Sarah Feldberg
This month, a handful of lucky diners will have the chance to experience a Japanese feast cooked just for them by celebrity chef Nobu Matsuhisa. Dubbed the “ultimate omakase,” the dinner is part of the Master Series at Vegas Uncork’d and one of the kickoff events for the culinary festival’s 10th anniversary edition. Tickets to dinner with Nobu cost $1,000 per person and proceeds are going to charity. The event is capped at eight seats.
“It’s a multi-course experience with Nobu right there. You’re sitting with him as he makes your meal,” said Cathy Tull, senior vice president of marketing for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA). “That’s what makes Uncork’d so unique and special.”
The festival, which is presented by Bon Appetit, launched in 2006 as a smaller event. “It was really about setting Vegas apart as a culinary destination, which we had not been,” recalled Tull. The festival served as a marketing tool, a way to show that there was more to Vegas dining than buffets and comped steaks.
That first year Uncork’d had 2,358 attendees, and while the event has certainly grown, maintaining a sense of intimacy has been a focus for the LVCVA. Last year, an estimated 5,325 people attended the festival, with that number almost evenly divided between tourists and locals.
“We’ve had that conversation: Should it get bigger? Should it be more people?” said Tull. “We’ve always come back to no.”
The largest event every year is the appropriately named Grand Tasting, which takes place at the Garden of the Gods pool complex at Caesars Palace. The expansive space is lined with booths offering bites from more than 50 chefs and restaurants. This year, Guy Savoy, Gordon Ramsay, Mary Sue Milliken and Giada de Laurentiis will all be on hand, serving tasty nibbles and chatting up fans. Cocktail stations and wine booths ensure that everyone leaves properly soused as well as totally stuffed.
Tull points to the interaction between the A-list chefs and attendees. “At some other events, you can’t get anywhere near the chefs,” she said. “If the festival was any larger, you wouldn’t be able to have those experiences.”
To keep things fresh amid an entertainment landscape crowded with food-focused events and festivals, Tull said the LVCVA works with participating Strip properties and the Bon Appetit team to program the event. They try to spotlight what’s new and happening, whether that’s a recently opened restaurant or a culinary trend.
Upscale Chinese spot Mr. Chow, which debuted at Caesars in December, is hosting a Master Series dinner, and cocktail royalty Salvatore Calabrese is hosting a mixology class at the Cromwell. Uncork’d is also leaving the Strip for the first time this spring, heading downtown for a roving food tour led by a Bon Appetit editor and hosting a casual dine-around inside the outdoor Container Park on Fremont Street. In another new spin, chef Michael Mina, who has a hefty lineup of restaurants on the Strip, is ditching his own kitchens for a collaborative lunch of alternating courses inside beloved vintage steakhouse the Golden Steer.
Ten years after launching, Vegas Uncork’d no longer has to brand Las Vegas as a culinary destination. The city is one, and unequivocally so. Today, Uncork’d is more about celebrating the bounty within a few short miles, highlighting what’s new and enjoying what’s delicious.