Anticipate Unexpected Flavors on the Italian-American Menu of the Outrageous Superfrico, Opening September 24

Superfrico, the first restaurant from entertainment company Spiegelworld, gets ready to open on September 24 at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas with what it calls “Italian-American psychedelic fare [that] takes the position that rules are meant to be challenged.” Already chef Anthony Falco created a menu that pays tribute to his Sicilian heritage through family recipes and promises “an international thrill ride of unexpected flavors and techniques.” He says while his recipes are based on Italian classics, he relies on international ingredients to add surprise umami tastes.

Spiegelworld created irreverent shows such as Absinthe at Caesars Palace, Atomic Saloon at the Palazzo, and Opium, which sits next door to Superfrico, so diners should anticipate the same mind-blowing food as the scurrilous show brings when it comes to the menu. Falco says not to count on sparklers, gels, foam, and edible paper to bring the pizzazz, instead relying on technique and unexpected ingredient combinations to create the “culinary fireworks.”

First, Falco dips into pizzas with round, Neapolitan-style and square personal pizzas. The mortadella, for example, combines Northern and Southern Italian flavors, pairing sliced pork with stracciatella made in house and Turkish pistachio powder on an airy crust.

The chicken Parmesan takes Japanese ingredients such as chicken marinated in yuzu-based ponzu sauce and then coats it with a mixture of Japanese panko and sourdough breadcrumbs. Falco uses a massive, 48-ounce Creekstone tomahawk wet-aged in shio koji, the fermented marinade made with miso, soy sauce, and sake for bistecca alla fiorensna. A yuzu kozo squid features tangerine honey and charred scallion, while lamb ragu pasta incorporates Lebanese-style lamb sausage topped with mint, parsley, and za’atar-spiced labneh.

Louiie Victa

Superfrico also has executive chef Mitch Emge, a veteran of the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, and James Beard Award-winner Leo Robitschek, who mixes the restaurant’s cocktails as beverage consultant and principal pourer. Again, customers should expect a psychedelic edge to the drinks. “My goal in creating this menu was to open people’s minds, to get them to more fully experience their senses; to experience, taste, see, and feel something they might not normally experience, taste, see, or feel,” he says.

Anthony Mair

The drinks include house-blended and bottled cocktail flasks and small batch beverages that can be purchased to-go from Superfrico’s onsite Bottle-O retail store.
 Robitschek’s cocktails include the Under the Host Martini, an elevated riff on the dirty martini using a bianco vermouth brine infused with Castelvetrano olives made in house and white balsamic; the Pandan & Coffee Negroni, a silky, tropical twist on the Italian aperitif made with reposado tequila, Campari, sweet vermouth, pandan leaf, cold brew coffee, and coconut water; and the Penguins Take Manhattan, named after Superfrico’s two cheeky mascots, featuring black sesame-infused bourbon, rum, sherry, and Cynar, served in a white chocolate- and sesame-dipped coupe.

While Superfrico is its own restaurant, customers will find the experience between Opium and the dining room blur together. More on that to come.

The Team Behind Spiegelworld’s ‘Opium’ Unleashes Superfrico Restaurant This Fall