By Allison Mitchell By Allison Mitchell | October 8, 2024 | Culture, Food & Drink, Feature, Food and Drink Feature, Features, Drink, Featured, Food & Drink Feature, Food & Drink, Community, Restaurants, Apple News, City Life, Eat, Cocktails, Bar Bites, Food & Drink News Latest,
Culinary icon José Andrés expands his José Andrés Group empire in Las Vegas with the debut of Bazaar Mar at The Shops at Crystals.
Spain’s Lázaro Rosa Violán Studio designed the new Bazaar Mar at The Shops at Crystals. ALL PHOTOS BY KATRINA FREDERICK
Las Vegans know and love Michelin and James Beard Award-winning chef José Andrés. His local culinary gems include Jaleo, é by José Andrés and China Poblano at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas and Bazaar Meat at Sahara Las Vegas. In August, he unveiled two more exquisite drinking and dining concepts at The Shops at Crystals. Enter Bazaar Mar, a stunning seafood destination, and the adjacent Bar Centro, a Spanish bakery and coffee house. “The most prominent characteristic of Bazaar Mar is that we will allow nature to shine,” notes Manuel Echeverri, concept chef and partner of José Andrés Group. “Stepping into this restaurant will always be a sea adventure... we will bring fish and seafood from anywhere and everywhere in the world that is fresh and delicious at the time.” Here, José Andrés Group CEO Sam Bakhshandehpour takes us on a deep dive into The Bazaar.
Bazaar Mar’s artful take on bagels and lox
What inspired you to open Bazaar Mar and the accompanying Bar Centro?
We wanted to create a beautiful oasis in Las Vegas. A visit to The Bazaar will be a journey of discovery—think of exploring a spice bazaar or a market in a new city. At Bazaar Mar, we’re exploring new depths of the ocean, bringing guests along with us as we dive deep and explore what the sea has to offer. Bar Centro is an evolution and upgrade of The Bazaar’s luxurious lounge space. It is open all day for guests looking for the best cup of coffee in Vegas, an afternoon bite inspired by the pastry shops of Spain, or a late-night bump of caviar and cocktail.
Maine lobster salpicon
What should we order?
Dinner offerings begin with the Little Snacks section that showcases the team’s seafood-inspired interpretation of tapas, such as the California “funnel cake,” a playful nod to the classic summer fair dessert featuring traditional California roll ingredients. Selections from the sea shine in the oysters and raw bar section, as well as the Sea What Else category, which features dishes like the cobia “rosa” ceviche with “rose” of leche de tigre, nasturtium leaf, sweet potato and corn nuts, and the bluefin tuna and fried egg with chu-toro sashimi, quail eggs and soy dashi. The menu’s most playful dishes include an oyster mushroom “sea anemone,” made with mushroom essence, anchovy aioli and pickled sea beans, and a unique cone each Bazaar location offers. The river trout cone is a crunchy snack featuring a flower made from Smoke in Chimneys trout from Virginia, served with preserved Meyer lemon and dill.
The whimsical Key Lime Beach dessert includes key lime mousse, graham cracker crumble and lime air.
What should we drink?
The Nitro Continental Sour features Bulleit Rye whiskey, Oloroso sherry, lemon, sugar, and Garnacha red wine. This is one of José’s favorite cocktails, and it is made and frozen tableside, giving you the ultimate Vegas experience of dinner and a show.
The Modifier cocktail
The Nitro Continental Sour cocktail
Photography by: KATRINA FREDERICK