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When Penn National Gaming, parent company of Hollywood Casino, purchased Harrah’s St. Louis Casino in Maryland Heights last year, their intention was to transform it into a state of the art facility. Late next month, the $62 million worth of renovations at Hollywood Casino St. Louis will be complete. Part of the remodel includes the recently-opened Celebrity Grill (formerly Grill 21), as well as a new steakhouse that debuts Friday, December 13.
The two-year old Kelly English Steakhouse will close on November 30 to make way for Final Cut Steakhouse, a brand exclusive to Hollywood Casinos. The first Final Cut opened in Grantville, PA in late 2008. The St. Louis unit will be the ninth.
Marc DeLeo, VP of Marketing at Hollywood Casino-St. Louis, said the feedback he'd received indicated the local casino market preferred a more traditional steakhouse with traditional accoutrements, like Final Cut, and that St. Louis was only echoing other Hollywood customers throughout the country.
Final Cut offers an extensive array of steaks, complemented by the more popular seafood offerings like sockeye salmon, Chilean sea bass, and Jumbo Lump Crabcakes (below).
Chef English had gone in the other direction, reasoning that diners might be looking for something a little different—like a jumbo shrimp “Creole Midnight Snack, a fried-oyster--stuffed strip steak, and Grandma’s Bread Pudding—all tried and true items from Iris, English’s famed flagship restaurant in Memphis.
So Chef John Dill (below), a self-described "old schooler," was brought aboard to open a steakhouse concept that "focuses on steakhouse fundamentals." All steaks will be hand-cut with several of the cuts dry-aged on property. The former is common in St. Louis, the latter is not.
Dill, a veteran executive chef, comes to St. Louis via another Penn Gaming property in Biloxi, MS. Unlike many revolving door chefs, though, Dill just purchased a home and plans to stay awhile. Tongue firmly in cheek, the affable chef added, “I have a lot of mischief to make…”
DeLeo says the conversion will keep the St. Louis property consistent with other Hollywood properties, an important factor when building the brand, which Hollywood is intent on doing. “Many of our Chicago customers joined us in St. Louis this last weekend for the Bears game, for example, ” DeLeo said, “and we’ll no doubt see St. Louis customers in Joliet for a NASCAR race. Our customers know and appreciate the brand, so cross-promotion is important to us.”
DeLeo also said although the Final Cut menu (a 18 oz. prime grade bone-in ribeye is below) is similar throughout the country, the company was decentralized enough to adapt to the local market, so the menu will change slightly every three to four months. (When asked about the possibility of a Provel-topped strip steak, DeLeo gauged our seriousness, then burst into laughter.)
Another example of adaptation is the price structure: Final Cut will be reasonably priced, with “most items below $40, a little less than English’s steakhouse," according to Dill.
The Final Cut concept has been successful in several Midwestern markets and DeLeo sees no reason this one should be any different. When we mentioned the lack of professional service in some high-end steakhouses, the VP was quick to point out that English’s service staff was both proficient and popular, and that Final Cut was, by and large, able to retain them.
As to changes in décor, DeLeo said that the menu and service are the initial focus, but in time, Final Cut-style elements--like memorabilia from the older Hollywood movies--may get added.
This week, Kelly English opens his second restaurant in Memphis, called The Second Line, and has plans to open a restaurant (as well as two Second Line branded concession stands) at the FedExForum, home of the Memphis Grizzlies. As he bids St. Louis farewell, English had nothing but high praise for St. Louis and the solidarity of the local culinary community, calling out a handful of chefs by name, but admitted the trip back and forth to Memphis "became a grind," and added that he's looking forward to spending his random Sunday off "at home, not on the road home." The James Beard Best Chef nominee said he fully understood Hollywood's position: "If you buy a house, you want to make it your house," he said, "and my place was part of Harrah's."
