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For lavish spenders looking to fuel up during Formula 1, the paddock was the place to be. This year’s Las Vegas Grand Prix brought some of the most exclusive restaurant experiences and celebrity chefs to F1’s backstage area where the pit crews and teams got ready for the race. The Weekly went behind the scenes to see just how extravagant they could be. Here were some of our best bites, sips and sightings.
GORDON RAMSAY’S F1 GARAGE
During race week, celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay took his talents trackside, transforming the F1 Garage into a pit lane pop-up of his world-renowned restaurants.
“How many times have I gone to a Grand Prix and been somewhat disappointed with the food and beverage side? It's always a sort of a quick grab and go. Now we can properly indulge,” Ramsay told the Weekly during a visit to his F1 Garage. “I was talking with [F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali] a couple years back to come up with something unique, and they wanted to raise the bar, not only just in terms of the entertainment but for the food as well. There's no greater platform to launch that than here in Vegas.”
The $28,000 ticketed experience featured an unobstructed view of the pit lane, an all-inclusive beverage and food menu curated by Ramsay, access to F1’s exclusive Paddock Club and much more. Ramsay, a lifelong Formula 1 fan, says he met the charismatic Domenicali at a Ferrari event years ago, and they’ve had a great partnership ever since.
During our chat, the Michelin-starred chef joked about his F1 passion (“My dream was to get an F1 car, but I'm too big, I'm too fat!”) and shared his appreciation for how far Vegas’ culinary scene has come. “Everyone took Vegas as a bit of a joke in the food scene 10 years ago,” he said. “But ask any chef in the world anywhere where they want to show off and be given a platform, nine times out of 10 it’ll be Vegas.”
While Ramsay’s the first to admit the pressure of a paddock pop-up pales in comparison to running a Michelin-star restaurant, it’s still a unique but welcome challenge.
“Vegas is like a second home here, but the level of pressure within that team and that environment to produce is off the charts,” Ramsay said. “This thing comes down tomorrow night, and we pack up … and send it to Qatar, and after that, we'll pack it up again and we head to Abu Dhabi. So it's, for me, three of the most exciting pop ups, and the championship is still alive. No one's won it yet, which keeps everybody on the edge. So to combine that with great food, incredible cocktails and a bird's eye view of the pit lane is a dream.” — Amber Sampson
PAPI STEAK GARAGE
Papi Steak Garage isn’t pretending to be anything other than what it is: an ultra exclusive, trackside temple to excess, wedged right into the F1 pit area and curated by David “Papi” Einhorn. Born in Miami and reborn at the Fontainebleau Las Vegas, Papi Steak has always served big flavors and even bigger theatrics, but here, the whole thing feels like it’s running on fuel.
Access is limited to 75 people. And that scarcity isn’t an accident, it’s a point. “They’re very expensive tickets, about $30,000 a person, and that’s on top of your Paddock Club ticket,” says Evan Polott, general manager of Papi Steak Las Vegas. “The only way you can get in here is with a Papi Steak Garage ticket and it’s a separate ticketed event.”
In this world, money isn’t the variable—it’s the backdrop. As Polott puts it, “Vegas is known for its hospitality and really trying to go above and beyond everybody else in town. … And oftentimes, money is not the thing that is holding anybody back. There's usually no budget.”
But money alone doesn’t carve out an identity. “The creativity of the space and the execution of the space is what is going to have to set you apart,” he says. “Anybody can spend as much money as possible on a space, but you have to have the team to execute it and really get it dialed in and understand the vision.”
Papi Steak brings the vision. The famed $1,000 Beef Case experience features a 55-ounce tomahawk unveiled in a blinged-out briefcase, lit like a nightclub relic, accompanied by thundering music, a laser show, and the sizzle of a branding iron searing the Papi logo into the steak.
The Garage mirrors the Fontainebleau’s glamorous decor with velvet seating, gold accents, chandeliers, fresh florals, marble tables, a red carpet, and an in-house DJ. You’re greeted with a plethora of top shelf cocktails and Champagne. The food offerings range from wagyu this to caviar that, along with a whole list of all-you-can-eat appetizers, entrees and sides all crafted to meet the high expectations of their diners. Chef Sean Hamada leads the culinary team, pulling off fine-dining precision despite the Paddock’s constraints.
“You would never know that we would have a specific restriction on the cooking methods and the way it's executed is perfect,” says Polott.
Extravagant? Absolutely. And perfectly at home in this one-of-a-kind culinary cockpit. — Gabriela Rodriguez
PADDOCK CLUB
The Paddock Club is like an entry into the lap of luxury, a multi-sensory experience where indulgence and opulence reign supreme. For thousands of dollars, pass holders are granted access to a multi-level, hospitality fortress, a shrine to all things lavish, where every corner pulses with the excellence of F1 and this town’s world-renowned hospitality.
What do you get for such a princely sum? Unrivaled views of both the track and the Strip, plus a front-row seat to the race. But the view is only the beginning. Inside, guests are spoiled with a gourmet buffet. Think: lobster rolls, slices of premium meats and fresh oysters served on ice. Live cooking stations churn out handmade pasta, grilled fish and truffle-infused delights. Champagne towers flow freely and custom cocktails come served by bartenders who’ve perfected the art of mixology. There’s also a specialized Heineken bar that keeps the cold brews flowing, poured into custom F1 glassware.
There’s even an omakase experience, with delicate fish served right before your eyes. For dessert, savor the plentiful sweet offerings or perhaps the cotton candy that’s spun into helmet shapes by local artisans. To wash it all down, Evian’s fancy water comes with custom herb-infused ice cubes, slowly melting into your glass, transforming each sip into an aromatic masterpiece.
You can watch the pit crews work their magic up close with exclusive pit lane walk access, seeing the garages as if you're part of the team. For this kind of extravagance, you’re bound to bump into celebrities, the glitterati of Las Vegas, as the Paddock Club is the true epicenter of F1's opulent frenzy. — GR
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