian Steakhouse and Zero Bond share a kitchen, and Wynn buys the high-quality seafood served at both locations. Tuna, for example, can be used for Sartiano’s Seafood Plateau and sushi at Zero Bond. And Sartiano, Portale and Rubinstein all say that what sets Wynn apart from other places is his desire and ability to bring the best ingredients from around the world.
“I never had to ask Wynn for anything,” Sartiano said. “They get the best out of everything. It’s allowed us to be more creative. There’s never been a time when I’ve had to ask for more. I think every day you’re not trying to do better, you’re doing worse. We’re always trying to make it better, and Wynn really gives you the best fabric in the world.”
Todd-Avery Lenahan, president and chief creative officer of Wynn Design & Development, collaborated with Tihany Design principal Alessia Genova on the design of the modern Milanese building for Sartiano’s Italian Steakhouse, featuring arched ceilings and terrazzo floors. The restaurant, overlooking the Wynn Golf Club, adds to the attraction.
For Sartiano and his team, this restaurant is about heritage and history. The seafood towers are unique to Las Vegas, but there is an important part that nods to Portale’s glorious past. Each platter features a seafood salad (with grilled shrimp, grilled calamari and green avocado) Portale first served at New York’s famous Gotham Bar & Grill. These seafood towers include East Coast and West Coast oysters, shrimp cocktail, lobster, king crab, clams Calabrese and caviar-topped toro.
Other new offerings include a tableside presentation of fettuccine Alfredo. This is an elaborate riff on the original version of fettuccine Alfredo from Rome Alfredo and Scrofa. Sartiano’s Italian Steakhouse is custom built a guéridon with a burner underneath. The pasta, made with 40 egg yolks per kilogram of flour, is tossed with Parmigiano-Reggiano, burro di bufala (Italian buffalo milk butter) and fresh black truffle.
The steak program will also feature surprising tableside offerings, such as a 40-ounce Snake River Farms wagyu porterhouse that is dusted with porcini powder and covered in tallow before being aged for two weeks. Each porterhouse is slowly fried after being wrapped in peppercorns, herbs, garlic and dried chiles.
“That comes off the cart, then it’s sliced ​​tableside and served with oxtail, porcini and black truffle ragu,” says Rubinstein. “That’s a really special steak that’s kind of our biggest show in the area here.”
Portale and Rubinstein also spent a lot of time working on the vegetables as Sartiano leaned on its identity as a Las Vegas steakhouse. So guests can order a side dish with grilled asparagus and creamed Tuscan kale and butternut squash gnocchi al forno with Yukon Gold potato purée.
This is the ultimate Italian steakhouse package where you can start with steak tartare and ricotta-stuffed pork and beef meatballs before indulging in Double R Ranch and Schuyler Ranch steaks alongside Dover sole piccata and veal chop Parm.
“I think the sky’s the limit,” Portale said when asked about his long-term ambitions for Sartiano’s Italian Steakhouse. “Once we start moving forward, we’ll be adding tableside presentations and a seasonally changing menu with a series of specials. We have a lot of resources here. We want to have the consistency of the quality of food that we’re known for in New York, and we’re going to build on that.”
Sartiano’s Italian Steakhouse, located at 3131 Las Vegas Blvd. S, Las Vegas, NV 89109, will be open for dinner Wednesday through Sunday.
