There’s a new place to grab a New York slice at Resorts World Las Vegas. But the chef behind Amici New York Pizzeria has more than The Big Apple on his mind. He’s also bringing some tastes of Motor City to The Strip.
Chef Ricky McCormick, who previously served as chef de cuisine at Stubborn Seed, is now overseeing quick-service restaurants at the resort. When he was tasked with developing a new pizza concept to replace Mulberry Street Pizzeria, he decided to offer two very different styles.
As the restaurant’s name indicates, New York-style pizza serves as the backbone of Amici, with oversized 22-inch pies available whole or by the slice. But the menu also includes a rotating selection of Detroit-style pizzas — something McCormick knows particularly well.
“I am from Metro Detroit, so I grew up around those styles of pies,” the chef recently told the Food and Loathing podcast.
For McCormick, a proper Detroit pizza starts with the crust — specifically the crispy, caramelized cheese known as frico that forms around the edges of the rectangular pie.
“That one bite, the corner, that really is what everyone should be fighting over,” he says. “That’s what Detroit pizza is all about.”
Getting the dough right for Amici took some work. McCormick spent three to four months developing it with Chef Jorge and the Resorts World bake shop team. It’s fermented for 48 hours, though McCormick says the dough can keep developing for up to five days without sacrificing its structure.
The resulting New York-style pizzas measure 22 inches and include classic options like pepperoni pies made with cup-and-char pepperoni and aged Pecorino Romano. The Hot Honey Meat Lovers version combines pepperoni, Italian sausage, meatballs and bacon. And Burrata & Prosciutto di Parma is topped with arugula and extra virgin olive oil.
McCormick is taking more liberties with the Detroit pies.
“We really want to catch some people’s eye with these different pies,” he says.
One converts the flavors of a loaded cheeseburger into pizza, topping the thick, crispy-edged crust with ground beef, bacon, cheddar, caramelized onions, pickles and tomato before finishing it with shredded lettuce and Amici’s secret sauce. Another combines Buffalo chicken, mozzarella, ranch and green onions. McCormick says those less-conventional combinations will help the restaurant gauge what customers want before expanding the Detroit selection.
Pizza may be the focus, but the menu also includes garlic knots, Caesar salad, cannoli, New York cheesecake and a Snickerdoodle cookie, along with beer, wine and an Amalfi Lemon Sgroppino.
For now, McCormick says slices drive most of Amici’s business, although he hopes whole pies will become a larger part of the mix. Guests staying at Resorts World can also order pizza from their rooms. And on Friday and Saturday nights, Amici stays open until 4 a.m., offering late-night bites to patrons of the nearby Zouk Nightclub.
“We will be open late for the club hours,” McCormick says. But he believes the changes from the previous pizza operation — including fresh dough and sauce, upgraded cheese and other fresh ingredients — will be noticeable beyond the late-night crowd.
Amici New York Pizzeria is now open in the former Mulberry Street Pizzeria space at Resorts World Las Vegas.
You can hear the complete interview with Chef Ricky McCormick on the September 25 episode of the Food and Loathing podcast.
