Whoa! Alex Stratta Changes Course, Moving Tapas into Poppy Den

If you’re waiting for Alex Stratta to open his tapas restaurant at Tivoli Village, the wait will take a little longer. News just broke that Stratta won’t open Tapas by Alex Stratta in the former Pizza Lounge, instead opting to take over the Poppy Den space.

"A great opportunity opened up so we have decided to make a last minute change to our strategy and we are extremely excited for it. We will be moving Tapas to the former Poppy Den location in Tivoli Village," Stratta says in a prepared statement. "There has been so much interest and demand for the new restaurant, which we are beyond thankful for, and we felt the timing was ideal. It is an environment more harmonious with my vision and it has a more substantial kitchen, allowing us to ‘turn up the menu.’ It also is a much larger space, which includes a beautiful patio, bar and private dining room, making more sense for my long-term plan. And with this extra space we now can offer private parties, which is something we could not really consider in the other location. Although we're eager to open, we need to reassess our original ideas to fit the new space so our opening has been pushed back a bit, but we will surely keep everyone updated. We are so grateful for the outpouring of enthusiasm, and we hope patrons will allow us just a little more time to present the restaurant experience we feel you deserve."

Top Chef alum Angelo Sosa closed Poppy Den last August, leaving the two-story space vacant since.

Stratta, the Michelin-starred chef who had Alex and Stratta at Wynn Las Vegas, originally planned to open in December in the former Pizza Lounge space. Fried Padron peppers, artichoke flatbreads, caramelized cipollini, tuna belly, shrimp "al mojo de ajo," chorizo albondigas, oxtail and authentic Valenciana saffron rice were just some of the dishes teased, along with Spanish paellas in traditional and regional preparations.

"What I want to do is create a menu that people can eat two or three times a week. Real simple but done correctly," he told Eater Vegas in November.

Stratta also plans to open Alex Stratta Italian Steakhouse at the Gramercy on the southwest side in early summer.