Martha Stewart's First Restaurant Is Now Open in Las Vegas—Take a Look Inside

Ever the consummate host, lifestyle icon Martha Stewart floats through her open kitchen past the marble tables and hanging rows of copper pots and pans to thank the chefs and servers working before making her way to the head of a long table in the Brown Room, pausing to straighten a place setting and inquire whether a couple of guests think the jacquard wingback chairs are as comfortable as she does.

Surrounded by a massive shelved collection of clear glass cake stands, lidded jars, bowls, vases, and coupes, she stands to welcome everyone and mentions the highlights of the menu (later, she'll turn to the pair above to check in on the crispiness of their roast chicken), and ensures that everyone has indulged in a frozen pomegranate Martha-Rita, made with fresh fruit extract, natch. She snaps photos of her food, heaps caviar onto her baked potato, smashed tableside using a technique she picked up in Maine, and sends attendees home with a parting gift of wine and one of her dozens of cookbooks.

Anyone who's watched her syndicated shows or read her magazines with regularity would recognize the event setting from the sunlit manicured garden out the window and the liberal use of her signature faux-bois stenciling technique as her circa-1925 Bedford, New York, farmhouse—except we're not at her exquisite home, but rather a perfect dupe. Down to the half-round mercury glass lights, porch hedgerows, and bird art, a replica of Martha's has been erected more than 2,500 miles away in Las Vegas as Stewart's first restaurant, The Bedford by Martha Stewart.

"This was the concept from day one," Stewart said over lunch. "We have worked tirelessly to bring my farmhouse to life in Las Vegas. What you'll eat here are dishes I serve in my own homes to family and friends. They're recipes that we have perfected over the years and some family recipes like the pierogis my mom taught me to make." (Here, Big Martha's potato-filled specialty is drizzled in sage brown butter. She highly recommends splurging on the Golden Ossetra caviar as a topper.)

The Bedford opened with a splashy party attended by rapper Snoop Dogg, "Grey's Anatomy" actress Ellen Pompeo (a self-proclaimed superfan), and various Sin City chefs and glitterati inside the Paris Las Vegas casino. Early reservation numbers and feedback on menu items, including a gazpacho duo, a square burger on brioche, and corn and jalapeno pudding, have the suits at Caesars, Paris Las Vegas's parent company, thinking that the theme will be a winner.

"Many of us have watched Martha for years, wondering what it would be like to be in her home, enjoy her food and experience her hospitality. Now, with The Bedford, you can experience it first hand," Sean McBurney, Caesars Entertainment regional president, told TripSavvy. "People will come to have that experience that was virtually impossible before The Bedford. And all of it is done to Martha's specifications."

Her high standards and exacting taste translated to pronunciation videos for waitstaff (caipirinha and cachaça were the biggest tongue twisters according to Stewart), months of comparing place settings, using specific ingredients and vendors like Żubrówka Bison Grass vodka for the Martha-tinis, and Stewart quipped, "[having] to fight a little bit for a few little things." She worked with her longtime personal chef Pierre Schaedelin, a Le Cirque alum, to make her recipes "workable in a restaurant kitchen."

It was also imperative to the doyenne of domesticity to incorporate seasonality despite the restaurant's Vegas locale. Not only will the menu change, but the digital scenes of her yard in the fake windows will bloom in spring, turn autumnal, and feature snow. She's particularly excited about the holidays. "We're already planning Christmas and how we're going to decorate. It'll be beautiful," Stewart said. "I set up at least 20 trees in my house." 

Neighbored by other famous folk-helmed restaurants like Lisa Vanderpump's Vanderpump à Paris, a new Nobu outpost, Bobby's Burgers by Bobby Flay, and Gordon Ramsay Steak, the new kid in Caesars' culinary empire "rounds out the property as a true culinary destination," said Jason Gregorec, the hotel's general manager. "The Bedford is unique, not only because it's Martha's only restaurant, but because it's so personal. Rarely has there been a figure who's both incredibly aspirational and relatable. It's all incredibly authentic to who Martha is."

Given the fact that there is no one as synonymous with hospitality, entertaining, recipe creation, and decorating as Stewart, it's hard to believe it took this long for her to open an eatery, but it wasn't for lack of desire. "It's a rather strange time for me, when most people my age are retiring, to embark on a restaurant of all things," Stewart, 81, said. "But I've always wanted a restaurant."

"When I first started thinking about it, I was doing so many other things. You can't have a restaurant when you have a daily show and are developing all the products I was developing," she told TripSavvy. "Staying up late at night and then getting up at 5 a.m. to do TV didn't jive with me. Now I don't sleep anyway, so it doesn't matter."

And though Stewart's elegant East Coast style might seem to exist in stark contrast to The Strip's flashy, hedonistic excess, she's a longtime fan of the destination. "I'm looking forward to having a reason to come more often," she said. "I like all the entertainment options. I like to shop and where else can you shop like this? We are coming back to see Adele because we are all crazy about her. [I like] the blackjack tables—and I visit all the restaurants to see what people are doing."

Except for Gordon Ramsey's Hell's Kitchen in Caesars Palace. "We tried to go the first night, but the only reservation was at 11 p.m. and that was like [2 a.m.] to us," Stewart said.

Lesson learned: celebrities, they're just like us when trying to score in-demand Vegas seats.