LAS VEGAS — If you’re looking for 99-cent shrimp cocktails and $5 prime rib, better head to Reno, pal. Those dining days in Las Vegas are but a dim memory.
Blackjack and Celine have taken a back seat to halibut with foie gras over melted leeks with a $200 bottle of wine on the side. The swanky style that has come to define this desert town is showcased in the chic restaurants lining the Strip. You can bet, in fact, that the most gloriously decadent thing in Sin City nowadays is the food.
Famous chefs from both coasts know this is where they have to be, and epicureans from Tacoma to Tallahassee are booking frequent trips just to make the dinner rounds.
“Dining has become what Las Vegas is all about,” says Alessandro Stratta, one of many award-winning chefs lured to the Strip by hotelier extraordinaire Steve Wynn. “The food and beverage area of entertainment has become as important here as the gaming.”
Stratta, whose nickname “Alex” is on his luxe restaurant inside the fancy new Wynn Las Vegas, says no sane chef could resist the conditions that are unique to this town.
“Here, you have the backing of a hotel casino that allows you to open a $5 million restaurant, which is great, of course,” Stratta says, chuckling at his ridiculously good fortune. “And your restaurant is busy every night, which isn’t always the case in other cities.”
Stratta and every other chef I talked to were quick to give due credit to the visionary who paved the way for the whole trend roughly a dozen years ago. Wolfgang Puck, with a decade of legendary success behind him in Los Angeles and San Francisco, came to the desert to launch a new location of Spago, his renowned LA spot, at the Forum Shops at Caesar’s Palace.
“When Wolfgang and I got here in 1992, there was nothing ‘foodie’ to be found,” says David Robins, Puck’s executive corporate chef.
The challenges were in trying to change perceptions. Robins recalls that people would arrive at the new Spago and ask what time the buffet opened. Today, Robins oversees operations at five different Puck restaurant concepts in Las Vegas, and there’s not a buffet in sight.
Once Puck and Robins went to work, it wasn’t long before other chefs decided to investigate. Soon Emeril Lagasse arrived, building on his boundless Food Network success, and casino hotel owners pounced on the public’s hunger for food as culture and entertainment. The competition shifted from getting the hottest talent in the showrooms to installing the hottest new chefs in the kitchens.
Stratta says Wynn established himself as the catalyst by opening the Bellagio with its own Le Cirque and by bringing Todd English from Boston to open a Vegas edition of his celebrated Olives. Each new arrival seems to be more famous than the last, with Parisians Alain Ducasse and Joel Robuchon among the most recent arrivals at the Hotel at Mandalay Bay and MGM Grand, respectively.
That thundering noise is the stampede of more chefs racing to town with each year’s newest, most grandiose hotel opening — or maybe it’s the sound of diners rushing in to enjoy the riches. The message boards on Chowhound.com, one of the busiest foodie sites on the Internet, buzz each day with the frenzy of hungry travelers drooling on their keyboards over the exhilarating Las Vegas meals they’ve just finished or plan to eat next week.
“A year ago I thought we’d hit the saturation point, but apparently not. They continue to build more places and continue to fill them,” Stratta notes. “Las Vegas is the place where every ‘name’ chef wants a restaurant.”
So where should you be eating in Vegas right now? Depends on how much time (and money) you have to spare. If you’re serious about dining well, give yourself at least four days with a spectacular lunch and dinner each day. Read on for a half-dozen superb choices, based on a recent tour of utter indulgence. If you’re like me, you’d better set aside some significant time at the gym on your return home.
The uber hip
Mix in Las Vegas
>> Why go: THE hotel at Mandalay Bay was the first place to snag a Michelin-starred chef. Alain Ducasse, whose Paris and New York restaurants require reservations up to six weeks in advance, made a splash in the Vegas dining landscape upon opening Mix just over a year ago. The super-contemporary spot takes up the entire top floor of THE hotel and offers the Strip’s most stunning view of the mountains, desert and city. It’s as much nightclub as restaurant. A glitter effect comes from 14,000 spheres of hand-blown Murano glass suspended from the ceiling around the 275-seat dining room. In the elevated dining area, you get the sensation of being inside a glass of champagne.
