Massive Palazzo Rumors Swirl: 2 Mario Batali Restaurants PLUS Star Sushi Chef, Daniel Boulud?

Big rumors are coming out of the Palazzo this morning. Apparently Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich aren't content with their empire of three restaurants in Vegas and plan to expand with two more.

"This just in: Joe Bastianich and Mario Batali soon to open 2 new concepts in the Palazzo-- one inspired by Arthur Ave. in da Bronx and another (possibly) a gastro pub...stay tuned," food blogger and restaurant critic John Curtas posted on Facebook last night.

Curtas apparently dined with Bastianich, who dished the news last night at Carnevino.

In December, Batali told Eater Vegas he was considering an indoor/outdoor venue for Eataly. "We're trying to figure out if there's a space in the Venetian/Palazzo area where we can do maybe not Eataly itself but a little Eataly," he says. He described his vision as more like his Thursday farmer's market Bet the Farm at the Springs Preserve, but on the Strip.

Curtas reports that one restaurant will be an ode to Arthur Aveneue in the Bronx while the other will be more of a gastropub. Arthur Avenue in the Bronx features an Italian-American spin on food with red sauce, big heroes and cannoli making the menu.

Bastianich and Batali already have Carnevino at the Palazzo along with Otto Enoteca at the Grand Canal Shoppes at the Venetian and B&B Ristorante at the Venetian.

But the rumors don't end there. Curtas teased that the Palazzo also plans to open two additional restaurants.

"2 other concepts coming to Palazzo: one involving a "world famous sushi chef" and (my guess) the other involving Daniel Boulud..." Curtas posted on Facebook.

On the Daniel Boulud front, Curtas writes that one of the other rumored restaurants is, "A very, very French bistro/charcuterie/brasserie concept from a very, very famous French chef who may or may not be someone we are sworn not to divulge, but whose initials are Daniel Boulud," on his Eating Las Vegas blog.

Boulud was at the Venetian and Palazzo in December, where he told Eater Vegas, "he had no plans to open a new restaurant at the Venetian and Palazzo." He does have a relationship with parent company Sands Corp. with his DB Bistro Moderne at the Marina Bay Sands Resort in Singapore.

Boulud shuttered his namesake restaurant Daniel Boulud Brasserie at Wynn Las Vegas in 2010 and has long been rumored to be interested in taking over the former Charlie Trotter next to Carnevino space at the Palazzo, a rumor he denied Eater Vegas in December.

On the celebrity sushi chef front, Curtas speculates that Sukiyabashi Jiro or Masaharu Morimoto could be behind the sushi restaurant. Morimoto is allegedly looking for space in Las Vegas as well, although all signs point to the Mirage as his future home.

Curtas, who says that, "some deals are set and some are in the final stages of negotiation," reports that all four restaurants will take over existing empty restaurant spaces.

Have more details? The tipline is always open and anonymity is guaranteed.
· John Curtas [Facebook]
· Breaking: Palazzo Planning Palate-Pleasing Panoply [Eating Las Vegas]
· Mario Batali on Expanding in Vegas, the Spotted Pig Fracas and Orange Crocs [~ELV~]
· All Coverage of Mario Batali [~ELV~]
· Herb Wilson Ignores His Back Pain to Win the Final Culinary Clash [~ELV~]
· Rumors Swirl That Masaharu Morimoto Is Taking Over Japonais [~ELV~]