Seems Gordon Ramsay might have one less reason to get all red in the face. Plans for his upcoming Las Vegas eatery (Gordon Ramsay Steak, in the Paris casino) seem to be going well. Not only is there buzz around this opening, still slated for a spring launch, but this will be his first U.S. restaurant to get the techy treatment: There will be 20 Apple iPads used as interactive wine lists. Loaded with an app called SmartCellar, the tablets will offer wine and spirits information as well as help with food pairings.

Of course, I couldn’t see a Michelin-starred chef firing his sommelier, so this is probably more of an extra that’s designed to give patrons a modern experience while deflecting questions like, “Does white zinfandel go with sea bass?” and other horrors.

I love seeing restaurants embrace tablets. It makes a lot of sense, since menus/wine lists can change frequently. And if customers can use them to enhance their experience, then it’s all the better.

Have you dined in any restaurants that used iPads or other mobile tablets/interactive gadgets? What did they use it for, and did it add anything to your experience there? Weigh in.

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GORDON RAMSAY STEAK AT PARIS LAS VEGAS TO BECOME HIS FIRST

U.S. RESTAURANT TO OFFER SMARTCELLAR, INCENTIENT’S

WIRELESS, IPAD WINE LISTS

 
LAS VEGAS (May 2012) – This spring, Michelin Star Chef Gordon Ramsay opens his brand-new Gordon Ramsay Steak – his first Las Vegas restaurant located in the heart of the picturesque Paris Las Vegas resort.  As with Chef Ramsay’s U.K. restaurants already utilizing SmartCellar including Bread Street Kitchen; Maze; Maze Grill and Gordon Ramsay at Claridge’s, this newest hotspot will be his first U.S. restaurant to offer the easy-to-navigate, touch screen system developed by Incentient and delivered via an Apple iPad™.  With SmartCellar, restaurant menus are brought to life for customers in a compelling, interactive format using proprietary software offering the opportunity for boundless content delivery and customization.
At Gordon Ramsay Steak, guests will be able to peruse the restaurant’s vast wine and spirits collection at the touch of a fingertip with SmartCellar.  New functionalities including menus will be rolled out later in the year.  The new restaurant will have 20 iPads.
“We congratulate Chef Ramsay on this most recent addition to his incomparable, worldwide restaurant empire,” says Patrick J. Martucci, chairman and CEO, Incentient.  “Of course, we’re gratified by his continued satisfaction the SmartCellar system and pleased to see it debut in yet another Gordon Ramsay establishment.”
Added Ramsay, “There’s no better way to enrich our patrons’ visit to our restaurants than by offering the attractive, fully interactive and completely irresistible SmartCellar.  Give them one of these iPads and they instantly become more knowledgeable about their selections and more engaged in their entire epicurean experience.”
Gordon Ramsay Steak will be a fresh, high-energy dining environment that playfully transports guests from Paris to London.  Set within the Paris casino, which is whimsically modeled after the “City of Lights,” the restaurant design will celebrate Chef Ramsay and the city of London, where he lives.  This innovative concept will reflect edgy, exciting and bold designs and will bridge the resort’s Parisian theme with Ramsay’s British heritage.  A prefect synergy as Ramsay’s early education took place in the Paris kitchens of famous Michelin Star Chefs such as Guy Savoy and Joël Robuchon.  San Francisco based EDG Interior Architecture + Design, which previously created designs for Rao’s and Bradley Ogden restaurants at Caesars Palace, will spearhead the design.
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