Rosemary’s Restaurant, open since 1999, closes doors
Rosemary's Restaurant, a longtime haunt of local Las Vegas gourmets, closed Wednesday.
The upscale restaurant at 8125 W. Sahara Ave. was opened in 1999 by chefs Michael and Wendy Jordan, who both came to Las Vegas to work for famed chef Emeril Lagasse at his Emeril's New Orleans Fish House at the MGM Grand.
Rosemary's featured gourmet American food -- think scallops, risotto and foie gras.
Wendy Jordan is also a chef instructor at Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Las Vegas, and the duo's recipes have been included in the James Beard Foundation's collection. The two also have a published a cookbook, "Food of Love," that includes recipes and stories from their time at the helm of Rosemary's. The book centers around French-inspired American dishes with influences from New Orleans.
Neither of the Jordans could be reached for comment Wednesday.
The closure follows closely on the demise of nearby Nora's Wine Bar & Osteria, at 1031 S. Rampart Blvd., which had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization on May 13.
Owners Marcello and Giovanni Mauro said Nora's business dropped 30 percent from the past year. Nora's Cuisine on West Flamingo Road, owned by other members of the Mauro family, was not affected by the closure.
"I'm very sorry to hear that those two restaurants are closed," said John Arena, co-owner of Metro Pizza. "It has been a real challenge for high-end restaurants."
Arena said that competition from celebrity chef-led restaurants on the Strip may have contributed to the two high-end restaurants' demise.
"It has become very, very challenging for restaurants like Rosemary's or Nora's to compete simply because they don't have the star power," Arena said.
The Metro Pizza owner also said that local restaurants with higher price points are having trouble bouncing back from the economic downturn because people aren't willing to splurge on food as they once did.
Contact reporter Laura Emerson at lemerson@lvbusinesspress.com or 702-380-4588.
