Photo: Olivia Jane Design; Daniel Zuchnik/Getty Images
The Food Network star is set to open a new restaurant inside Las Vegas' Caesars Palace in late 2023. Flay, whoopened Amalfi with Caesarsin 2021, is now introducing Brasserie B, a French-inspired eatery.
The celebrity chef is no stranger to the rich traditions of European food — he was trained at the French Culinary Institute. He tells PEOPLE in an exclusive interview that his “technique has been French since day one.”
“I’ve spent tons of time in Paris. And when I go to Paris, I don’t go to three star Michelin restaurants and have a 10-course meal. I love going to brasseries and bistros because that’s the energy that I like to experience. And that’s the energy that I want to exude in this place,” he says.
In one word, he describes Brasserie B as “timeless.”
When it comes to the menu he’s currently developing, one thing is for certain: there will belotsofFrench fries.
“One of the things that makes people smile mostly about good brasseries are French fries. So classically, there’s steak frites, which is steak and French fries, which is probably one of the most classic dishes of any brasserie,” he says. “We’re going to have basically an entire section of the kitchen dedicated to making Parisian-style French fries in the classic way because they literally take two days to make from scratch.”
Olivia Jane Design
Even more, Flay says that there will be an “entire section of things that come with fries” on the menu — from different cuts of steak to mussels, pork chops, lamb chops and more. “We’re going to make the best French fries in Las Vegas. In some ways, it’s like you’re going to order the fries to have with steak,” he adds.
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“It’s going to have a lot of energy to it,” he says of the interior. “There’ll be those classic maroon leather banquettes that brasseries are known for. And to me, that’s one of the things that signifies that you’re in a classic brasserie. It’s like those oxblood red banquettes that just says, “Okay, I’m in a brasserie.”
Even the lighting is meant to evoke the City of Love. “We’re going to have an amazing golden glow to the room based on how we’re painting the walls and the ceilings and the lighting. So everybody’s going to look like they have the best spray tan in their life,” he jokes.
christina perez/instagram
Flay turned to his girlfriend,Christina Pérez, when it came to many decisions involved in the project.
“Christina has spectacular style and she’s one of these people that just gets it. She understands style and class and if something doesn’t seem right to her, she’ll tell me,” says Flay of Pérez, who hefirst went public with in November 2021.
“Christina’s definitely one of the first people that gets a peek at anything that I do in terms of a new restaurant, whether it’s the decor — she has a lot to say about that for sure — and of course, the menu. She loves that,” he adds.
The chef, who also helmed the now-closed Mesa Grill, says his eateries — past and present— always have one unifying theme.
“Every restaurant I have, I find the chili peppers of that particular place,” he says. “Obviously Mesa Grill, you would take the Poblanos and the Chipotles and things like that because of its Southwestern and Mexican origin. At Amalfi, I reached for Calabrian chilies from the south of Italy.
“In this restaurant, I’m going to use things like Espelette and Aleppo peppers — peppers from the Mediterranean and from North Africa,” he adds.
At Brasserie B, he promises the same level of “unexpected” flavors he delivers at all of his establishments.
“We want your taste buds to pop. The one thing about my restaurants is if you’re looking for bland food,” he says, “you’re in the wrong place.”
source: people.com
