Caesars Atlantic City today made official its intentions to change the town’s show business profile in a major—and unprecedented—way. The 43-year-old adult playpen announced that on June 30, 2023 it will debut a multi-faceted entertainment-and-dining venue that, among other things, will host AyCee’s first-ever permanent, original resident production show. It is being developed in conjunction with Spiegelworld, the Las Vegas-based show-biz disruptor whose hilarious Absinthe at Caesars Palace has spent more than a decade as a top Vegas Strip attraction.
The Hook, as the complex has been christened, will be located in the part of Caesars that, for decades in the pre-casino era, was the site of the opulent, Art Deco Warner Theater, a grand movie palace that opened in 1929 (many years ago, preservationist efforts succeeded in conserving the wonderful, Boardwalk-fronting façade). The linchpin will be a state-of-the-art, 400-seat performance venue that will be the home of a presentation also called The Hook. There will also be an outpost of Superfrico, which Spiegelworld describes as an “Italian American Psychedelic” restaurant, as well as what a press release said is “a myriad of discoverable bars with an elevated cocktail program curated by award-winning mixologists.”
“We love what Spiegelworld has created with Absinthe at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, so as we were thinking about how we could bring more energy to Caesars Atlantic City, we immediately thought of [the company’s chief exec, Ross Mollison],” said Caesars Entertainment President Anthony Carano in a statement.
“We are excited to see what his daring and innovative team has in store for Caesars Atlantic City with The Hook and Superfrico.”
Today’s announcement is the latest salvo in Caesars Atlantic City’s ongoing campaign to reclaim top-tier status in AyCee’s gaming industry. Using some $200 million in capital-improvement funds from corporate headquarters, the casino-hotel has already refurbished more than 700 guest rooms and suites and its outdoor pool area, as well as debuted two high-profile restaurants, the Asian-centric Nobu (co-owned by Hollywood titan Robert De Niro) and Gordon Ramsey Hell’s Kitchen, inspired by the popular Fox TV cooking competition series of the same name.
Scheduled to open in the next few months is an ultra-luxe, Nobu-branded “hotel-within-a-hotel,” which will occupy the top three floors of the casino’s Centurion Tower.
Because in the casino universe, imitation is the sincerest form of marketing, should The Hook prove to be a success, it’s only logical to assume that other AC properties will follow suit and build facilities to house a permanent entertainment attraction. That is something that, for almost 45 years, has been missing from the landscape, and something that will be sorely needed if the town hopes to blunt the impact of the impending introduction of a casino in Manhattan.
To book reservations for Superfrico and tickets to The Hook, click here.