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Giada De Laurentiis' latest restaurant mixes fine dining fare with fast casual flair

March 6, 2018

Pronto by Giada, which is chef, author and television personality Giada De Laurentiis’s first fast casual concept, is now open at Caesars Palace Las Vegas. The restaurant marks a shift by Caesars Palace and other casinos and resorts to offer celebrity chef-driven fast casual restaurants to meet changing consumer dining habits, according to a company press release. 

"One of the key objectives identified early in the process was the need to create a more intuitive guest journey, with a focus on unrushed convenience," said Jeffrey Cangro, project manager at starrdesign, the firm behind the design. His colleague, Ashlee Jones, served as lead interior designer on the project, and they took inspiration from De Laurentiis' international travels and her own home-inspired decor.

"Creating a balance between the chef-driven nature of hospitality and the need for throughput was a challenge, but the end result was a success,” Cangro said in the release. "We believe Pronto by Giada will be a dining destination that the patrons of Caesars Palace will come to know and love."

Starrdesign was selected for the project because of its expertise in developing fast casual restaurant concepts as well as its retail knowledge and experience, according to the release.

For Pronto by Giada, interior design features include custom, hand-painted tiles, marble and quartz accents and countertops and butcher-block tables. Grays and creamy whites also are featured prominently throughout with splashes of bright red, yellow and orange adding vibrant pops of color. Guests can choose from a variety of seating options, from the main dining area to an indoor patio reflective of an outdoor Italian cafe.

"The idea for Pronto by Giada was to create a cafe that felt really light and airy, and to do something that was distinctly different from anything else in Caesars Palace," Jones said. "It was a fun and interesting project to work on, and the pieces all came together to create something unique to Caesars Palace and to Giada."

Pronto offers breakfast, lunch and dinner options that incorporate De Laurentiis' signature Italian fare with California influences. There also is a full-service wine bar with a full menu of Italian-inspired food, signature cocktails and a selection of 40 California and Italian wines by the glass. A separate retail and merchandise area additionally takes inspiration from Giada’s family history in film, according to the release.