The Casino File
By Chuck Darrow
Kuro, the Asian-focused dining room at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City, is going all-in on an annual seasonal occurrence that generally flies under the radar in this neck of the woods—the blooming of cherry blossom trees that is always one of the first signs that spring has sprung.
Last Friday evening, the dining room officially kicked off its second annual Cherry Blossom Festival, which runs through Mother’s Day (May 11). Because cherry trees are most closely associated with Japan (despite their suspected origins in Nepal), the tie-in is a natural for a restaurant such as Kuro.
“We’re really excited this is the second year that we celebrate the Cherry Blossom Festival at Kuro,” said Michael Woodside, the Rock’s vice-president of entertainment. “There’ll be specialty menus for both food and beverage that’ll be running for the duration of the festival.”
But the specialized menu (more about that below) is but one element of the event. Another aspect is the temporary redo of the salon’s interior, which is now ablaze with the familiar pink-and-white flowers of the cherry tree. The décor is unique for an AyCee restaurant and that, suggested Woodside, provides an added incentive for visitors.
“It’s a great place for photo ops,” he said. “It’s a great place for a date night. It’s a great place for business meetings. It’s just a really fun environment. Kuro is already great year-round, but when we add this amount of cherry blossom trees to the space, it just really does make it a special occasion.
“Last year was our first year decorating the space this way, and it was such a tremendous hit with our customers and our employees that we had to bring it back.”
All well and good, but let’s keep in mind that Kuro is a restaurant, not an arboretum. And to that end, executive chef Leslie Daniel has it covered like rice around a piece of raw fish.
“We’ll be featuring a special ‘Cherry Blossom’ menu that kind of elevates Japanese street food,” explained Daniel, who has been at Hard Rock since it opened in June, 2018, about his new, small-plate dishes.
“We’re highlighting some items that we don’t have on the menu. We have Okinawa purple sweet potatoes. We have ebi [shrimp] tempura; Agadashi tofu [a deep-fried appetizer]; some Waygu beef that we brought in that we’re grilling on the charcoal grill; a delicious bento box with the choice of either short ribs or chicken. And we also have a nice Sakura spritz, which is Aperol spritz with [an Asian] twist.”
According to Daniel, there is an educational component to the special menu he and his minions have devised for the celebration.
“We really try to look for things that we don’t have on the menu typically and how we can bring them into the restaurant to try to highlight some of Japan’s traditional dishes and bring them to America with a little elevated influence,” he offered, citing the Agadashi tofu as an example.
“We’ve taken a very simple tofu dish and we’ve elevated it by taking marinated vegetables and rice balls, and then we refry them together and serve them with tempura sauce.”
That said, it’s other special items that Daniel, who last year won the $16,000 grand prize on an episode of Food Network’s “Guy’s Grocery Games,” recommends to those who visit Kuro the next six weeks or so.
“I would say the purple sweet potato croquette is just something a little bit different that you don’t see in a lot of places. And the bento box. There’s not a lot of Asian-Japanese restaurants in the Jersey area that do a bento box, which is a classic dining salad in Japan where you get a lot of everything for tasting.
“So that’s something I would definitely have people try.”
For more info and reservations, go to casino.hardrock.com/atlantic-city/promotions/cherry-blossom-festival.
Coming attractions
Superstar standup comic Jim Gaffigan is headed to Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa.
The genial, PG-rated funnyman who has built a glittering career on a gentle, relatable brand of comedy, is checking into the Big B for two shows, Nov. 7 and 8 as part of his “Everything Is Wonderful” tour.
For tickets, go to ticketmaster.com.
