Eugene Remm’s SoHo Sizzle Hits The Strip as The Corner Store Makes Its Vegas Debut
Observer ·
Pete Davidson, Russell Westbrook, Scott Sartiano and Ludacris were among the attendees celebrating Eugene Remm’s The Corner Store as it made its official Las Vegas debut.
In the last year, MGM Resorts has been on a roll with blockbuster Las Vegas restaurant openings. Major Food Group’s Carbone Rivera debuted last November at Bellagio, and JKS Restaurants unveiled Gymkhana at Aria in December. And if this past weekend’s pre-opening celebrations were any indication, Eugene Remm and Catch Hospitality Group’s The Corner Store at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas will continue the MGM Resorts hot streak when it opens for dinner tonight with its wagyu French dip, caviar-topped lobster rolls, sour-cream-and-onion martinis and Samoa sundaes.
On Friday, Nov. 6, a private dinner at The Corner Store brought together a who’s who of dining and nightlife operators, as Remm, chef Michael Vignola and MGM Resorts hospitality executives including Ari Kastrati, Mio Danilovic and Patric Yumul made the rounds.
As we paused to glance at the step-and-repeat on the way to the host stand, Andrew Sasson (who kickstarted the future of Las Vegas nightlife alongside Andy Masi at Light 25 years ago) and Makris Hospitality’s Will Makris scooted past us. After we checked in and walked into the front bar area, we immediately ran into Danny Volk, a longtime friend and colleague of Remm’s who now runs Vantage Real Estate Advisors. Volk was sitting with Prince Street Hospitality’s Cobi Levy, who is partnered with Makris on restaurants including the new Romy in New York.
A little later in the back dining room, Bond Hospitality’s Scott Sartiano, who opened Zero Bond at Wynn Las Vegas with Makris in March, sat at a booth alongside Keegan-Michael Key and “Foodgod” Jonathan Cheban. Celebrities including Pete Davidson, Ludacris and Russell Westbrook dotted the rooms, and move-the-needle food influencers including Jack’s Dining Room’s Jack Goldburg and Walk In Hopping’s Will Damron hugged and posed for photos together. Alex Pall and Drew Taggart of The Chainsmokers had dinner at The Corner Store before heading over to their set at Wynn’s newly remodeled XS nightclub.
But for many guests, the collection of hospitality heavyweights at The Corner Store was what was most impressive. “Everyone is here!” one of our dinner guests exclaimed as she sat down at our table. “I just checked in behind Jason Strauss.” The presence of operators like Strauss, whose Tao Group Hospitality opened Omnia Dayclub at Caesars Palace in May, proved that Remm has the respect of his industry and that the highest level of hospitality is often built around decades-long relationships.
As we spoke to Remm on Friday, Sasson walked over to congratulate him and tell him how beautiful the restaurant looked.
“I felt honored,” Remm tells Observer. “I learned more from spending 48 hours with Andrew 22 years ago than I learned from almost anybody in my professional career. Cobi and I have been friends for 20 years, and Jason and I have known each other for 25 years.”
A lot of the operators who showed up Friday are known for weaving their careers around both nightlife and dining. Remm, who used to run New York nightclubs Tenjune and SL (where The Chainsmokers were resident DJs 15 years ago), is happy that he’s put nightlife behind him.
“I got out of the nightclub business because it was too competitive,” Remm tells Observer. “I didn’t feel that it led with kindness. I think a restaurant is a place that brings people together, and it’s where people can go to other people’s places and not be competitive, which is just beautiful. We should evolve and celebrate each other. I celebrate Scott. I celebrate Jason. I celebrate Andy. I celebrate The Chainsmokers. Alex used to DJ for me at SL in 2009.”
Remm knows that The Corner Store in New York, where Taylor Swift, Sabrina Carpenter and Olivia Rodrigo have dined, is a tough reservation. He’s hoping that the Las Vegas location, which is twice the size with 150 seats (but still small by Vegas casino-restaurant standards), will give some people who can’t get into the original a glimpse into how The Corner Store blends New York glamour with five-cheese pizza rolls and hand-cut fries.
The Corner Store, which Remm and Tilman Fertitta opened in SoHo in September 2024, will soon add a third location at Fertitta’s members-only Post Oak club in Houston. That private 40-seat restaurant should debut in the coming weeks. Then Remm, who opened The 86, O’resh and Cafe Charmant in New York after launching The Corner Store, will take some time to decide what’s next.
“We’re going to take a minute in 2027 and just make sure all of our stores are doing great and not rush our expansion,” he says.
Remm has had a whirlwind of openings, but he remains methodical and precise about what The Corner Store needs to be. The restaurant makes its dishes from scratch, whether it’s pizza rolls or spinach artichoke dip. Vignola has brought in a kitchen team from New York to work alongside The Corner Store’s Vegas-based cooks at The Cosmopolitan. Both locations of The Corner Store are designed by Rockwell Group because Remm wants them to exude the same kind of vibe.
Before Remm opened The Corner Store in New York, he told us that he wanted to create something that was “classic” and “right down the middle.” He didn’t want fusion. He didn’t want anything that was “too foodie.” He wanted something with a “sense of nostalgia.”
He knew that naming his restaurant The Corner Store meant that he wasn’t going to think about protecting any trademarks. He and Vignola, with a menu influenced by classic American grills, New York taverns, Hillstone restaurants and the frozen food aisle of chain supermarkets, wanted to serve recognizable crowd-pleasing food like Caesar salad and steak frites. Remm told us that none of the food at The Corner Store was designed to be Instagrammable.
The remarkable result, though, has been lines down the block before the restaurant opens at 5 p.m., and countless Instagram and TikTok posts. Salt Hank and Rick Lox, to name just two more prominent influencers, were also at The Corner Store’s pre-opening weekend in Las Vegas.
“I think I’m old enough where what I’m doing might be new to young people,” Remm, who is 48, says of The Corner Store’s popularity. “It’s nostalgic to us. It’s part of our childhood. But for young people, they’re seeing it for the first time. It’s like when certain music or a beat is reintroduced 30 years later by an artist, and your parents remember the original song where that’s sampled from. But a lot of people are hearing it for the first time.”
Like with music, it can take a lot of time and effort to make food that seems simple and timeless.
“What’s the key to greatness? Consistency,” Remm says. “What is consistency? Doing something 10,000 times the same way. So it’s not just how we act during the opening party. I think we’ve gotten a lot of people who love The Corner Store because there’s hype, but then it’s backed by substance. And I think the substance is the differentiator.”
Remm stresses that he isn’t at The Cosmopolitan to change what The Corner Store is. He’s here to bring exactly what The Corner Store does in New York to Vegas.
“We want to give the same experience in Las Vegas,” he says. “That’s the whole point. We can’t just design it the same way, name it the same thing and then not give it the same key ingredients, which are food, service and vibe. And if you can’t get in in New York, here’s an opportunity to experience The Corner Store in Las Vegas. This gives people more access.”
The Corner Store at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas is open Sunday-Thursday from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. and Friday-Saturday from 5 p.m. to late.