Vegas Magazine - Niche Media - There is a place beyond the crowds, beyond the ropes, where dreams are realized and success is celebrated. You are invited.
Issue link: http://digital.greengale.com/i/138830
Rick Moonen is cooking up something unconventional at his quirky new eatery. S uperlatives PEOPLE, CULTURE, TASTE, STYLE POWER STRIP the mad scientist AT THE JUST-OPENED RX BOILER ROOM, RICK MOONEN COMBINES HIS FAMOUSLY ADVANCED COOKING TECHNIQUES WITH HIS CHILDHOOD DREAM OF OWNING A CHEMISTRY SET. BY AL MANCINI PHOTOGRAPHY BY RYAN REASON W hen Rick Moonen was recruited in 2004 to open a restaurant in Mandalay Place, he was determined not to be an absentee celebrity chef. "I did not want to put my name on a restaurant and not be around," he says. So, after more than 25 years of cooking in New York City, the renowned seafood chef bravely moved to the desert. What he found was a culinary scene in a state of transition. "I think Vegas was still in its evolutionary phase of becoming much more legitimate, more of a competitive marketplace globally," Moonen says. "And I was excited to be a part of that and to participate in all that." Charged with a massive 17,000 square feet, he boldly split the space between a casual downstairs restaurant and a fine-dining room upstairs. Now Moonen is pushing the envelope again: He recently decided to close his gourmet room and replace it with a new concept that's even more casual than the downstairs space. But the menu is a serious culinary experiment—literally. Just opened in June, Rx Boiler Room (pronounced "Rick's Boiler Room") takes beverages as seriously as food. Eschewing continued on page 44 VEGASMAGAZINE.COM 043-044_V_SP_PowerStrip_Sum13.indd 43 43 6/17/13 12:12 PM