>> Best bites: Lobster salad; elbow pasta with black truffles, ham and Gruyere cheese; and a dessert pizza crafted from dark and white chocolate.
>> Stellar sips: The halo, a flute of Scharffenberger brut, peach vodka and peach puree.
>> Memorable moment: A tie: Either visiting the all-black bathroom stall with tinted, floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the Strip, or hearing how the restaurant scrambled to quickly accommodate a party of 16 for one of the wives of the Sultan of Brunei, a $10 million player.
>> Charge it: The five-course-minimum chef’s table is $180 per person without wine; a la carte menu prices are $19-$27 for appetizers, $30-$48 for entrees and $10 for desserts. Wines are $30-$8,300 per bottle.
>> Book it: (702) 632-9500; www.opentable.com.
Daniel Boulud Brasserie
>> Why go: The Wynn Las Vegas resort scored a coup, bringing in one the biggest names in New York cuisine when Daniel Boulud Brasserie opened last summer. The elegant rooms offer the coziness of a French country home, and the lovely terrace unfolds alongside the Wynn’s quixotic Lake of Dreams. The 60 diners sitting under the stars gaze across the lagoon at a water wall and, beyond that, pine trees scaling a rocky cliff — it all serves to obliterate any evidence of the Strip just beyond the curtain of trees and stone.
>> Best bites: Braised short ribs in a port reduction over mousseline potatoes with tiny green beans; a cassoulet of escargot, chanterelles, sweet tomatoes and bread cubes; spicy tuna steak over spinach, raisins and citrus-glazed turnips; and the famous DB Burger, ground steak stuffed with short ribs, foie gras and truffles.
>> Stellar sips: A lovely selection of Spanish wine finds.
>> Memorable moment: As I sat on the breezy patio, the bliss of sublime food and wine was interrupted by a light and sound show that lasted all of two minutes. One of several different programs broadcast throughout the evening, this otherworldly production flung brilliantly colored images of an exotic woman and a serpent twisting around tree branches on the water wall, moving to the beat of a slightly spooky but compelling melody.
>> Charge it: Appetizers are $8-$24; entrees, $18-$42; desserts, $9-$15.
>> Book it: (702) 770-3325. www.wynnlasvegas.com.
Lavish but laid-back
rm seafood
>> Why go: Owner-chef Rick Moonen, whose double venue at Mandalay Bay includes restaurant rm and r-bar-cafe, lists places like Le Cirque and Le Cote Basque on his résumé before opening Oceana and his self-named rm in New York. He is a leading proponent of the sustainable seafood movement, meaning he won’t serve anything endangered, such as Chilean sea bass, skate, monkfish or beluga caviar. Moonen has created a suave upstairs space for sophisticated dining and a downstairs raw bar with comfortable high stools and giant plasma TVs where guests are invited to come in from the Mandalay beach wearing shorts and flip-flops.
>> Best bites: Downstairs, the creamy Southern biscuit topped with rock shrimp and Cajun spices; and the shellfish salad in a spicy vinaigrette. Upstairs, the seared diver scallop with duck confit and poblano mole; and halibut with foie gras and melted leeks.
>> Stellar sips: An impressive selection of whole-leaf white, green, oolong, black and wild mint teas.
>> Memorable moment: Sitting at the raw bar and downing a shot glass filled with a firm but plump Fanny Bay Pacific oyster and vodka for a sweetish, clean effect that hinted of fresh cucumber.
>> Charge it: Raw bar items are $10-$26. Upstairs, the six-course tasting menu is $105; appetizers are $14-$28, and entrees are $34-$62.
>> Book it: (702) 632-9300.
