After being open almost 15 years, this Strip casino is opening its 1st Mexican restaurant

It is ever thus on the Las Vegas Strip.

And so Holsteins in The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, known for its brawny burgers and shakes, closed in July after 14 years, its pink cow mascot giving way to Amaya Modern Mexican Restaurant, whose logo depicts “a woman gracefully concealed behind lush leaves,” as a swatch of branding puts it.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal previously reported on the replacement restaurant but this week learned the name, menu and other details.

Clique Hospitality (of Vegas) is creating the restaurant for Gen3 Hospitality (ditto), which will own and operate it. The name pays homage to an inspiring woman the team met in Mexico while tasting for the restaurant, which is planned to debut in January.

Amaya, perhaps surprising, is the first thoroughly Mexican spot to open at The Cosmopolitan since the property launched in 2010. (Yes, there is China Poblano, but it mingles China with Mexico.) The opening comes as Vegas is having a moment for contemporary Mexican food, with restaurants such as Leoncito at Red Rock Resort, Mijo in Durango and La Casa de Juliette in Centennial Hills opening in the past year.

“There is a Mexican restaurant revolution, for lack of a better word,” said chef Jason McLeod, who is creating the menu of coastal Mexican dishes for Amaya. “This draws on my passion and excitement for Mexican cooking. I’m excited to get things going.”

Michelin and Mexico

McLeod was born to the coast — near Fanny Bay, source of some of the world’s finest oysters, on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. “There wasn’t a lot of traditional Mexican, mainly Taco Bell,” the chef said, laughing.

Since then, his 30-year career has encompassed, among other highlights, two Michelin stars (at seafood-driven Ria in Chicago), stretches in Southern California (including as partner at highly regarded Ironside Fish & Oyster in San Diego), and extensive travel and tasting through Mexico.

A feel for seafood

At Amaya, McLeod is sending out a 2-pound whole lobster in its shell with chile lobster cream sauce and kicks of lime juice, a dish inspired by the famed lobsters of the Rosarito coastal area of the Baja Peninsula. “It’s definitely going to be a wow presentation,” McLeod said.

For enchiladas, lobster meat is gently poached, then folded together with lobster cream sauce for the filling.

A trio of uncooked seafood dishes takes its place: spicy tiradito, similar to crudo; yuzu-spiked ceviche, with corn for sweetness and texture; aguachile uniting sweet Mexican shrimp with cilantro serrano sauce.

McLeod spoke to how he developed his appreciation for seafood.

“When you are a young cook, you want to do the meat station, you want to do beef and lamb,” he said. “But as your career progresses, you realize working with fish is a lot harder than meat. It has to be super fresh, pristine. You don’t want to overpower it. We are showing how the seafood is done in Mexico, but with a twist.”

Rethinking a classic

On the meat side, a fajita board promises to be another showstopper.

Peking-inspired duck receives a Mexican makeover, with mole swapped for hoisin and tortillas for steamed lotus buns or wheat flour Chinese pancakes. Birria short rib is slow cooked, then served with corn purée, pickled onion and cotija.

“It’s full bone on the rib,” McLeod said. “It helps preserve the flavor and the tenderness.”

Tequilas and mezcals

A catador, or tequila expert, oversees the library of aged tequilas and complex mezcals that are harnessed for lush cocktails at the restaurant.

A Flor de Paloma, made with reposado tequila and pink grapefruit, is crowned with hibiscus foam and delicate edible flowers. The Fuego @Volcán presents mezcal, passion fruit and blood orange beyond a spicy Tajín rim.

A Desert Mirage blends sweet and spice with guava, hibiscus, ginger and serrano chile syrup. Mezcal or reposado tequila join blackberry syrup, pineapple, passion fruit and a garnish of black salt for Birds of Paradise.

Modern twists on classics? Look for a mezcal old-fashioned served amid fragrant rosemary fog. Or the Noche Oscura, a refashioned espresso martini with mezcal, coffee liqueur, Mexican cacao bitters and creamy foam, for a union of sweet, bitter, earthy, smoky.

Forest and beach

Amaya, on the second floor of the Boulevard Tower at The Cosmopolitan, spans about 7,200 square feet across a bar, lounge and dining room. The interior design, by Petermax Co., combines intimate and social spaces, taking inspiration from the forest canopies and beach resorts of the Yucatán Peninsula.

Visit amayamexican.com and @amayamexican on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and X.

Contact Johnathan L. Wright at jwright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @JLWTaste on Instagram.