A food hall full of famous restaurants debuts on the Las Vegas Strip
And another food hall hits a Las Vegas casino.
This time, it’s Via Via, which debuted Monday off the barrel-vaulted Grand Colonnade at The Venetian. The food hall draws together the culinary cultures of New York City, New Orleans, Los Angeles and beyond with seven announced purveyors:
■ All’Antico Vinaio. This Florentine sandwich shop, sometimes called the best in the world, is famed for layering schiacciata, the chewy Tuscan flatbread, with meats, cheeses, vegetables, truffle cream or onion porcini cream, basil and arugula. All’Antico debuted an outpost in the UnCommons development in southwest Vegas last year.
■ B.S. Taqueria. Chef Ray Garcia founded the original taqueria, now closed, in Los Angeles. He also opened a Vegas location in the now-shuttered Sundry food hall at UnCommons. This time around, look for chorizo, chile-rubbed pastor and carnitas tacos on freshly pressed heirloom corn tortillas. Garcia also created ¡Viva! restaurant in Resorts World.
■ Close Company. The founders of Death & Co. bar, a leader in the modern cocktail movement, bring Close Company to the food hall. Vegas marks the West Coast debut of the bar.
■ Howlin’ Ray’s. Nashville hot chicken heat comes by way of Los Angeles with Howlin’ Ray’s. Chef Johnny Ray Zone and his wife, Amanda Chapman, launched the original L.A. shop in 2015. There’s also a location in Pasadena, California. Heat levels range from country (no heat) to howlin’ (can’t touch this, 10++).
■ Ivan Ramen. Ivan Orkin opened two successful ramen shops in Tokyo, a notable accomplishment for a foreigner (he was born on Long Island). Orkin later expanded to New York City, with a residency in the U.K. earlier this year. Besides acclaimed ramen, the menu features playful takes on izakaya (Japanese tavern) dishes.
■ Scarr’s Pizza. Scarr Pimentel launched this pizzeria in 2016 in New York City. Some of the flour for pizza crusts is milled at this restaurant. In New York, Scarr’s offers Sicilian pizzas, grandma pizzas and pies by the slice and round.
■ Turkey and the Wolf. Chef Mason Hereford, a James Beard Award nominee and New York Times bestselling author, has landed with his New Orleans restaurant. Bon Appétit named that counter service spot as the best new U.S. restaurant of 2017 and by Food & Wine and Esquire as one of the most important restaurants of the decade. The menu showcases dishes like an empanada stuffed with chicken pot pie and served with tarragon buttermilk.
Via Via joins at least five other food halls (plus one ahead) that have opened at properties on and off the Strip in the past three years, continuing a Vegas trend. Via Via is part of The Venetian’s $1.5 billion reinvestment project.
Contact Johnathan L. Wright at jwright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @JLWTaste on Instagram.