Burger Bar
>> Why go: When San Francisco chef Hubert Keller came to Vegas to open a new edition of his Fleur de Lys at Mandalay Bay, he was persuaded to do double duty. The hotel wanted to put a deluxe burger joint in its shopping spread called Mandalay Place and talked Keller into giving it an epicurean spin. Opened last spring, the cocktail joint with the pricey patties became a smash hit. Last July, Keller sold 22,000 burgers, and his first meat grinder went kaput. Casual but incredibly trendy, the Burger Bar has already been featured on Rachael Ray‘s Tasty Travels television program, which airs at 8:30 p.m. Fridays on the Food Network.
>> Best bites: The Rossini burger, made from Kobe beef with a topping of sauteed foie gras, shaved truffles and madeira sauce and named for the Italian composer, who loved fine food; the Surf & Turf burger, ground black Angus topped with a grilled half-lobster and asparagus; and the ground lamb burger topped with caramelized onions, portobellos and zucchini.
>> Stellar sips: Crafted by twin hottie bartenders, Ashley and Erin, the top-selling cocktails are the lobster martini, made with vodka, lobster consomme, lobster roe, and fresh lemon and lime; and the peach martini, combining peach vodka with a basil infusion.
>> Memorable moment: A tour of the $30,000 butcher shop on site, where meat is ground twice and each patty is hand-formed.
>> Charge it: The Rossini burger is $60, the Surf & Turf is $24, and an organic veggie burger is $11.50. For kids, the Crabby Patty is $5.75. For dessert, the warm doughnut wrapped in chocolate ganache and topped with passion fruit, strawberry and mint — called a Chocolate Burger — is $3.95.
>> Book it: (702) 632-9364.
All posh, all the time
Aureole
>> Why go: Owner chef Charlie Palmer modeled his Las Vegas effort at Mandalay Bay after his prized New York spot of the same name, meant to evoke images of halos. Open since 1999, it remains a big favorite for diners demanding excellence in food and wine, with a side of technology. Diners are urged to use a hand-held wine e-notebook to either match wines with the dishes they’ve ordered, or select dishes to complement the wines they most would like to drink. The focal point of this exceedingly luxurious restaurant, bathed in ivory candlelight and served by a staff that seems to glide rather than walk, is the 4-story wine tower holding 10,000 bottles. The restaurant’s cellar has a total of 60,000 bottles.
>> Best bites: A roasted peach tart with blue cheese over a mache salad; ocean trout in crispy potato shell with pear-apple chutney; and caramelized quail stuffed with foie gras and truffles with potato ragout.
>> Stellar sips: Intriguing wines from South Africa and Catalonia.
>> Memorable moment: Watching the four “wine angels,” whose tasks were inspired by the film Mission Impossible, at work. The lithe women, all of whom have acrobatic backgrounds, are suspended from cables in the wine tower, where they soar up and down to find customers’ chosen wines.
>> Charge it: Tasting menus are $95-$105; wine pairings are an additional $65.
>> Book it: (702) 632-7401; www.aureolelv.com.
Alex
>> Why go: Steve Wynn hired Alessandro Stratta away from his job at the Phoenician in Arizona, where he won a James Beard Award, to open Renoir at the Mirage. Last year, Wynn brought his star chef with him to the Wynn Las Vegas and put Alex’s name on what is arguably the most elegant dining room in the city. The setting for chef Stratta’s food, inspired by the French Riviera, is noteworthy for the chandeliers made from Murano glass, heavy silk drapes in a deep bronze shade adorned by pewter silk rosettes, and towering vases filled with flowers in vivid colors.
>> Best bites: Tuna carpaccio over a ginger pot du creme, topped with Osetra caviar; rabbit fricassee with Swiss chard and preserved lemons; and a light, refreshing napoleon of roasted peaches and creme fraiche with sangria sorbet.
>> Stellar sips: A lovely Loire Valley sancerre that paired perfectly with a dish of lobster quenelles, crawfish, tomatoes and zucchini.
>> Memorable moment: The maitre d’ discreetly placed a toy-size, velvet-covered chair next to my chair for my purse. That way, it wouldn’t have to touch the floor.
>> Charge it: A three-course dinner is $110, whereas the six-course tasting menu is $145, or $235 with wine.
>> Book it: (702) 770-3325. www.wynnlasvegas.com.
