Atlantic City's Gamble: Can it Draw Top Chefs for Eateries? With Bobby Flay, Wolfgang Puck in the Borgata, Can Other Casinos Continue Trend? By JANET FRANKSTON LORIN Feb. 28, 2008
ATLANTIC CITY With promises of new billion dollar developments and glitz, Atlantic City hopes to build its food pedigree to lure visitors who aren't solely attracted by gambling.
Las Vegas has demonstrated that fine food will entice visitors to a gambling mecca, and Atlantic City hopes to follow the same model.
"It's a huge part of the experience," said Kevin DeSanctis, CEO of Revel Entertainment Group, which recently unveiled plans for a $2 billion twin-tower casino to open in 2010 in Atlantic City. "After gambling, food is the number one reason people would come to our place."
If Atlantic City wants to elevate its dining choices, it must continue bringing better restaurants as Las Vegas did, said Bobby Flay, a popular Food Network celebrity chef with restaurants in New York, Las Vegas and since last year, Atlantic City, with Bobby Flay Steak at the Borgata Hotel Casino.
"I think that there's definitely a trend in better food," he said. "What's really interesting is that Vegas has taken a lot of their gambling dollars and shifted to them to entertainment and dining."
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