High Steaks
It’s not only London that’s seen a revolution in hotel dining. A number of world-class hotel chefs have opened signature restaurants in Las Vegas’s most exclusive hotel resorts, putting Sin City on the foodie map. Celebrity pâtissier Eric Lanlard visits the city where the chips stay mostly on the gambling tables SOME YEARS AGO I [...]
It’s not only London that’s seen a revolution in hotel dining. A number of world-class hotel chefs have opened signature restaurants in Las Vegas’s most exclusive hotel resorts, putting Sin City on the foodie map. Celebrity pâtissier Eric Lanlard visits the city where the chips stay mostly on the gambling tables
SOME YEARS AGO I paid my first visit to Vegas, staying at the Bellagio. At that time the Bellagio marked the high point of big time glamour in the Vegas hospitality industry, thanks to developer Steve Wynn. Then Wynn sold it to MGM, going on to open the eponymous Wynn in April 2005.
WYNN, LOSE OR DIET
A hugely luxurious resort hotel, Wynn does it all on a grand scale – whether it’s fabulous dining and shopping, a stunning golf course and country club setting. My junior suite had two bathrooms plus all the usual ‘high end’ mod cons such as an iPod dock – but it was the dining experience that hit the highest notes. First up was Wing Lei, the only Chinese restaurant in the USA to have a Michelin star. Stand-out dishes include crispy prawn rolls filled with green mango salad, citrus mojito and jalapeno and the Black Cod infused with garlic, spring onion, basil and sweet ginger. A rare delicacy – wok-fried pea sprouts in a savoury garlic broth – and a fresh mango tapioca with coconut ice-cream made for a great palate cleanser.
Our table was overlooked by 200-yearold ‘giant Bonsai’ trees flown over from China – only in Vegas!
The Country Club Grill at the Wynn is a homage to Ralph Lauren, complete with big leather chairs. It overlooks the golf course, cascading waterfalls – there’s even a family of ducks. The menu offers classic steakhouse dishes as well as some exotic fare including Jumbo Lump Crab and a Chilean Sea Bass. Worth a mention are the dark chocolate cake and baked lemon cheesecake – which sound rich but were light enough for lunchtime. The wine list reintroduced me to the
impressive Golden State wines.
Sushi Roku, situated within the new shopping area at Caesars Palace, has the best night-time views, which include the Vegas strip. It is part of a chain but that doesn’t hinder the service or the dining experience which can often be the case in the UK. Surprisingly, the selection of sushi including Red Sun and Titan Rolls, Tuna Maguro and Hamachi (Yellowtail) worked really well with the excellent Roederer Estate Brut – made by the French champagne house in California.
Boa Steakhouse is also located in the Caesars Palace shopping area and serves up giant-sized portions. The interior has a contemporary design and a great atmosphere. We ate a classic Caesar salad and surf ‘n’ turf with a succulent lobster tail that was prepared at our table. With its outside seating, a balcony overlooking the strip and cool music, it attracts trendy, young customers. However, for the ultimate dining experience book a table at the renowned Joël Robuchon. It’s the only three Michelin-star restaurant in either California or Nevada. After passing through the noisy slot machines and gaming tables, you reach the glamorous entrance of this jewel of a restaurant housed in the MGM Grand. It sets out to impress and succeeds – it comes with a ‘faux’ outdoor vertical garden – the
outdoors inside seems to be a recurring restaurant theme in Vegas! In a neat twist, I found that the restaurant team were
Roux Brothers/Le Gavroche alumni – I started my career in Britain 22 years ago with the Roux brothers!
To do justice to this level of fine dining we went for the tasting menu, which comes with a glass of wine to complement each dish. Our dazzling feast included Le Caviar – thin slices of warm scallops with lime zest, smooth cauliflower cream, Les Crustacés – Royale
of king crab, aromatic emulsion, sea urchin, potato puree with a hint of coffee, truffle langoustine and ravioli with cabbage; Le Veau, sautéed veal chop with natural jus and vegetable taglierini flavoured with pesto. Desserts were a heady array of L’Ananas with a pineapple infusion, Tahitian vanilla cheesecake and a foamy citrus tea gelée. Everything was superb not least the bread and the petit four trolley – complete works of art. On leaving, every diner is presented with a
box of the finest chocolates and gateaux aux citron – unsurprisingly, after the feast we had just enjoyed, we didn’t dare even attempt to look at it that evening.
