Alain Allegretti Following Marc Forgione, Decamps to Atlantic City

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Welcome, indeed

Sure, you can call Atlantic City the Las Vegas of the East Coast, but the big difference between the two cities is that Las Vegas still retains glamour while Atlantic City has fallen into ruin. But the city might soon get an influx of culinary talent. Earlier this month, it was announced that Marc Forgione would be setting up an 11,000-square-foot steakhouse called American Cut inside Atlantic City's oceanside casino/resort Revel. And today chef Alain Allegretti's reps send word that in May of this year, he, too, will be opening a restaurant inside Revel called Azure by Allegretti. Atlantic City ... now even more like Vegas!

Interestingly, Forgione told Zagat yesterday that Atlantic City wasn't his first choice (shocker). "I was looking at a space in Vegas, and it fell through and at the exact same time that it fell through, we got the Atlantic City offer," he said. "So once they told me about it and they showed me where everyone was gonna be and what they wanted do, I was blown away." Naturally, his spot will be a classic steakhouse, but he's planning on making it kind of "rock 'n' roll and sexy."

Allegretti, meanwhile, will be bringing the Franco-Italian cuisine that he's made a success of at La Promenade des Anglais to the boardwalk. According to the Revel website, the dining room will be decked out with Christian Lacroix curtains and vibrant azure-blue tiled floors, "evocative of its coastal inspiration." Diners will also be able to look behind the scenes via an open exhibition kitchen. And, of course, they can peer out onto the New Jersey shore and pretend it's the French Riviera. Hey, they have a promenade, too!

For more dining news, head to Fork in the Road, or follow us @ForkintheRoadVV, or me @ldshockey.