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CHEF MASA TAKAYAMA BRINGS MODERN JAPANESE TO LAS VEGAS WITH BAR MASA AT ARIA Dual Dining Spaces Within Invite Singular Experiences: Casual A la Carte or Elite Omakase Menus of Masa’s Long-Planned Shabu-Shabu Concept LAS VEGAS – Chef Masa Takayama, whose Japanese cuisine has become synonymous with greatness, makes his much-anticipated entrance onto the Las Vegas culinary stage with Bar Masa at ARIA Resort & Casino in CityCenter. Continuing the tradition that has made his New York restaurant legendary, the ARIA outpost offers two separate dining spaces, each unique in ambiance, service and cuisine. The 256-seat Bar Masa, located in a casual, airy space beneath a soaring vaulted ceiling, invites guests to sample their choice of Chef Masa’s modern Japanese food. The more exclusive Shaboo, set in an intimate, reserved room of just 52 seats, offers an omakase-style experience orchestrated anew each day by Chef Masa. Wrapped in a design by Richard Bloch Architect, the interior’s use of natural elements within the high-arching, voluminous space creates an effect both intimate and serene, aptly reflecting the purity of Masa’s cuisine. Chef Masa received his primary culinary training in Tokyo’s highly respected Ginza Sushi-ko restaurant. He later opened his own Ginza Sushi-ko in Los Angeles, revolutionizing Japanese dining in America and developing a dedicated following. Relocating to New York in 2003, he opened Masa and Bar Masa in the Time Warner Center, which earned a rare four stars from The New York Times. Bar Masa at ARIA continues the personal quest that Chef Masa practices to perfection – carrying simplicity to its next level of purity. Clean, simple and uncomplicated is the way he characterizes his food, prepared with a skill that allows the inherent flavor of each ingredient to emerge undisguised. Essential to this process are freshness and seasonality. Fish are flown in daily, direct from Tokyo’s Tsukiji market – just 18 hours from boat to kitchen. Chef Masa also favors meats direct from Japan, including exquisitely marbled Ohmi beef from Shiga Prefecture. A smattering of regional delicacies, like sea urchin, scallops and langoustines, arrive fresh from California, as well as an abundance of the coast’s diverse produce. (more) Bar Masa at ARIA/…2 Guests dining in Bar Masa’s convivial expanse accept a difficult freedom, selecting their own dishes from the à la carte menu. There are Dancing Shrimp and Sizzling Spicy Octopus; Peking Duck with foie gras; Ohmi Beef Tataki with white truffle; Grilled Eel Rice; Spicy Cod Roe Pasta with a julienne of purple shiso flowers; and a profusion of other divine treasures nearly impossible to pass up. A small selection of hand-picked sakes and wines, the best from around the world, emphasize varieties most suited to the strong umami properties inherent to Japanese cuisine. Guests of Shaboo’s inner sanctum – accessed through a sparkling glass wall in Bar Masa – surrender themselves to the ultimate chef’s tasting menu. Each meticulously choreographed course in the omakase-style meal (translating as “entrust”) forefront the artistic passion of Chef Masa’s immaculate taste, as he finds expression for his long-envisioned shabu-shabu concept. The moniker “Shaboo” playfully signals his reclamation and refinement of this cooking practice originated by Genghis Khan’s soldiers. Tables are each cloaked in soft overhead light for optimal privacy and inlaid with an induction heating element set with individual, handmade vessels of the chef’s own design. As one delicate course follows another, guests glimpse the inner workings of Masa’s creativity. A White Truffle Sunomono might prime the palate, followed by a Masa signature luxury – exquisite slices of toro (bluefin tuna belly) paired with a gentle mound of Petrossian caviar. Sashimi is always seasonal, strictly determined by daily availability from the Tsukiji market. Shaboo dishes draw on the best quality meats and seafood accompanied by flavor-rich sauces for dipping – perhaps a lobster bisque for seafood or the citrus notes of a ponzu for the Ohmi beef. The Shaboo cooking technique is introduced with a demonstration, training guests in the gentle “swish-swish” motion that poaches meat in broth and gives the dish its name. Sukiyaki dishes certainly show preference for Chiba-region beef. To close, cooling seasonal ice creams come in Winter Truffle, Soba Tea, even an icy Pomegranate sorbet. Along the way, each course finds companionship with a wine or sake astutely paired to complement flavors and textures. Japanese sensibility and CityCenter’s modern gestalt join hands in Bar Masa’s interior design by Richard Bloch Architect, who also outfitted Masa and Bar Masa New York and recently received a James Beard Foundation design award. Designed to express “shibui” (the inherent essence of materials) as a visual equivalent to Chef Masa’s vowed simplicity, the décor embraces an uncluttered appreciation for the rawness of materials. Non-synthetics like glass, cast concrete, zinc and stainless steel receive understated applications, echoed in rich natural textures like teak, leather and wool. Design points often fall in contrasted, yet balanced, proximity – rough and smooth, hard and soft, muted colors against bright – never competing for prominence or overwhelming the physical space. (more) Bar Masa at ARIA/…3 Beckoning guests from ARIA’s main entrance hall, a commanding set of 15-foot doors of teak and copper create a shrine-like entrance. Inside, 15-foot concrete panels of smooth indigo and roughened grey, crisscross against towering walls of interconnected windows. Beneath the vault-line of the ceiling, rows of wooden slats create a sheltering effect against the room’s soaring expanse, while slightly lower, similar slats undulate in a Japanese kite gesture to form a sculptural light. Banquette seating in red, yellow and tan leather line the walls and snake through the central space. Table areas, set atop lengths of thick wool carpet that divide the grey concrete floors, provide a subtle shift in acoustic quality, while dangling firefly pendants pinpoint the tables with secluding light. Dividing the sequestered Shaboo from Bar Masa, a wooden deck adorned with sculptural objects by Masa prepares guests for their culinary discovery. Tables inside this more intimate, 15-foot-high chamber accommodate four or six guests each and lie cocooned in their own private lighting from above. With the arrival of Bar Masa, Las Vegas unequivocally owns its status as an elite dining mecca. And under the appreciative eyes of Las Vegas diners, Chef Masa shares the mysterious simplicity of great food and his vision for a different kind of “shabu-shabu” experience. # # # Media Contact: Andrea Brown MGM MIRAGE (702) 650-7534 [email protected] .