When Hell’s Kitchen opened a little more than a year ago at Caesars Palace, it was to great fanfare and months of solid bookings from fans eager to see the physical incarnation of the show they loved, with red and blue kitchens front of the dining room. Little has changed since then—the beef Wellington and sticky toffee pudding are still the two most popular dishes served and when Gordon Ramsay enters the house, he commands attention.
During his anniversary celebration at the restaurant, the chef paid homage to his mentor, Guy Savoy, and gave props to three winners of Hell’s Kitchen, season 18’s Ariel Fox, season 17 winner and Hell's Kitchen head chef Michelle Tribble, and season 10 winner and Gordon Ramsay Group U.S. division executive chef Christina Wilson. Ramsay had big news for the celebs and notables gathered—Hell’s Kitchen will film its 19th and 20th seasons in Las Vegas.
The menus for the restaurant basically stay the same for the average diner, and that’s very good news for fans of the food and the chef. One of the most popular drinks here is the Notes From Gordon. The delicious gin-based cocktail also features green tea, lemongrass, peach and lemon, and is delivered with a scroll containing a pithy piece of wisdom issued on the show by the chef, like “There is more smoke in this kitchen than in Snoop Dogg’s tour bus.” Another worthy favorite is Smoke on the Blvd, with rye, Aperol, vermouth and amaro (the presentation is very cool).
Scallops are stand-out appetizers, as well as Iberico ham on flatbread. And the beet salad is darned tasty. Although menus at Vegas restaurants change seasonally, Ramsay’s beef Wellington will keep on keeping on. It’s a beautiful bundle of pastry and tender meat with potato purée—and if you’re a vegetarian, count yourself lucky, because the restaurant also serves an incredible vegetarian Wellington, with layers of mushroom, quinoa and veggies pressed into the pastry. But you don’t have to have the Wellington—crispy skin salmon earns raves, too, and if you need that filet mignon or New York strip, it’s here. Caesar salad makes a light option; add grilled chicken or shrimp for protein. Adding wild mushrooms as a side will have you happy.
And although Ramsay’s beef Wellington is definitely a star in any of his restaurants, so, too, is the sticky toffee pudding. This signature dessert is something guests can’t seem to get enough of—in the first year that Hell’s Kitchen was open in Las Vegas, more than 135,000 of them were served. The dish is super moist, served with Speculoos ice cream to cut the richness of the sauce. For a visually entrancing dish, order pineapple carpaccio, which comes out seemingly “smoking.”
Better make your next reservations now!
Caesars Palace, 11 a.m.-midnight daily. 702.731.7373
