Behind the Line
with local vendors close to
Las Vegas to source fruit and
vegetables. Desert Bloom
Eco Farm, a 45-minute drive
away, supplies the restaurant with shishito peppers,
lemon verbena, basil, cherry
tomatoes and eggplant,
a fact that's promoted on
AquaKnox's Facebook page.
"Te Venetian is promoting
it too, which makes us realize
we're doing something that's
impactful," Menefee says.
Back in the kitchen, Aguglia has added Asian infuences to some AquaKnox dishes.
Te king salmon is served
on forbidden black fried rice
with shishito peppers and
carrot-miso sauce. "We cook
it on our mesquite grill, serve
it medium rare and glaze it
with a kabayaki sauce," he
says. Te tuna tartare "Gangnam style" is delivered with a
Korean chili vinaigrette and
tempura crunch.
"As long as you can tell your
guests what they're about to
get, they respect it more," says
Menefee. "In the middle of
the desert, for example, we're
serving some of the best oysters in the world for freshness.
When it comes to great food
there are some things you cannot put a price on."
we're executing great food for
a party of up to 500 people on
a regular basis," he says. "To
be able to generate that kind
of revenue is pretty powerful."
Menefee does a comparative analysis twice a year
to check his prices against
those of competing seafood
restaurants in the area and
says AquaKnox boasts one
of the lower-tier price points.
"We don't charge a premium
as much as we should — for
example our crab cakes are
far lower in price than most
other restaurants in our spectrum and some other restaurants charge between $4 and
$8 more for the same scallop
entrée than we do."
With a reputation as one of
Vegas' hottest seafood restaurants, people are expecting
perfection at AquaKnox, he
adds. "It means we can't have
an of-night or an of-table.
If you're a connoisseur of
seafood, this restaurant is a
great playground."
Contributing
Editor
Lauren
Kramer lives in Richmond,
British Columbia
"If you're a
connoisseur
of seafood,
this restaurant is
a great playground."
— Rob Menefee,
GM, AquaKnox
Te average guest check at
AquaKnox ranges from $75
in non-peak times of year to
$115 at peak times in July
and December. Te dinneronly restaurant is projected
to do close to $9 million in
revenue for 2013, with close
to one-third of that generated by private events. "Te
entire restaurant gets bought
out frequently, which means
Visit us online at www.seafoodbusiness.com
January 2014
SeaFood Business
31