Television personality Scott Conant’s Masso Osteria closes after a short run in Las Vegas on May 31.
The Italian restaurant opened last February at Red Rock Resort with the Chopped judge’s favorite comfort foods including his must-eat pasta al pomodoro, spaghetti in a tomato and basil sauce with just the right amount of butter and perhaps even more important, his caramel budino. Conant, who launched his Las Vegas career with Scarpetta and D.O.C.G. Enoteca at the Cosmopolitan, earned accolades from Esquire magazine in 2008 when Scarpetta was named one of the best new restaurants in America, and again in 2009 when the James Beard Foundation nominated the restaurant for best new restaurant in America. But D.O.C.G. closed in 2017 and Conant stepped away from all of his Scarpetta restaurants, although he is still involved with Scarpetta by Scott Conant in Miami inside The Fontainebleau. In 2018, he won the Eater Award for Chef of the Year. He also appears on Best Baker in America on The Food Network.
“We have loved our time at Masso Osteria and we wish to thank everyone involved,” Conant says in a press statement. “We are fortunate to have worked with an amazing team and served so many incredible guests. The Las Vegas community has been very dear to my heart for many years and this is a wonderful town for people who love food, as I do. I look forward to new concepts and opportunities after we have said goodbye on May 31, 2019.”
Red Rock Resort says employees, who were told on Thursday night, will be offered jobs at Station Casinos’ new restaurant that takes over the space.
“We have made the decision with Scott Conant to transition Masso Osteria back to a Red Rock-managed concept effective May 31 and we thank Scott and the entire team for being a part of Red Rock. We are in the process of developing an exciting venue which we will be announcing shortly,” Station Casinos says in a press statement.