The State of A.C.: Can Casino Restaurants Survive the Recession?
Last week the Press of Atlantic City reported that Stephen Starr was pulling out of the Chelsea, where he opened two restaurants, steakhouse Chelsea Prime and all-day eatery Teplitzky’s, a year ago. (Reportedly, the Chelsea will retain the restaurants and the naming rights, running them in-house.) This announcement, combined with the ongoing lawsuit between Starr and The Pier at Caesars (which currently sports a Buddakan and Continental), made us wonder: If Stephen Starr can’t make it in A.C., can anyone?
It’s the question that I asked Michael Mina, who made a relatively rare excursion from Las Vegas to Sea Blue, his Borgata restaurant, last weekend. His surprised look made it clear to me that he was unaware of the Starr news. After Mina debriefed me on the situation, he said that Starr’s exit wasn’t ominous as far as he was concerned. “I think it’s primarily a question of location,” theorized Mina. “I mean, they’re where they are, and I’m in the Borgata.” The optimistic chef went on to explain that of his 16 properties from San Francisco to Vegas to D.C., Sea Blue ranks 4th in revenue production and is actually ahead of two of his four Sin City spots.
The chef was in town to do his part, namely to help acclimate his days-old executive chef Anthony Amoroso to Sea Blue and to introduce the new daily “social hour” where specialty cocktails are $8, oysters are $2, and apps like tuna tartar, hamachi poppers and mini fishwiches are between $5-$7. Hours 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Still, things aren’t exactly looking up for AC, and now that bikini season is officially over, Mina will need more than luck to hold onto those numbers. Of course, that OMG-worthy lobster pot pie gives him a slight advantage over the house.
September 15th, 2009 at 2:55 pm
I had the misfortune of staying at the Chelsea this past weekend with the expectation of something greater, and will be writing a review for our soon-to-launch site SlyMiser.com. Our experience at the Chelsea was so lackluster and fraught with mishaps that one question kept nagging me…”How could Stephen Starr have his name attached to The Chelsea? This can’t be good for his Brand.”
September 16th, 2009 at 12:26 pm
I agree 100% with Ms. Walter!!!
September 25th, 2009 at 7:01 pm
I’m gonna disagree. I thought it was awesome. I’ve stayed in both the tower and the annex. They are beautiful. In fact I am going back this weekend and could have gone anywhere as it’s off season. Oddly neither makes the case for the mishaps here. I stayed at the Chelsea over Labor day weekend, Fri $180 Sat$250 still a deal. No problems. This Sat it’s $122. Loved the diner, can’t afford Chelsea Prime.