Chef Rick Moonen actually has two restaurants in one 16,000-square-foot space, with the downstairs casual dining r bar cafe and the fine dining rm seafood restaurant upstairs. Moonen received three stars from the New York Times and four stars from the 2005 Mobil Travel Guide.
This concept originated in New York and the beautiful structure is designed by San Francisco architect Cass Calder Smith of CCS-Architecture. r bar cafe features an outdoor dining area (still enclosed in the Mandalay Bay shops), a bar and lounge area and a Raw Bar and dining room with mahogany wood tables. There's also a separate private dining area blocked off from the rest of the cafe by large curtains. The upstairs fine dining restaurant, rm, seats 85 and contains a lounge and two private dining rooms featuring tasting menus and á la carte dining.
At the junction between the Mandalay Bay casino and Mandalay Place shopping area, two separate kitchens and staffs prepare food for the restaurants, both featuring separate menus. "The cafe menu is good old American seafood," says Moonen, who personally selected the beers to pair with the seafood dishes. "It's more comfort food."
