Jose Garces, who has been parlaying his status as an Iron Chef on the Food Network to build a dining empire, will open three restaurants at Revel Atlantic City, the $2.4 billion megacasino scheduled to open in the spring.
The project catapults Garces, already the city's most prominent celebrity chef, to yet another level. Few restaurateurs have grown as quickly as Garces, 39, who opened Amada, on Chestnut Street, in 2005, and won his national television deal nearly two years ago.
Garces owns seven restaurants in Philadelphia (with an eighth on the way next year), is a partner in a Chicago restaurant, operates a catering division, and sells a line of branded foods. He manages a hotel's food-and-beverage operation in Scottsdale, Ariz., and is rumored to be doing the same at a posh hotel in Palm Springs, Calif. - all moves that prompted him to recently drop restaurant from the name of his company, once known as Garces Restaurant Group.
Construction is under way on supersized versions of his Old City Spanish tapas restaurant, Amada, and his Rittenhouse Square pub, Village Whiskey, as well as a taco stand, based on his Guapos Tacos truck, next to Revel's gaming floor.
Revel, being erected on the beach at New Jersey Avenue and due to open fully by May 15, will have eight other restaurants; no other operators have been identified.
To say Garces is a workaholic is understatement - a whirlwind of national appearances tucked into trips to New York City for Iron Chef tapings and business meetings around the country; he bought a Bucks County farm ostensibly as a weekend retreat. He renovated the farmhouse, yes, but also hired a farmer and turned its 40 acres into a supplier for his restaurants.
"It wasn't really a hard decision to join this project," said Garces. "I've been along for the ride since [planning began in] 2008. I'm a fan of the ownership and I believe in what they're doing: It's elevated pure fun."
Although a casino experience may exude pure fun, expanding a fine-dining empire even 60 miles from the home base is a challenge.
Asked how he will maintain quality over a far-flung empire, Garces said: "Hire the best people." He will need 250 employees for Atlantic City, his representative said, bringing his payroll to about 850 employees.
Staffing is only one part of the issue.
