She spent time at Valentino Cucina in Fort Lauderdale.įood options - 19 in all including a new “beach bar” by the lagoon and food service at the new poker room - will be scattered around the property, evenly spaced around the older side and the new side. “Those guys together are incredible talents, we wanted to give them the opportunity to create something from the ground up and have that control,” Wyborn says.Įxecutive chefs at the new restaurants have some impressive resumes, including Abiaka’s Abelardo “Tito” Vargas, who spent the last decade working for Jose Andres’ restaurant group, including at Bazaar at the SLS Hotel in Miami Beach, and Cipresso’s Tram Vu.

Becker started as executive chef of Kuro, the upscale Japanese-sushi restaurant that opened at the Hard Rock in 2015 and will remain unchanged in its current location, near the old pool and hotel. If a restaurant wants to add a dish or tweak a concept, it will not involve a back-and-forth between various ownership and management groups.Ĭouncil Oak Steak & Seafood moves to a new location at Seminole Hard Rock Casino and Hotel after spending two years in a ballroom.ĭining operations will be overseen by Becker and director of culinary Robert Ciborowski, a chef who joined the Hard Rock after a stint with Walt Disney World’s Swan Resort. Wyborn says the resort decided to eschew brand names because it meant greater creative and operational control. And there will be no bold-face names such as music stars Gloria and Emilio Estefan, who operated an outpost of Bongos Cuban restaurant at the old Hard Rock, or local celebrity chef Steve Martorano, who says he couldn’t agree to terms to bring another Cafe Martorano to the property. Unlike at the Paradise Shops, the razed dining and entertainment complex that last occupied this ground (2005-2017), this time there will be no chains such as Hooters, Johnny Rockets and Ben & Jerry’s. This will be a rebirth and renewal for the property, one that the tribe will operate nearly all on its own. “After that, that’s it,” says Justin Wyborn, vice president of food and beverage for the Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood. Bae is expected to open in November and will be operated by Bol Hospitality, the same outfit that runs the resort’s Bol Asian restaurant (which recently expanded and revamped). The name comes from the Korean word for Asian pear, a fruit of prosperity, representatives explain. On the way: Bae Korean Grill, a Korean barbecue restaurant that will feature do-it-yourself, live-fire cooking and hood vents over most tables.

Hard rock casino food