Martha Stewart is inviting the city of Las Vegas to experience the cooking and hospitality her personal guests have come to expect when they visit her upstate New York farmhouse.
Named and designed after her actual 1925 townhouse, The Bedford by Martha Stewart is the retail business woman’s first restaurant concept and is beautifully placed in between other celebrity-owned eateries at the Paris Las Vegas hotel. The elevated and cozy 194-seat restaurant features a replica of her brown faux-bois dining room and her preferred neutral color scheme.
“This is the perfect place to book up now for rehearsal dinners before the big event,” Stewart told ET Canada at her restaurant opening.
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“My niece, Sophie, got married here. We had the best time. She has two little kids now, and she’s in her thirties and she still talks about her fabulous wedding in Las Vegas, so I hope that we’ll sometimes have little weddings here at the restaurant or at least rehearsal dinners,” she added.
While the 81-year-old lifestyle maven understands it’s “strange” to open a restaurant concept in Las Vegas during a time when the majority of her friends are retiring, Stewart notes it was just an opportunity she “couldn’t pass up.”
“It’s a rather strange time for me when most people my age are retiring to embark on a restaurant of all things, but I’ve always wanted a restaurant, and this opportunity I just couldn’t pass down,” she said. “I just love the idea. I’ve been coming to Vegas for a very long time.”
“I actually decorated the Bellagio for Christmas when the Bellagio was brand new, and I always thought this would be a great place to work,” Stewart added of her time in Sin City. “And I don’t mind a little time at the blackjack tables every now and then.”
Before the celebrations officially started over the weekend, Stewart kicked off her restaurant’s grand opening by dining with her good friend, Snoop Dogg. The dynamic duo enjoyed hors d’oeuvres, cocktails and desserts from The Bedford menu.
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“It was so great that he came to eat. We invited him and he said he would try, and he surprised us so that was so nice,” Stewart said of the first meal.
Also in attendance was her “biggest fan” and Grey’s Anatomy star Ellen Pompeo. While The Bedford by Martha Stewart opening night party was the first time the duo actually met in person, Stewart thought she was “so lovely” that she extended an invitation to her personal, private party the following night.
Noticeably absent was a date for the weekend, which Stewart notes is probably just due to being “very busy with the restaurant.”
Nonetheless, Stewart is excited for people to feel like they received a personal invitation to experience her hospitality just by simply dining at The Bedford.
“I want people to be happy, to relax, to look around and see all the beautiful things that we’ve put in the restaurant,” she said. “I’ve chosen every single item that’s in the restaurant, designed the furniture and designed the colors. It really is kind of a major replica of my own farmhouse in Bedford, New York.”
“What you’ll eat here at the restaurant are dishes that I serve at my own homes and recipes that we perfected over the years,” Stewart added. ”So you can splurge here and get very, very delicious, expensive dishes, or you can also eat very nicely and a little bit more moderately if you order some of the lesser dishes.”
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All of the ingredients on the Stewart-approved, French-inspired menu are locally sourced and served as fresh as possible. Guests will be able to enjoy her classic Nicoise salad with olive oil packed tuna and anchovy vinaigrette, Oysters Rockefeller baked with Pernod cream and finished with a crunch parsley breadcrumb topping, roast herb chicken, and “fully immersive” table side presentations such as Martha’s Smashed Baked Potato, which allows guests to learn a bit of the culinary personality’s tips and tricks to preparing a delicious side dish.
“So come on in and have a sampling of many of the good dishes,” Stewart concluded.
The restaurant will open its doors on Saturday, Aug. 13 at Paris Las Vegas. It will be open for dinner service every day from 5 to 10:30 p.m. For more information or to make a reservation, visit the Caesars website.
