The Newest Italian Restaurant Opens at the Venetian

A touch of Italian fare with Los Angeles roots arrived in Las Vegas for the new year. The Factory Kitchen opened in the former B&B Ristorante space on restaurant row at the Venetian. Restaurateur Matteo Ferdinandi, who formerly worked at Spago, and chef Angelo Auriana, who spent 18 years as the chef at LA’s Valentino, serve traditional Italian dishes in a trattoria-style restaurant.

The Venetian space, which only serves dinner until Jan. 4, includes a bar with its own menu, something not offered in Los Angeles.

Architect Thomas Schlesser of Design Bureaux created the look of the 152-seat restaurant the features a palette of orange and forest green with reclaimed wood tables. Art Deco-style light fixtures, concrete walls, and gray banquettes are found throughout the space.

The Factory Kitchen, which takes its name from the street it’s on in LA’s Arts District and the building where it sits, plans to serve lunch and dinner starting Jan. 4.

The menu features focaccina calda al formaggio, a pizza-like dish, in three variations, as well as dishes such as mandilli di seta, a handkerchief egg~pasta with Ligurian almond basil pesto; casonzei, a pork sausage and veal ravioli with sage brown butter; modenesi, a prosciutto tortellini with mortadella, pistachio, and house made truffle butter; and agnolotti with braised veal.

Pan-roasted sea scallops, sautéed imported pink snapper, Mediterranean turbot, a slow-roasted pork belly, ossobuco di vitello, and bone in prime rib~eye steak round out the entrees.

The Factory Kitchen, Venetian, 3355 Vegas Blvd. S., 702-414-1222. Open for dinner from 5 to 11 p.m. through Jan. 3, then open daily from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.

• All Coverage of The Factory Kitchen [ELV]

• All Las Vegas Restaurant Openings [ELV]