Emeril’s Italian Table
theMOOD Chef Emeril Lagasse’s first-ever Italian restaurant incorporates several settings in one venue. At the awning-bedecked entrance, a café-style bar overlooks the casino floor; a middle section featuring a pizza station and antipasto bar offers a lively bistro atmosphere and cozy booths, and a large round dining room lies at the rear of the casual, family-friendly eatery. Weathered beams reclaimed from a Lehigh Valley barn and rustic stone columns bring Tuscan-farmhouse warmth to the contemporary space.
theDISH Homey Italian-inspired fare ranges from house-made pastas and wood-burning oven pizza to hearty meatballs and premise-made gelato. Seasonal menu tweaks by Chef de Cuisine Tony Page deliver fresh and exciting flavors, such as crispy calamari, which arrives daily from Point Judith in Rhode Island. The heart of the restaurant, though, is the glass-fronted antipasti bar where guests can watch chefs in action they slice imported and domestic cheeses and salumi–cured Italian meats such as pancetta, mortadella and soppressata–and dish up such delicacies as marinated peppers, olives and artichokes, and the highly popular poached yellowfin tuna appetizer.
theGLASS A thematic wine list that encompasses up to 100 selections from every wine-producing region of Italy focuses on good value, and exclusive house wines are crafted by noted winemaker Jim Clendenen. Well stocked with apertivo and disgestivo spirits, from amari to grappa, the bar provides a splash of Italy with traditional cocktails like the Negroni and Berlioni.
theINSIDE SCOOP The original menu of Italian dishes, including chicken and veal parmigiana as well as a roasted whole fish of the day, is now complemented by a fresh take on Italian classics including, rigatoni pasta norma with crispy eggplant, saltimbocca and marsala. There are also creative panini and sandwich options available for lunch, and a pizza di giorno is offered every day.
