This Just In….RM Seafood Closes Fine Dining Restaurant
This just in: RM Seafood has shuttered it’s fine dining operation for the forseeable future. ELV learned this during a panel discussion of chefs at the BITAC convention luncheon of hotel operators this afternoon at Encore. The downstairs Cafe continues to operate and is going great guns from our recent drive-bys of the place.
Rick “Sustainable Fish Man” Moonen” assures us that the upstairs, more formal operation is only on temporary hiatus until things loosen up, and he and Sobel will be pouring their hearts into the bar menu (upstairs) and keeping the Cafe humming along. (ELV regrets the wording of his original post that may have misled readers into thinking the entire operation had shut down.)
The good news is uber-chef Adam Sobel is now on board there assisting uber-uber-chef Rick Moonen in both revising the downstairs RM Cafe menu, and eventually looking to put RM (upstairs) on the Michelin map where it belongs.
The bad news is that those looking for a dose of Moonen’s finely tuned, sustainable seafood may have to wait for a while.
More later.
Restaurant reviews, quips, picks and pans-with some seriously salivating history-from the man who eats his way through Sin City every day.
February 23rd, 2009 at 7:22 pm
Wow, rm was not on my short list (and probably not any hypothetical long list either) for closing. I am genuinely surprised by this. A slightly depressing sign of the anemic times on the Strip.
February 23rd, 2009 at 8:03 pm
I’m more surprised that A-rod admitted he was on steroids!!!!
February 23rd, 2009 at 10:58 pm
Sadly, I’ve never eaten there. And it’s going to be a little while before I can get back to Las Vegas to show my support for these culinary comrades.
Hang in there, as best you can!
February 24th, 2009 at 6:42 am
rjwong, with Obama’s new economic plans, I agree with you calling everyone a “comrade”.
February 24th, 2009 at 10:36 am
Definitely get in to check out the downstairs operations. Chef Sobel is a super talented guy and of course Chef Moonen’s reputation as one of the top seafood chefs in the country is well deserved. These two working together means great things for us as consumers!
February 24th, 2009 at 11:55 am
My initial depression is tempered with Ken’s positive outlook-an outlook that I agree with. Knowing their mutual talents, Sobel and Moonen will no doubt weather through it and we’ll all benefit in the end. It’s just getting to the “end” of this mess that I hate having to wait for.
ELV please give my regards to Chef Moonen and tell him I’ll still supply him with huckleberries if he needs them for the “downstairs” menu.
February 25th, 2009 at 1:04 pm
dr we could all use a nice batch of huckleberries to get us through! :)
February 25th, 2009 at 5:36 pm
Concerned that this might be another disheartening closure of a favorite restaurant, I talked to Chef Moonen personally tonight. In his characteristically energetic fashion, he told me that he is planning on “reinventing the dining experience” of the upstairs dining room. The closure is a temporary one, not one of “doom and gloom.” Unlike many, Chef Moonen sees opportunity today in getting his message of sustainable seafood out to the public. The plan is to rework the room upstairs with a summer re-opening, and continue with the downstairs restaurant as is. In the meantime, the upstairs lounge remains open.