Business

A new approach: Tivoli Village focused on becoming dining hub

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Will Tivoli Village become a Las Vegas dining hot spot?
Photo: Steve Marcus

Tivoli Village has been rolling with the punches since before it opened. The walkable Summerlin-area lifestyle center was originally supposed to open with 700,000 square feet of retail and office space in 2009, but the economy forced some adjustments. Instead, Phase 1 came to life in spring 2011, with the next stage of development possibly opening at the end of this year.

After two years, Tivoli Village is still trying to establish an identity as something beyond the west side’s version of Town Square. In recent months, all the buzz has been about its new restaurants—Poppy Den, an Asian fusion restaurant from chef Angelo Sosa, and Hops & Harvest by Bradley Ogden, set to open in a few months.

That buzz is no accident, says general manager Tonia Chafetz. “We are moving in a new direction to be this amazing off-Strip dining location,” she says. “We consider our restaurants our anchors. We don’t have large department stores and that’s not who we’re ever going to be. We want to be the place where you can come for great entertainment, drinks, food and visit some great boutiques, and then come back the next night and start all over again.”

Petra, a Greek restaurant, and Bottles & Burgers, a casual eatery, didn’t last long. But management has been quick to act in replacing dining concepts that didn’t fly. Tivoli has partnered with Trust 3 Hospitality to create Poppy Den and Hops & Harvest in those two vacated spaces, and the collaboration will likely produce more venues in the coming months.

“We’ve always loved Tivoli Village,” Trust 3 founding partner Kelley Jones says. “We’re not trying to get the Strip traffic to come out here. There are plenty of people here to support these restaurants. We’re here for locals.”

Jones, whose company also is developing the Dinner in the Sky project in Las Vegas, is planning to further connect with the community through Meaningful Mondays. Beginning on March 4, 20 percent of proceeds at Poppy Den from 6 p.m. until closing every Monday will benefit one of 12 local charities.

As for the deal that will bring acclaimed chef Ogden back to Vegas—his namesake restaurant closed at Caesars Palace last year—Jones says it’s all about relationships. “We are partners with Bradley and he’s fully engaged,” Jones says. “We just met for two days on design. It will be upscale casual. We want people to be comfortable whether they’re in evening attire or jeans. And there will be a very large beer component, along with the farm-to-table approach to cuisine that is Bradley’s trademark.” Hops & Harvest should open in late April or early May.

Other upcoming restaurants at Tivoli Village include Pizza Lounge and chef Sam Marvin’s Echo & Rig steakhouse and butcher shop. Both should be open by the summer.

Also, construction just started on a renovation project that will remove the three-tiered wall at the corner of Alta Drive and Rampart Boulevard, opening up pedestrian entry at the southwest point of the complex. The children's play area will be relocated to a new U-shaped area near Pizza Lounge. Once those changes are complete, patrons will be able to drive and park on the streets of Tivoli Village, a la Town Square.

Tags: Business, Dining
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Brock Radke

Brock Radke is an award-winning writer and columnist who currently occupies the role of managing editor at Las Vegas Weekly ...

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