Carversticone of the best and most vibrant steakhouses on the Las Vegas Strip, will make it New York debut When it opens on West 48th Street on Friday, March 20.
Like the original Las Vegas, New York location It will feature branded dry-aged tomahawk fish, Wagyu cheesesteak bites, ice-cold martinis, and personalized “Choose Your Weapon” boxes with a variety of steak knives. But there will be plenty of new offerings as Sean Christie, CEO of Carver Road Hospitality, considers how to balance the glamor of Las Vegas with the refinement of New York and bring his theatrical sensibility to the Theater District.
Instead of the caviar poppers that Carferstick serves in Las Vegas, Executive Chef Daniel Ontiveros will serve caviar and potato popsicles that are a playful nod to McDonald’s differently shaped fries. Other new dishes at Carversteak in New York include short rib croquettes, French onion short rib croquettes, and lobster rigatoni alla vodka. Famed mixologist Francesco Lafranconi, who demonstrated a martini cart and spritz bar at Carverstic in Las Vegas, will have a martini freezer bar and old-fashioned cart in New York.
For Christie, who was a longtime Las Vegas hospitality executive with a focus on nightlife and entertainment before starting Carver Road, the goal is to turn dinner into a spectacle that can, and should, be the main event on any given night.
“At the end of my tenure at Wynn and the beginning of my tenure at MGM, the nightlife was evolving,” Christie tells the Observer. “And for myself, I like to socialize and go out, but I like to do it in a much different way now. At Carver Road, our motto is ‘We sell fun’. I think restaurants have taken a bigger share of our overall social life. It was something you went to for a meal and then moved on to the next thing.”
Christy used to manage Las Vegas party places like Encore Beach Club. But for now, he wants to talk about moments like the first time he went to Torrisi and sat at the bar, or the energy he absorbed when he visited Corner store. It’s no coincidence that David Rockwell’s Rockwell Group, whose recent work includes The Corner Store, Coqodaq, and Din Tai Fung in New York, designed the 124-seat New York restaurant Carversteak at Jason Pomeranke’s Civilian Hotel.
The hotel is also home to Carver Road’s Roseville Cocktail Room and Starchild on the roof. Carversteak has taken over the space that was previously home to Rosevale Kitchen.
The Carversteak is a more comfortable location than the Carversteak at Resorts World Las Vegas, which can accommodate three times the number of guests. But Christie says it’s important to create distinctive spaces and encourage guests to return for different types of carverstic experiences in New York.
There is a front bar, dining room, lounge and private dining room complete with a martini freezer bar. Guests enter the restaurant through a gold velvet curtain. But in many ways, Christie strives for New York precision.
“Vegas, for me, has always been about this kind of thing: you go there, you take something and you blow it up,” Christie says. “You’re looking for wow and excitement. This is Las Vegas. I think for New York, we do it in a more subtle way by choosing amazing plates and tableware.”
The Carversteak team has spent a lot of time studying details like the colors of the dishes and how that complements what Ontiveros is cooking. Ontiveros, who previously worked at Joel Robuchon in Las Vegas, sources his steaks from major suppliers like Snake River Farms and Flannery Beef. Off the old-fashioned wagon, there will be tableside fun with AFLambie’s baked Alaska cart (known as Baked NYC at Carversteak) and a wine cart curated by master sommeliers Steven and Lindsay Geddes.
Christie plans to add lunch service in New York soon, and envisions different treatments for the candy cart and a Bloody Mary cart that could transform into a champagne cart. But to be clear, there are absolutely no fireworks at Carversteak, which previously served cookies with fireworks in Las Vegas, and is now fireworks-free.
“I always relate it to things like music,” Christie says. “Music is often defined by decades. I really feel like hospitality is moving so fast, and the glamor feels so 2010 to 2020 now. I feel like people are coming up with new ways to create the same feelings.”
For Christie, it’s about knowing what to get rid of and what you want to keep at all times.
“If 30 years from now everyone says they’re tired of ‘Choose Your Weapon,’ we’ll still be doing it,” Christie says of Carverstick’s dramatic steak knife display. “Because that’s who we are.”
Carverstic, located at 305 W. 48th St., New York, NY 10036, will be open Sunday through Wednesday from 5pm to 10pm and Thursday through Saturday from 5pm to 11pm
