From a casual lunch-truck approach to modern Mexican to the finest in French-inspired cuisine, Revel will have the entire dining spectrum covered.
Michel Richard
ATLANTIC CITY — Despite our early spring date, and extraordinarily warm weather, there’s a Christmas Eve feel in the air around Atlantic City.
For food folks, at least, counting with eager anticipation the precious few days until Revel Casino provides our region with an exciting array of new dining options. Leading the charge is Philadelphia’s Jose Garces — with versions of flagship facility Amada, Village Whiskey and Distrito Cantina — expanding his culinary empire eastward.
Amada, described as “Andalusian tapas” will, like its Philly brethren, focus on earthy Mediterranean flavors. Items like chorizo and clams, crab-stuffed piquillo peppers or baby squid grilled and garnished with a sort of deconstructed chimichurri, lemon, garlic and parsley.
For the adventurous, Amada suggests cochinillo asado: whole suckling pig brined and slow-roasted for 36 hours. Be forewarned; bring friends and pre-order in advance. Village Whiskey, open in Philly since 2009, serves casual, tavern fare like burgers, oysters, duck fat French fries and pickled truffle/lemon artichokes.
Along with an extensive selection — more than 80 kinds — of the eponymous beverage, in bourbon, scotch and rye formats.
Distrito Cantina will present a casual, street truck-style approach to modern Mexican. Described as a “take out window inspired by the uber-popular Guapos Taco Truck in Philly” their bill of fare includes favorites like tacos, guac and chips, enchiladas and seviche. Which brings us to a triad of restaurants from NYC’s LDV Hospitality Group.
American Cut will fill the requisite steak house slot at Revel. A native New Yorker with deep family roots in the industry, Marc Forgione is also the youngest American-born chef to earn a prestigious Michelin star in three consecutive years (2010-2012) for his namesake facility Restaurant Marc Forgione.
Recruited by legendary French chef Laurent Tourondel to open his seminal BLT Prime steak house in New York, Forgione went on to help develop the BLT brand across the country. Worth noting: BLT Prime received the highest ranking — 27 out of a possible 30 —of any steak house in New York history from Zagat.
Insider Tip: Wondering about the name “American Cut?” It’s homage to Forgione’s chef father, Larry, whose own iconic restaurant was called “An American Place.” Oh, and by the way, Forgione has been an alumnus of Food Network’s Iron Chef America since winning that yearly competition in 2010.
Azure by Allegretti brings a unique cooking style — coastal cuisine of the French/Italian Riviera — to southern New Jersey shores. Headed by Alain Allegretti, a native of chic resort town Nice, Azure will blend views of the Atlantic outside with those of an exhibition kitchen within.
Diners should expect traditional fare like oysters and whole grilled or roasted fish, much of it sourced locally, filtered through Allegretti’s French technique and Italian heritage.
Lugo, the second LDV operation, will serve Italian comfort classics — house-made pasta, mozzarella, and meatballs — in a café environment. Heartier fare too, like steaks and chops, including the classic double-cut porterhouse, steak Fiorentina.
Open for lunch and dinner, Lugo is the second outpost of New York’s Lugo Caffe.
Since opening just over a year ago, Revel has certainly faced more than its fair share of hardship. One undeniable fact though, the shimmering building with the globe on top has brought a dazzling collection of gastronomic options to the area, including star chef concepts from the likes of Marc Forgione, Jose Garces, Luke Palladino, Alain Allegretti and Robert Wiedmaier.
Jose Garces’ Distrito Cantina brings his Philly-based Guapos Tacos food truck concept to Revel
Tis the season to be drinking seasonal beers and enjoying hearty fare, and Revel is on board with its “Oktoberfeast 2012” scheduled for Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 19-21.
Native to the Pacific coast Mexican resort community of Puerto Escondido, Eulogio has been working professionally in kitchens in the Atlantic City area since arriving 14 years ago.
Revel, the glittering jewel at the north end of the Atlantic City Boardwalk, has had a rough beginning on the gaming side of the ledger since it opened in late spring. However, on the entertainment side, it has delivered positive vibrations and national headlines.
"Each night when we do live music we turn the lights down around 10pm and it turns into a really fun rock ‘n’ roll vibe. It’s a great interactive environment.”
