After years of speculation and months of build-out, retail at CityCenter is finally opening up. (Some now, some in a couple weeks.) We stopped by yesterday to get the latest.
Inside CityCenter's new Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steakhouse, we snapped Del Frisco's Restaurant Group CEO Mark Mednansky, up from Texas to see the final construction work and opening next Friday. Mark tells us he first scouted the location seven years ago and had a handshake agreement with developer Hines to open up a restaurant here. (Del Frisco's Restaurant Group is rumored to be spending $10M on the build-out.) Mark says $1M worth of high-end wine will be brought in, and close attention was paid to design elements like the shelves behind him (set up for bar storage) and other features like floor-to-ceiling windows.
Here's the steakhouse's upstairs dining room, where we snapped Mark going over some final details with executive chef Scott Kroener and corporate executive chef Thomas Dritsas. To the right, the kitchen is open to the dining floor to expose patrons to the frenzy. It's a big space—a little under 18,000 SF across three floors—and there's a large private dining area on the ground floor for covert meetings for those Washington power players or high-profile CityCenter condo residents. But overall, Mark says the layout aims to be as inclusive as possible: "You can still be elegant and refined without being stuffy."
A few retailers have beat Del Frisco's to the punch, like Burberry, which recently opened its doors. The English retailer has set up shop on the New York Ave side of CityCenter, moving here after years on Connecticut Ave. Hugo Boss, Kate Spade, Tumi, Longchamp, and Allen Edmonds are also open, and star chef Daniel Boulud's DBGB Kitchen & Bar on CityCenter's H Street side will open soon as well.
Luxury shoppers—rejoice: Ferragamo is readying an opening on CityCenter's H Street side...
...while Hermes teases you by giftwrapping its storefront right behind Del Frisco's in CityCenter's courtyard. Also slated to open soon: suit master Paul Stuart, food spots Mango Tree, Momofuku, Raresweets, Dolcezza, and French retailer Zadig & Voltaire.
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