Stubborn Seed at Resorts World: Top Chef Winner Jeremy Ford’s Strip Debut

An eight-course tasting menu that reads like a passport stamp collection. Sake and citrus-cured Japanese yellowtail. Spiced barramundi in galangal curry. A butter-poached lobster at the bar for anyone who just wants a killer burger and a drink. Art deco design, a circular bar under a glamorous chandelier, and an open kitchen crowned with a Great Wave-inspired art piece. Stubborn Seed brought Chef Jeremy Ford’s Michelin-starred Miami restaurant to the Strip, and it delivers on every level.

A Top Chef Winner Plants Roots on the Strip

Stubborn Seed opened inside Resorts World Las Vegas, bringing the Miami-born, Michelin-starred original to the Strip for the first time. At the helm is Chef Jeremy Ford, winner of Bravo’s Top Chef Season 13 and a two-time Top Chef winner overall, whose original Miami Beach location has held a Michelin star since opening. Ford describes the restaurant’s guiding philosophy as pairing unrelenting passion with an unapologetic approach, unearthing cravings of the palate while constructing a genuine reward in every bite. Honest ingredients, elevated through rigid and persistent execution, define the entire menu.

“Chef Ford’s passion for innovation meets Las Vegas’s vibrant and diverse culinary landscape,” the restaurant states of the concept, and that fusion shows up clearly on the plate: globally influenced cooking that pulls flavors and techniques from across the world while staying rooted in seasonal, often locally inspired ingredients.

The Room

The art deco-inspired space is designed to make an impression before the first course arrives. A circular bar anchored beneath a glamorous chandelier sets the tone for pre-dinner cocktails, leading into a long, lush patio and plush booths surrounding an intimate main dining area. At one end of the room, an open kitchen puts the entire cooking process on display, crowned by an overhead art piece depicting a version of the Great Wave alongside Mount Fuji, a striking visual anchor for the whole restaurant.

The Menu: Tasting Journey or À La Carte

Guests can choose between Ford’s exclusive eight-course tasting menu or an à la carte experience at the bar, and both are genuinely worth exploring. The tasting menu changes seasonally and consistently reads like a world tour: a recent lineup opened with Kalamata olive ciabatta, moved into sake and citrus-cured Japanese yellowtail topped with crispy tapioca and compressed Asian pear, continued through fragrant spiced barramundi nestled in galangal curry with shiitake sofrito, and closed with a citrus pavlova finished with fall figs and caramelized pistachios. Other seasonal dishes have included sea urchin panna cotta, jerk-spiced carrots, lamb fagotelli, and Wagyu beef, each artfully plated with sauces that appear like brushstrokes and airy foams throughout the vegetable-forward tasting progression.

The tasting menu is priced at $145 per person plus tax and gratuity, with a wine pairing available as an add-on for $70. Reservations for the tasting menu run 1.5 hours for two guests, with an additional 30 minutes added for each additional pair of guests. The tasting menu cannot accommodate dietary restrictions such as vegan or gluten-free, so guests with those needs should plan on the à la carte menu at the bar instead. À la carte options include oysters, iberico ham fritters, a burger, and butter-poached lobster, giving guests a lower-commitment way to experience Ford’s cooking without the full multi-course journey.

Now You Know