Downtown’s dining options are about to explode. Hungry?

Natalie Young is a veteran Vegas chef, having run kitchens at MGM Grand, Hard Rock Hotel and P.J. Clarke’s at the Forum Shops. Today, she’s chef and co-owner of Eat, a breakfast joint planned to open in the fall in a space in the Park Avenue Apartments at 7th and Carson streets. May she cure countless hangovers.

And we almost lost her. Young said she was considering leaving Las Vegas when Downtown Cocktail Room owner Michael Cornthwaite convinced her to stay and introduced her to Tony Hsieh, the Zappos CEO who is investing millions in Downtown Las Vegas. Hsieh’s Downtown Project partners are backing Eat, and Young doesn’t buy the cynicism surrounding Downtown Project’s small business plans. “I’m a cynical person, and it seems unbelievable, but it’s real and they’re all nice people. I did my due diligence.”