FIN at Tropicana Casino & Resort
Atlantic City, New Jersey
OWNER: Tropicana Casino & Resort
INDOOR SEATING: 200 plus a 70-capacity bar
PATIO: Eight tables, seasonal
DESIGN ARTISTS: Fusion Z Art Glass, Muralist Paula Montgomery, Ceramic Artist Alison Evans
It has the best seats in the house, with expansive ocean views visible from every corner. It has a brand-new menu that emphasizes local seafood, “Jersey fresh” produce and home-grown, Garden State wines. It has a whole new look that casino officials have dubbed “sea chic.”
The new restaurant FIN, at the Tropicana Casino & Resort in Atlantic City, is the latest and perhaps greatest incarnation of a dining space that has morphed over the years from buffet to prime rib joint to Asian fusion to chop house.
Al Maoirani, Tropicana’s vice president of resort operations, says the dining spot’s new identity (strictly seafood, thank you) is the perfect fit in a resort that has never fully exploited its Jersey shore locale.
“The four columns in the center of the space are covered in sea glass, most of it genuine, some manufactured,” he says. “Depending on the time of day and the direction of the light, the color of the columns shifts and changes, so the place looks completely different.” Fusion Z, an art glass company based in Northern California, fused Czech craftsmanship and American design for the striking columns.
Maine-based ceramicist Alison Evans, whose work has been showcased in House Beautiful and the New York Times, adorned the walls with rough-edged, hand-thrown oyster plates. And muralist Paula Montgomery painted eight mermaids on the walls of FIN, finding inspiration in the work of John Singer Sargent.
“Our mascot and theme is the mermaid,” says Maiorani. “Everything in the design of the restaurant suggests the sea,” including the color scheme, which graduates from cool silver and blue tones in the dining area to warm golds in the bar, with contours that suggest a boat shape.
FIN is the only seafood restaurant in town that offers oceanfront seating both inside and out. A 200-capacity dining room with upholstered banquettes and the 70-seat bar are adjoined by a patio area with eight tables overlooking the Boardwalk, beach and Atlantic Ocean. A special glass-enclosed “captain’s table” offers private dining for up to 10 people.
“This is the money shot,” Maiorani says of the expansive view.
