Inside Maroon's Grand Opening | Chef Kwame, Drone Shows, Secret Rum Room & a Night Las Vegas Needed

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Published May 16, 2026

Las Vegas just got its flowers and so did Chef Kwame Onwuachi. ????

I was at the grand opening party for Maroon at the Sahara Hotel Las Vegas, and let me just say... the Sahara absolutely knows how to throw a party. Dancers, a drone show at the poolside afterparty, custom welcome kits from Resy and American Express, cocktails flowing all night, and an electric energy in that room that I genuinely cannot put into words. This was a full on celebration and it felt like exactly that.

But first, let me tell you who we were celebrating, because this moment deserves its full context.

If you don't know Chef Kwame... let me put you on. He competed on Top Chef Season 13, trained at the Culinary Institute of America, and opened five restaurants before turning 30. The James Beard Foundation named him Rising Star Chef of the Year in 2019, Esquire named him Chef of the Year that same year, and he recently landed on Time's 100 Most Influential People of 2025. The man has been putting in the work for a long time
And now he is the first Black chef to hold a restaurant on the Las Vegas Strip. Maroon at the Sahara is his, and that deserved every single thing about this night.

The food had me in a chokehold. The jerk chicken was perfectly cooked... just enough heat, but every layer of flavor still came through. The oxtail fried rice, the oxtail empanadas topped with caviar? I grabbed those every single time I saw them pass by. Every. Time.

And listen... there is a hidden speakeasy rum room inside that you absolutely have to find when you go. I'm not giving you more details than that. Just go find it.

After dinner we moved outside to the pool for the afterparty and the drone show had everyone in full awe. The Sahara pulled out every stop and it showed. The energy, our people filling that room, dancing and celebrating a chef who earned every moment of this.... it felt so right. Like this was always supposed to happen and we finally got here.

This was a girls night out and I am already planning my next visit so I can sit down and experience the full menu properly over a date night with my husband. Maroon is going on the list immediately.

Welcome to the Strip, Chef Kwame. We have been waiting for you. ????

???? Maroon at the Sahara Hotel Las Vegas

???? More Vegas nights, real life, and everything in between → @amandaontap on Instagram and TikTok

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