NEVADA DESSERTS
Being obsessed with all things pastry I made it my business to visit three exquisite pastry shops in Vegas. We stopped off at Payard at the Caesars Palace – it is the creation of awardwinning pâtissier François Payard and has been open for just over a year. Dessert lovers can dine on sweet treats all day long in the traditional dining room. There are also crêpe, coffee and drinks made to order and an opportunity to buy charming gift-wrapped chocolates and pastries to take home.
Located in the Bellagio is the house of world famous pastry chef Jean- Philippe. He is a genius at work and his shop displays his breathtaking creations perfectly. It is very reminiscent of the patisseries in France, with exquisite cookies, cakes and chocolates. The huge chocolate fountain that stands resplendent in the middle of the room is obviously more Vegas than Paris, but is still a fitting entrée to the world of
carefully crafted chocolates, cookies, cakes, crepes, salads, sandwiches and more.
When it comes to mixing up styles, one of the best examples is Sensi at the Bellagio. It is a beautifully designed restaurant with its entire kitchen exposed to diners and a water feature which runs right through the restaurant. The menu of Asian, Italian and seafood cuisine creates a surprisingly successful fusion of tastes and continents, like a meze. We started with sushi, Kobe Beef carpaccio with summer truffle and arugula salad, wild mushrooms and salsify followed by spice rubbed chicken, with butter curry sauce cooked in an authentic clay tandoor oven, followed by crispy tempura Maine lobster with ‘mango slaw’, avocado, sesame, lime and soy dressing – served in an ‘ice ball’ – we had to break the ice to eat our dish.
ALL BACK TO WYNN
For a memorable last meal in Vegas we returned to the Wynn for a taste of true Italian at Bartolotta Ristorante di Mare. Previously I chatted with Chef Paul Bartolotta, an Italian-American who trained in France, and he had told me that he wanted to bring rustic Italian to Vegas. The speciality is fish – which is shipped over from Italy on a daily basis – so we tried a superb turbot that was filleted in
front of us – accompanied by a lemon butter with freshly grated Italian white truffles. The impressive wine list (Italian naturally) included a good Prosecco to accompany food. As we indulged in a selection of home-made gelati in our own cabana, with the view across the beautifully designed lagoon, we could have been at the Lido in Venice.
DREAM TIME
A foodie hols in Vegas leaves little time for anything else although try to squeeze in this fantastic show: Le Rêve at the Wynn theatre. In a Cirque du Soleil style, this is an underwater diving spectacular; our VIP seats meant that we had a screen that allowed us to see
everything that was going on backstage – plus our own waiter who served us Perrier Jouet champagne and strawberries dipped in chocolate.
Las Vegas may not be the first place one would consider for a culinary tour of fine food because of the pulsing neon lights, slot machines and beautiful people clustered around gambling tables. But as the big name chefs and tastefully decorated interiors proved, there is much
more to Vegas than meets the eye.
Eric Lanlard is the author of Glamour Cakes. www.cake-boy.com
Contact details
Wynn Las Vegas, +1 702 770 7000,
www.wynnlasvegas.com
To dine at Wynn Restaurants:
+1 702 248 3463
Wing Lei
Bartolotta Ristorante di Mare
The Country Club Grill
Caesars Palace, + 1 702 731 7110,
www.caesarspalace.com
Payard Patisserie & Bistro
+1 702 731 7292
To dine at Caesars Forum Shops:
+1 702 733 7373
Sushi Roku
Boa Steakhouse
MGM Grand, +1 702 891 1111,
www.mgmgrand.com
Joël Robuchon, +1 702 891 7925
The Bellagio, +1 702 693 7111,
www.bellagio.com
Sensi, +1 702 693 8800
Jean-Philippe Patisserie,
+1 702 693 8788
