We Had a Great Party at Bobby Flay's Gato to Kick Off Vegas Uncork'd
Last night, Bon Appétit joined forces with chef Bobby Flay at his soon-to-open restaurant Gato to kick off Vegas Uncork'd, our can't-miss food festival coming to Sin City May 8–11. We got down with the likes of Mario Batali, Giada De Laurentiis, and more in Flay's beautiful, soaring space, the perfect place for a celebration—as Flay's business partner Laurence Kretchmer puts it, it has "old New York bones." We made the most of the night, catching up with chefs like Aaron Sanchez, Anne Burrell, and Todd English, just for starters; enjoying a sneak peek at Gato's Mediterranean-inspired "olive oil cuisine"; and spending some quality time in the photo booth. What happens in Vegas stays there, so can you blame us for wanting to begin the party here in NYC?
Carly Otness/BFAnyc.com1/14Gato
It took Bobby Flay's business partner, Laurence Kretchmer, five years to find the perfect space for Gato. The floor in the lounge comes from the Mondrian in L.A.; the wood on the walls is reclaimed from old New York water towers; and the steel columns are all original: "I love when people say to me, 'Did you put those there?' I'm like, 'What's wrong with you? They're holding up the building.' The building's 100 years old, so we took this space and built a restaurant inside of it, made to look like it was always there."
Carly Otness/BFAnyc.com2/14Bobby Flay
Flay's secret ingredient? "Anchovies. They're the bacon of the sea. It's got that flavor that people love—as long as they don't know it's in there."
Carly Otness/BFAnyc.com3/14Bobby Flay and the Gato team
Flay and his team had only been in the kitchen for five days, and as he says, "even knowing where the salt is takes time." But the man is a pro, and the snacks flowed smoothly all night.
Carly Otness/BFAnyc.com4/14Giada De Laurentiis
How Giada gets through the stress of opening a restaurant: "Face-timing with my husband and my daughter. Yoga. Manicures. Baths whenever I can get them. And deep breathing."
Carly Otness/BFAnyc5/14Geoffrey Zakarian, Adam Rapoport, Jaret Keller, Aarón Sanchez
Aarón Sanchez on building a staff for his soon-to-open restaurant Alegre: "The cool thing about being on TV is you get a lot of candidates. 85 percent of them suck. They all want to be effin' movie stars. I just want good cooks."
Carly Otness/BFAnyc.com6/14The cocktails of the night
To celebrate, the Gato team served plenty of bubbly (including a nice sparkling rosato number) prepared two cocktails: the Paco, made with Ketel One Vodka, blood orange juice, and cava; and red rioja pomegranate sangria they called the Bolo.
Carly Otness/BFAnyc.com7/14Stephanie March and Bobby Flay
How does Bobby use his cooking skills to win over his beautiful wife, actress Stephanie March? "He makes biscuits and gravy in the morning when he really wants to get on my good side," she says, "and it's quite yummy."
Carly Otness/BFAnyc.com8/14Todd English, Geoffrey Zakarian, Anne Burrell
Why Anne Burrell has good vibes toward Vegas: "My friend and I had $129 worth of chips between the two of us. We walk by a roulette table. We put all of our money on no. 17 [their combined birthdays divided by two] and we hit it! We won $4,500. I was like, 'No way!' I took all the money, I put it in my pocket, and we left."
Carly Otness/BFAnyc.com9/14Giada De Laurentiis and BA publisher Pamela Drucker Mann
When De Laurentiis opens her new Las Vegas restaurant, Giada, she'll be the first female chef with a restaurant on the Strip: "It's a boys' club out there. I feel like I'm sort of breaking ground for women. But I do think there's a big female clientele in Vegas that isn't being catered to."
Carly Otness/BFAnyc.com10/14Mario Batali and Bobby Flay
Just two friends, shootin' the breeze in the kitchen.
Carly Otness/BFAnyc.com11/14Mussel and Razor Clam Salad
Food-mosphere
Carly Otness/BFAnyc.com12/14Editor in Chief Adam Rapoport and Gato co-owner Laurence Kretchmer
Two dudes in nice suits.
Carly Otness/BFAnyc.com13/14Drew Nieporent and Markus Glocker
Bobby Flay wasn't the only one gearing up for an opening. Drew Nieporent and chef Markus Glocker are behind Bâtard, set to open this spring.
Carly Otness/BFAnyc.com14/14Calling all chefs (and chiefs)!
Jonathan Waxman, Francois Payard, Aarón Sanchez, Adam Rapoport, Giada De Laurentiis, Pamela Drucker Mann, Drew Nieporent, and Ed Schoenfeld gather for a photo op.
