Zagat on Flagships and Las Vegas

By JULIETTE ROSSANT Maybe I've missed this in the past, but in the latest (current) Zagat survey of Las Vegas, two questions are posed: How do you think celebrity chefs' Las Vegas restaurants compare in quality to their fl agship restaurants? They are better Just as good as their flagship restaurant Not as good Do you prefer to dine at a celebrity chef's Las Vegas outpost or at a local chef's restaurant? Local chef's restaurant Celebrity chef's restaurant I did a double-take as I read those questions, since I raised the very same last year in Super Chef (see pp. 23, 66-68, 104-105, 163-165, 198-200, 211-212 -- and pp. 85-86 for quotes from Tim Zagat). I'd like to be able to say that Zagat's idea for these questions came directly from Super Chef; short of that, however, these are certainly important questions to the industry, and not only for Las Vegas. I would like to rephrase the questions, as posed by Zagat: As a chef's restaurant develops into the flagship for one of many, how do they maintain the same quality at all outlets (the bar set at the very opposite end of the Dining spectrum by the likes of McDonald's)? How do chef "chains" like Spago impact local fine dining restaurants: do they raise the bar on the locals and improve dining; do they just push out the locals with their better known, national names; or do they lose out to locals? Could any of your please reply with comments here? Previous articles: Applause for Gamal Aziz and Tom Kaplan Profile: Rick Moonen in Las Vegas Merry Christmas, Michael Mina The Rise of Restaurant Michael Mina Technorati Tags: chefs food restaurants cooking branding Las Vegas --> back to superchefblog