Although designed with chic, urbane sensibility, One is decidedly not a triumph of form over function. Our meal supplied sophisticated, upscale New American, emphasizing grilled fare.
Atlantic City’s newest casino may have ranked eighth out of the 12 in terms of gaming revenue in May and June, but gaming was from the start only part of the total package the property proposed to bring to an Atlantic City entertainment environment yearning to become more diversified.
Amazingly, Atlantic City’s golden age of dining just keeps getting better.
Revel has released a behind-the-scenes video on the making of Beyonce's "Back to Business" show, which will be the singer's first performance since giving birth in early January.
Plus Clam-A-Rama in Cape May, Drew Toonz and the Album of the Week (Willie Nelson)
On this evening, Azure offered East Coast varietal Wellfleet and another from Washington state. The Wellfleet’s were dense, meaty and creamy while their Pacific relatives, smaller but deeply cupped in shells, offered a smooth, salty hint of their briny home.
Mitch Gorshin’s arrival in Atlantic City nearly two years ago could probably be summed up with the most quoted line from author Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”
The catalyst behind Revel’s ambitious nightlife and entertainment options is the Las Vegas-based Angel Management Group (AMG), which brings three unique nightlife concepts to the property and southern New Jersey.
ATLANTIC CITY — The pulse of Atlantic City's heartbeat just got a jump-start. History was made on Monday, April 2, as Revel, Atlantic City's 12th casino — and much, much more — officially opened its doors to the public after six years of planning, building and conceptualizing. The energy inside and outside the sprawling property was palpable all day and into the night as guests marveled at the beautifully designed areas inside the state's second tallest building. Revel executives and staffers also celebrated — albeit a little on the tired side after a long day's (not to mention months' and years') work — and agreed it was a very exciting day not only for Revel, but for Atlantic City and the state of New Jersey. The day started with a sunrise toast — with Revel staffers and CEO Kevin DeSanctis on hand — and from then on people and more people flooded in and out of Atlantic City's latest attraction, several of them guests staying at the new resort during its preview period, which will lead up to the official Memorial Day weekend grand opening. Ivan Kane's Royal Jelly debuted its burlesque show — featuring live music and burlesque dancing — around 8pm and the...
To usher in the historic first day for Revel, the property has booked the band The Raveonettes to perform a free show at 9pm at The Social, located near Revel's imaginative casino floor.
Just as Atlantic City Weekly columnist David Spatz suggested back in February, Maroon 5 has been booked to perform at Revel’s Ovation Hall on Friday, May 18, 8pm.
Wiedmaier’s room won’t be the only place to grab a steak at Revel. Chef Marc Forgione, one of Revel’s two TV Food Network “Iron Chefs” (Philly-based Jose Garces is the other) will be opening American Cut, which he described as his spin on a “classic steakhouse.”
"It was a little bit of a culture shock coming from Las Vegas, as you can imagine. But then when I actually spent some time [in Atlantic City] and spent some time in competitors' casinos, I was pleasantly surprised and I feel that, you know, being involved in Revel is a very exciting piece of history for Atlantic City and I think will change how people look and perceive the market."
Monday, April 2, was announced as the starting date of an eight-week preview to Atlantic City’s forthcoming $2.4-billion beachfront destination, Revel
Revel continues to back up its claim that the property will be a mega-casino complex with the announcement that Food Network Iron Chef Jose Garces, acclaimed chef and owner of eight restaurants in Philadelphia, and four more in Chicago and Scottsdale, Ariz. is set to open the doors to three highly anticipated restaurants at Revel.
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1. larry said... on Mar 29, 2012 at 05:18PM
“Although I am looking forward to this line-up of new places to try, I would hardly describe it as covering the "entire dining spectrum." In this day and age it is somewhat shocking that not a single Asian concept is included inthe offerings. No sushi or other japanese food or chinese, korean, thai, vietnamese or indian.”
2. Christopher M Hammer said... on Mar 30, 2012 at 01:26PM
“Larry... remember this is the 'soft opening' and the above represent LESS than HALF of all the culinary offerings that Revel will have. Trust and believe they're not going to leave ANY Asian restaurant offerings out... I can't wait for Mussel Bar!”
3. JO BUDKA said... on Apr 5, 2012 at 02:37PM
“wILL BE THERE BE A BUFFET AT THE LEVEL”