Restaurateur/chef Scott Conant has been waiting nearly five years to offer lunch at D.O.C.G. Not only is the Cosmopolitan eatery—which sits adjacent to pasta destination Scarpetta, which also bears his name—now finally serving afternoon fare, there’s also a takeout option. So what finally prompted the longtime Chopped judge to expand?
“The right opportunity knocks, you answer the door," Conant says. "With everything going on at the Cosmopolitan and this focus on the hotel, it’s hard to believe it’s been almost five years. And from day one, the intention was to offer lunch with some grab-and-go element. There’s a lot of people walking up to that third floor [looking for] something in a casual environment, something quick, something that’s easy and easily identified with ... and I think that’s the menu we’ve created.”
That menu—which also boasts a wine-by-the-glass and beer curation by wine director Noe Alarcon and manager Dominic Cimino, respectively—includes five options for pizza ($15-$20 each), pasta ($17-$23) and salad ($10-$11), four desserts ($7) and six sandwiches ($9-$11). The latter grouping features Conant’s pick for his favorite selection on the new lunch menu: the padrino, with a trio of Italian meats, provolone and a chewy, crusty, hero-style bun—like a grinder, the East Coast sub staple that Conant grew up with in his native Connecticut.
“If you go to Philly through Boston and Maine, this is a typical style of sandwich, but frankly, on the West Coast, in LA and Vegas, I haven’t seen a lot places that do them,” he says. “That was another one of those opportunities.”
Regarding the project for which he’s most famous, Conant says there’s plenty more Chopped in the future, with three seasons wrapped—including summertime editions of Grill Masters and Teen Tournament, both of which he’ll judge—and three seasons recently inked and scheduled for production starting in September. Beyond that, he’s mum on his next enterprise. “We’re working on making [the lunch program at D.O.C.G.] 100 percent. I’ve got some other stuff up my sleeve, but one thing at a time—and once this is perfected, I can think about the next thing.”