America’s First Michelin-Starred Korean Steakhouse Will Soon Debut in Las Vegas

The first and only Michelin-starred Korean steakhouse in the U.S. will make its debut on the West Coast early next year by opening a location on the Las Vegas Strip. The New York-based Cote Korean Steakhouse is expanding to the Venetian Resort Las Vegas as part of the resort's $1.5 billion reinvestment project. And when it opens early next year, the Las Vegas location of Cote will offer the same A5 wagyu, award-nominated wine menu, and in-table smokeless grill for which the restaurant first earned its reputation.

Cote Vegas, developed by the Gracious Hospitality Management restaurant group, will debut inside the Venetian’s waterfall atrium near Wolfgang Puck’s Cut and the Donutique doughnut shop. David Rockwell and Rockwell Group — the group that designed other dramatically styled restaurants like Wakuda at the Venetian and Cathedrale at Aria — is handling the design of the more than 10,000 square feet of restaurant space. The restaurant will incorporate dynamic lighting and a dry-aging room, plus a tiered dining area in the style of theater in the round. Skybox private dining rooms will look down over a central bar and DJ booth for observing Cote Vegas’s live entertainment lineup.

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The menu highlights cuts of steak including Kobe, Sendai, and Miyazaki wagyu beef, dry-aged between 45 and 120 days. The menu, like Cote’s locations in New York, Miami, and Singapore, is divided into sides and appetizers and meat and seafood that a server can cook for you right at your table. There are options like the Butcher’s Feast, which includes four cuts of beef and appetizers like one of “steak and eggs” — filet mignon tartare with caviar on milk toast. Like its other locations, servers will lead the grilling at each table’s grill. And Cote Vegas (not to be confused with La Côte at the Fontainebleau down the street) will serve Cote’s four-time James Beard-nominated wine list — one that features more than 1,200 labels.

Simon Kim, the founder and chief executive officer of Gracious Hospitality, is an alum of UNLV and got his start working in Las Vegas. In a statement to Eater Vegas, he refers to the Vegas opening as a “triumphant homecoming.” It’s an exciting time for Cote to be moving into the Venetian, just as the resort is undertaking its largest and most expensive renovation in its 25-year history. Cote is the first restaurant announced as part of the project.

Earlier this year, Kim announced that he had an entirely new restaurant in the works, joining the wildly popular Cote flagship. In January, he opened Coqodaq‚ now celebrated as one of New York’s best — and fanciest — fried chicken restaurants.