Who’s behind it: Celebrated chef John Fraser—best known for veggie-forward, Mediterranean-inspired dishes—has arrived in Boston with beef on his mind at the newly opened Vermilion Club. Fraser’s collection of Wine Spectator Restaurant Award winners spans the country, from Ardor in Los Angeles to North Fork Table and Inn on New York’s Long Island. Vermilion Club is the first Beantown restaurant from Fraser and his JF Restaurants group.
The location: The new chop house is a focal point of Winthrop Center, a residential and commercial skyscraper in Boston’s Financial District, completed in late 2023. On the ground floor, Fraser has taken the reins of the Lineup, Winthrop Center’s food hall featuring a coffee shop and bakery, a burger joint, a pizzeria and a mini, mezze-only, fast-casual version of Best of Award of Excellence winner Iris in New York.
When it opened: June 11, 2024
The culinary approach: At Vermilion Club, Fraser is embracing steak-house fare, with his own Italian American touches. Diners can start with Fraser’s robust raw bar program and seafood snacks like chilled lobster cocktail with crème frâiche, steamed PEI mussels with pink peppercorn butter, and broiled clams topped with oregano-laced breadcrumbs. Staple steak-house appetizers and side dishes get twists, including the “Bourdain-style” beef tartare accented with Cognac and the tower of Caesar salad served with everything bagel crumble and mustard-marinated anchovies.
For the main event, Fraser has curated a selection of cuts from Idaho’s Snake River Farms and Kansas’ Creekstone Farms, ranging from an 8-ounce “butcher steak” to a 36-ounce prime porterhouse. All steaks can be prepped three ways: natural, Montreal spiced or “smothered.” Other entrees include roasted Dover sole with a beet-pineapple relish, a half-chicken with hazelnut romesco and the veal chop “pizzaiola,” topped like a pizza with mozzarella, marinara and coins of spicy soppressata. Guests wanting to up the ante on a decadent evening can look to the “Splurge” section, which features a foie gras “Boston cream pie” and snow-aged Wagyu.
The cocktail program: “We started this project dreaming big thoughts like ‘What if we had this binder full of all of the best cocktails?’” said JF Restaurants beverage director Amy Racine. “We then designed it after a Betty Crocker cookbook, with tabs, because of how large it became.”
More than 70 classic cocktails and variations fill the drinks menu, with a wide selection of little-seen sips like “the Japanese cocktail,” made with Cognac, amaretto and bitters, and the Clover Club, made with the Botanist gin, dry vermouth, raspberry and lemon. The menu is organized by base alcohol, from vodka drinks to wine and beer cocktails.
“Each category should feel like its own menu; so beyond the diversity in flavor profile or style, we wanted to have some fun with the recognizable versus the forgotten,” said Racine. “I'd like each guest to read each page and recognize most of the cocktails; then we sprinkled in a few twists to those or a few cocktails we found buried in old dusty cocktail books they may have never heard of.”
What’s on the wine list: Racine’s goal was to build a cohesive wine program as strong as the cocktail menu. With a little under 150 bottles, Racine’s list balances classic “chop-house bottles” (like Barolo from Piedmont’s Giuseppe Rinaldi and Cabernet from Napa’s Promontory) with off-the-beaten-path bottles suited for the raw bar, like Muscadet and Portuguese Alvarinho. “I hope to accomplish changing the landscape of chop-house wine lists in an approachable manner, bringing something new and delicious to the table,” said Racine. “It doesn’t all need to be big names and big price tags.”
The space: The restaurant’s name comes from the ruby-red glass sculpture (called the Vermillion Fiori) by Dale Chihuly that floats above the bar in the center of the dining room. The space was designed in a sultry style by architect Thomas Jull-Hansen to harken back to the golden age of steak houses, mixing oak and leather elements with gold tones.—Julia Larson
The Capital Grille Opens a New Location in Columbus, Ohio
Who’s behind it: Opening on the heels of new sibling outposts in Southlake, Texas, and Fort Myers, Florida, the new Capital Grille in Columbus, Ohio, joins more than 60 Wine Spectator Restaurant Award–winning steak houses known for their fine American cuisine and serious wine programs.
