ROBERT DENIRO OPENS HIS NEW AGO RESTAURANT AT THE HARD ROCK HOTEL
When superstar actor Robert DeNiro filmed Casino here 12-years ago, he admits he moaned about the lack of good food and great restaurants and vowed one day he’d solve that problem and open his own hotspots. That promise finally came full-circle last night! It was a rush same-day round-trip from New York for the movie star when he joined chef-partner Agostino Sciandri to officially open their new restaurant, Ago at the Hard Rock Hotel.
DeNiro has invested in many restaurants around the globe—from San Francisco to New York, from London to Tokyo—and developed much of the downtown Tribeca area of Manhattan.
He and his other chef partner, Nobu Matsuhisa own more than 15 Japanese restaurants. Nobu jetted in from Los Angeles to join in the fun along with boxer Mike Tyson in a natty blue bowler.
Magician Seigfried Fischbacher and moto-cross stunt star Carey Hart, who is opening his Wasted Space nightclub at the Hard Rock in June. Also attending the festivities were TV comedy actor Bob Saget, newly-signed Flamingo magician Nathan Burton, and singer Mary Wilson of the Supremes. On hand also—a high-powered group of Hollywood movie tycoons!
DeNiro’s new Ago coincides with the 10th anniversary of their original landmark Ago in Los Angeles. This is the first new restaurant at the Hard Rock in five years and already has played host to a slew of celebrities including Jason Giambi, Vince Neil, Richie Sambora, John Mayer and Lenny Kravitz. DeNiro has another Ago in Miami and will open the New York AGO later this month!
Said Agostino: “This is such an exciting time for Vegas dining and we’re happy to be a part of it. Diners here will get what they expect from all of our AGO restaurants—good food in a good environment. It’s that simple and we’ve been successful with that authentic straight forward Tuscan-style Italian fare of light and simple cooking with signature dishes.”
I asked the 65-year-old Oscar winning method actor (he has been nominated for 34 different awards, winning 24 of them) if he’d had a secret hankering all these years to be a chef or a restaurant owner rather than a movie star.
DeNiro, who stayed in my former home on Jumby Bay Island in the Caribbean for Christmas and New Years and dined in my ex girlfriend’s ocean-front Antigua restaurant there, told me: “I have so many restaurants now, I don’t even know how many. We have over 15 Nobu restaurants, and now four Agos, but I’m not a frustrated chef or a frustrated restaurant owner. I just like it. It rounds out the fun part of life in investing in them.”
I then asked if he were forced to choose between his love of Japanese and Italian restaurants, which food would get priority. “I think they are both very similar in some ways,” he replied. “Totally different cultures, obviously, but actually I heard there are 30 something words that have same pronunciation in both languages. I don’t know if they have the same meaning, but similar, and both have to do with food. Both cuisines are so popular in America and around the world. I eat out quite often, so this was a natural.”
“You know back in 1995 when I was doing Casino here, there weren’t many good restaurants. Wolfgang Puck had only been here four-years then and the other chefs hadn’t followed him in yet. It’s totally changed now. Wolfgang pioneered it and then his friend, Nobu. When I was doing Casino I told Nobu we had to do a restaurant here. Now we have good restaurants all over the place in Vegas and Agostino is a great guy and a wonderful chef. He and I just had to open here, too, and now I have two restaurants in the same hotel right opposite each other. A 12-year dream has finally come true.”