Vegas Chefs Partner to Fight Hunger During Restaurant Week

Robert Doyle READ TIME: 4 MIN.

LAS VEGAS, Nevada - Celebrating its fifth year, Las Vegas Restaurant Week returns to provide tourists and locals the unique opportunity to affordably dine at some of Caesars Entertainment's most popular restaurants while also helping to end hunger in the valley.

This year, in honor of its fifth year, Restaurant Week will extend to two-weeks, starting August 29 and running through September 11. Thirteen restaurants at various Caesars Entertainment resorts have prepared specially designed menus at a discounted price. Guests taking advantage of the Restaurant Week menus will also be fighting hunger as a portion of the proceeds from each designated menu sold will be contributed to the Three Square Food Bank.

For every $1 raised, Three Square provides three meals for hungry children and elderly persons in Southern Nevada. In addition, all 13 participating Caesars Entertainment restaurants have pledged to donate $5 from every meal purchase during this two-week period, meaning guests contribute 15 meals to those in need each time they select a Restaurant Week menu.

All participating restaurants will feature a minimum of a three-course menu priced at $20.11, $30.11 or $50.11 per person. A selection of restaurants participating include:

Rao's at Caesars Palace has been called a "culinary national treasure," widely acclaimed for its authentic, southern Neapolitan Italian cooking and its home-style family ambiance. The dinner menu features three courses for $50.11, and includes a choice from their famous selection of Penne Vodka, Uncle Vincent's Lemon Chicken and Pan-seared Salmon.

Payard P�tisserie & Bistro, the creation of award-winning Pastry Chef, Fran�ois Payard, is offering a three-course lunch and a four course dinner, both with the rare added value of delicious wine pairings, featuring Lobster Sliders served with Mango and Fennel Pollen Aioli, Onion Soup and a choice of either Pan-Seared Mediterranean Sea Bass or Filet Mignon au Poivre with Peppercorn Sauce and Gratin Dauphinois. At the great price of $30.11 for lunch and $50.11 for dinner, guests are in for a treat at this Caesars Palace bistro.

Serendipity 3, one of New York City's most beloved eateries with more than 50 years of history, offers a one-of-a-kind dining experience at Caesars Palace with over-the-top desserts and a variety of savory creations that makes it a haven of comfort food. This year, the restaurant is stepping up its commitment to fight hunger by offering menus for all meals of the day.

To start, the restaurant is highlighting its brand new breakfast featuring a Mixed Berry Smoothie and a list of eye-popping entr�e choices, such as the Frrrozen Hot Chocolate French Toast triple stacked with strawberries or the Holy Huevos Rancheros with chorizo, black beans, tomatillo avocado salsa, queso fresco, pico de gallo and three over-easy eggs piled high with tostados. Topping all that off for a breakfast at only $20.11 is the world-famous Frrrozen Hot Chocolate with a Cheesecake Lollipop.

Other participating Caesars Palace restaurants include Empress Court, Hyakumi Restaurant and Sushi Bar, Beijing Noodle #9, featuring a rare poached or Fried Prawn appetizer served with lettuce wrap; and Mesa Grill, highlighting their unique Yucatan Style Grouper served with blue crab succotash sauce. Rounding out the exceptional list is the Eiffel Tower Restaurant at Paris Las Vegas; Steakhouse at Bill's; The Range Steakhouse, Toby Keith's I Love This Bar & Grill and Kerry's Gourmet Burgers at Harrah's and Martorano's at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino.

Governed by a corporate Code of Commitment, Caesars Entertainment is dedicated to investing in the local community to help make it a healthy and vibrant place to live and work. In addition to Restaurant Week, all ten Caesars Entertainment Las Vegas resorts showed their continuous support of Three Square in July by hosting an internal food drive. Employees collected almost 3,000 pounds of food for the charity, equating to more than 2,200 meals for the 300,000 Southern Nevadans currently struggling with hunger.

Las Vegas Restaurant Week began in 2007 as a way to give locals and tourists the opportunity to help out by dining out. The two week-long celebration of fine dining includes more than 80 participating restaurants, from popular mid-level eateries to the city's premier and celebrity-chef restaurants, all offering pre-fixe meals at special prices. Proceeds from Restaurant Week benefit Three Square Food Bank, established to end hunger in Southern Nevada.

A national model project inspired by Eric Hilton with a grant provided by the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, Three Square is a community collaborative partnership with the gaming industry, businesses, non-profit agencies, food distributors, UNLV, the CCSD, governmental entities, the media and hundreds of volunteers to efficiently and effectively serve hope to those in our community struggling with hunger.

Three Square currently provides 17 million pounds of food - the equivalent of 13 million meals - per year to more than 300 non-profit and faith-based organizations, 200 schools and multiple food service sites throughout Southern Nevada. Three Square is a member of the Feeding America network of food banks. www.threesquare.org

For the full list of Restaurant Week participants and menu specifics, visit http://www.helpoutdineoutlv.org/restaurants/menus


by Robert Doyle

Long-term New Yorkers, Mark and Robert have also lived in San Francisco, Boston, Provincetown, D.C., Miami Beach and the south of France. The recipient of fellowships at MacDowell, Yaddo, and Blue Mountain Center, Mark is a PhD in American history and literature, as well as the author of the novels Wolfchild and My Hawaiian Penthouse. Robert is the producer of the documentary We Are All Children of God. Their work has appeared in numerous publications, as well as at : www.mrny.com.

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