Central's Bar offers specialty drinks and people watching!

With the opening of Central Michel Richard at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas’ already vibrant social scene just became a whole lot brighter. With a wraparound, double-sided white onyx bar open onto the resort’s bustling hotel lobby, Central’s bar offers an incomparable people-watching vantage point. Most importantly, guests will delight in its extraordinary menu of lively libations—from a selection of specialty beers never before offered in the United States to creative cocktails, an expansive wine list and extensive roster of bourbons and whiskeys.

Patrons will discover Innis & Gunn Original, a rum cask beer from Edinburgh, Scotland, offered for the very first time on draught in the United States. This brew is golden honey in color, punctuated by mouth-watering vanilla and toffee notes with hints of fruit.  Other acclaimed beers offered on tap at Central including Chimay Cinq-Cents, Delirium Tremens, Old Speckled Hen, Newcastle, Kronenbourg, Stella Artois, Guinness, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, Fat Tire and Miller Lite.

Central’s outstanding collection of bottled beers includes many Belgian (Hoegaarden, Piraat, Westmalle) and Dutch (Duvel, Gulden Draak, La Trappe) brews not commonly found in the United States. Other notable bottles include the Australian Coopers Ale and the American PranQster, as well as several other European, Mexican and American brews. Prices for beer at Central range from $7 to $14.

On Central’s imaginative cocktail menu, fresh fruit takes center stage:

1. Muddled blueberries in the Bluberry Blitz, which blends Stoli Bluberry Vodka with lemon juice, Champagne and simple syrup
2. Drunken cranberries in the Halcyon Cosmo, a concoction of Grey Goose Le Citron, Cointreau, lime juice and white cranberry juice
3. Fresh grapefruit juice and a grapefruit twist in the Gladiator Potion, a mix of Aperol, Boodles Gin, sweet vermouth and peach bitters
4. Brandy-soaked cherries in Sweet Magic, a blend of Hendrick’s Gin, orange juice, Pernod and grenadine.
5. Strawberries in the Strawberry Basil Mojito, a fusion of Bacardi Rum, basil club soda, lime juice and simple syrup

 Other cocktail selections include the Cucumber Mint Gimlet (Plymouth Gin, Yellow Chartreuse, lime juice, simple syrup, muddled cucumber and mint), Pear Sangria (pear nectar, dry Riesling, Cruzan Single Barrel Rum, Cointreau) and the Brittany Bulleit (Bulleit Bourbon, Champagne, orange juice, lemon juice, simple syrup). Cocktail prices range from $12 to $15.

It takes a vast wine list to encompass the hundreds of vintages housed in Central’s two, spectacular glass wine rooms, which flank the bar. Twenty-four wines by the glass are offered, including sparkling, red, white and rosé varieties, as well as the Domaine Bzikot “Michel Richard Selection” Bourgogne Blanc Chardonnay. Wines by the glass are priced from $9 to $29.

Whiskey aficionados will revel in Central’s substantial offerings, including 19 whiskeys, 21 Kentucky-straight bourbons, 23 single-malt scotches and six blended scotch varieties. Prices for a single range from $9 (Jim Beam, Johnnie Walker Red) to $162 (Macallan 30-year single-malt).

Central Michel Richard at Caesars Palace debuted this September.  The menu reflects Richard’s signature American cuisine crafted with a French accent.  Just like the menu and décor inside and out, the experience is unpretentious yet imaginative.

The total 300-capacity restaurant is located in the area previously occupied by the Augustus Café, adjacent to Caesars Palace’s bustling registration lobby.  This prime location at the Strip-facing main entrance of the hotel allows for guests to park in the hotel's main valet and go directly into the restaurant.

 

Central is Caesars Palace's only location to be open 24 hours a day, seven days per week.

For more information, go to www.centralLV.com or call (702) 650-5921.  Find Central Michel Richard at Caesars Palace on Facebook or Twitter (handle: @centralLV).

ABOUT MICHEL RICHARD

Michel Richard exemplifies the art of cuisine and a love of his profession.  Richard was a pioneer in French/California cuisine before moving to Washington, D.C., where Michel Richard Citronelle became his flagship restaurant.  Richard's creativity can be seen in prestigious culinary publications such as Food & Wine, Food Arts and Bon Appétit.  Chosen by the James Beard Foundation as Outstanding Chef 2007, Richard also won the James Beard Foundation Award for Outstanding Wine Service at Citronelle the same year and his second book, “Happy in the Kitchen” published by Artisan, won a James Beard Nomination.  To rave reviews, and the 2008 James Beard Award for Best New Restaurant, he opened Central Michel Richard, which continues to be a highlight of the Washington, D.C. restaurant scene.  Constantly engaged in something new, Michel, a modern French restaurant, opened at The Ritz-Carlton, Tysons Corner in fall 2010.

ABOUT CAESARS PALACE

Reigning in the heart of the Las Vegas Strip, Caesars Palace is the world's best known resort-casino, celebrating the grandeur that was Rome in an 85-acre destination location that sets the standard for entertainment, dining and luxury. Ranking among the world's top luxury resorts Caesars Palace features 3,300 hotel guest rooms and suites, 23 diverse restaurants and cafes, five-acre Garden of the Gods pools and gardens, 50,000 square foot Qua Baths & Spa and 300,000 square feet of premium meeting and convention space. The 4,300-seat Colosseum sits just steps from celebrity chef restaurants and the acclaimed Forum Shops at Caesars and spotlights world class entertainers such as Celine Dion, Jerry Seinfeld, Rod Stewart (returning in August 2011), Elton John (returning in September 2011) and Shania Twain (beginning December 2012).

Caesars Palace, along with all Caesars Entertainment Las Vegas resorts, including Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino, Paris Las Vegas, Flamingo Las Vegas, Harrah’s, Bally’s, Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino, Imperial Palace and Bill’s Gamblin’ Hall & Saloon, proudly prohibit adding hidden resort fees to hotel guest room rates. Find Caesars Palace on Facebook and follow on Twitter.