The Capital Grille is part of the Darden Restaurants, Inc., portfolio, which also includes Restaurant Award–winning Ruth’s Chris Steak House, Seasons 52 and Eddie V’s Prime Seafood restaurants. Overseeing the new steak house is managing partner Joffrey Reece, who started his career with the Capital Grille as a server at the Philadelphia location 10 years ago. “I am excited about bringing the Capital Grille’s culture to Columbus and becoming a part of this vibrant community,” said Reece.
When it opened: July 28, 2024
What’s on the wine list: Each Capital Grille location tailors its wine list to the local clientele, with a range of bottles from across the globe. “We offer a wide array of crisp, aromatic white wines to pair with our numerous seafood offerings. When it comes to dry-aged steaks, Cabernet and proprietary reds from California are the preference for many of our guests,” Reece told Wine Spectator.
With more than 200 selections, representing a 2,500-bottle inventory, there are many pairings for guests to make, whether they’re enjoying steaks or getting creative with seafood or vegetarian dishes. Reece highlights offerings such as Antinori’s famed super Tuscan Tignanello and Guigal’s Côte-Rôtie Brune et Blonde. Fans of California stalwarts can look to Pinot Noirs from Etude, Brewer-Clifton and Gary Farrell, as well as Cabernets from Inglenook, Ramey, Chateau Montelena and more. As at other locations, private wine lockers are available for collectors to lease.
The culinary approach: Except for special off-menu items that vary by restaurant and season, the steak-focused menu is consistent across the Capital Grille locations, all notable for their in-house dry-aging programs. Cuts include a bone-in New York strip, a bone-in rib eye, a filet mignon and more, all hand-carved daily by an on-site butcher.—Kenny Martin
Bellagio Las Vegas Is Giving Prime Steakhouse a New Look
Who’s behind it: The Bellagio Las Vegas team has announced it will be reimagining its Prime Steakhouse, which is headed by renowned chef and restaurateur Jean-Georges Vongerichten. The resort is primarily redesigning Prime’s dining room and updating its menu.
Open on the Strip since 1998, the restaurant has been a Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence winner for 21 years. Its menu offers classic steak-house fare, including shrimp cocktail with wasabi cocktail sauce, prime and A5 Wagyu steaks off the grill, sides and sauces, and its wine list features approximately 350 selections, with strengths in California and France’s Burgundy and Bordeaux.
Prime is one of nine Restaurant Award winners at Bellagio. The hotel is also home to Grand Award winner Picasso, which is set to close Aug. 16, as well as award winners Jasmine, Lago by Julian Serrano, Le Cirque, the Mayfair Supper Club, Michael Mina, Spago by Wolfgang Puck and Harvest.
When it’s happening: In its current location, Prime’s final day of service will be Sept. 2. Afterward, the restaurant’s kitchen and front-of-house teams will move into the space currently occupied by Picasso. The reimagining is set to finish in November, when Prime will return to its original location overlooking Bellagio’s lake.
“It’s an exciting time for me, as a chef, to carry Prime’s legacy into the future,” Vongerichten said in a statement. “This reimagination of Prime is a testament to Bellagio’s ongoing commitment to investing in its culinary portfolio … [as] they continue to elevate the standards of fine dining.”
What will change: Prime’s chocolate brown and robin egg blue decor will be “reconceptualized.” However, the Bellagio team has yet to disclose more specific details about the remodel. In a statement, Bellagio hotel executives said they will share additional information in the coming months, elaborating on the new modernist design, renovation completion date, menu enhancements and the future of the Picasso space beyond Prime’s time there.—Chris Cardoso
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