Dining Features
Dining
Into the Void
Luxor’s new Asian concept, Rice & Company, fills the need if not just the space
August 18th, 2011
The brass at Luxor learned the hard way that their demographic doesn’t much cotton to high-end dining. Company, an American bistro, was a notable failure, and Café Giorgio, Piero Selvaggio’s restaurant on the Luxor end of Mandalay Place, flew too close to the Egyptian sun and burned up its wings. That’s why a restaurant like Rice & Company makes sense. It’s a hybrid sushi bar/Cantonese restaurant where it’s possible to dine for a modest $20-$30 per person, and the food is fresh and tasty. Read more »
Dining
How Bazaar!
Around the world in five incredible marketplaces
August 11th, 2011
Las Vegas continues to serve the city well with convincing depth and variety of international marketplaces—even outside of Chinatown with its markets of Pan-Asian leanings and Hispanic chains such as Mariana’s that have Goya products stacked to the ceilings. Although it’s comforting that the abundance of the aforementioned reflects some diverseness in our demographics, truly international cities go beyond such general breakdowns and contain some jewels—and yes, let us boldly proclaim that Las Vegas is an international city! Read more »
Dining
Modernist Cuisine, Vanguard Spanish ...
By any name, it’s a delicious journey. Here’s where to start in Las Vegas.
July 28th, 2011
The phenomenon commonly known as “molecular gastronomy”—also called “modernist cuisine” by former Microsoft executive Nathan Myhrvold, and “vanguard Spanish cuisine” by pioneering chef José Andrés—is now well-represented in Las Vegas for anyone to try. The movement took off in Spain, at Ferran Adrià’s elBulli, which recently closed so that the master can devote energy to research and development in his field. Read more »
Dining
Truffles in Paradise
New Le Cirque chef Gregory Pugin has a seductive touch with contemporary French
July 21st, 2011
Quality and consistency are necessary components of a restaurant’s longevity, and on that score, Le Cirque at Bellagio takes a back seat to no other in this city. The new executive chef, Gregory Pugin, has his own style, but the restaurant remains a bastion of contemporary French cuisine on the Strip. Read more »
Kiss the Cook
Culinary royalty adds a jewel to her crown with Bacio’s solid old-school Vegas Italian
July 14th, 2011
Las Vegas has few women chefs you could call bona fide stars outside the realm of pastry, which elevates Carioca Carla Pellegrino to the status of queen among her peers around here. Many of us enjoyed her meatballs, lemon chicken and vodka sauce when she was executive chef at Rao’s in Caesars Palace, and, at that time, a member of the family that owns that restaurant. Read more »
Dining
Down Mexico Way
Rustic authenticity from Las Vegas’ new Veracruz-style kitchen
July 7th, 2011
One common complaint I hear is how Vegas lacks quality Mexican food. But few of these people ever bother to check out mom-and-pop restaurants such as Los Antojos or Los Molcajetes, places serving creative and authentic dishes at absurdly low prices. Now, we can add to that list Los Jarochos, at the busy crossing of Rainbow and Tropicana, which could be the best of them all. Read more »
Dining
Small Plates, Big Flavors
Discover creative, elegant Japanese tapas at Kyara
June 30th, 2011
Kyara Japanese Tapas isn’t the first such restaurant in Vegas. We’ve already got sakaba, sake pubs serving food, such as the down-market Ichiza and the more formal and widely celebrated Raku. But Kyara is the first one here, I think, that totally nails the concept. It’s elegant, inexpensive and creative. Neither of the ones mentioned can claim that. Read more »
Dining
Come See Comme Ça
Rustic French is in good hands in the big city
June 23rd, 2011
When Cosmopolitan CEO John Unwin tapped David Myers and his West Hollywood French bistro to fill a niche on his third floor, he clearly was thinking of a casual—as opposed to stuffy—French venue. The result was a second Comme Ça, slightly different from its counterpart in California, but as rustic and easygoing as the original. Read more »
Feature
It’s the Bomb!
East Coast Eats brings a meaty taste of Boston to Henderson
June 16th, 2011
The venue is East Coast Eats, opened by a couple of guys from Massachusetts’ North Shore (or “Nawth Shaw,” as natives like me refer to it). The conceit in this storefront is the food we ate in the Boston area: roast beef sandwiches, calzones, various types of seafood on pasta, and above all, subs. And everything is done Boston-style. Read more »
Dining
A Texas-size Surprise
The Lone Star-themed Station offers quality, affordable old-Vegas Italian
June 9th, 2011
Enter San Lorenzo, an unassuming Italian restaurant at Texas Station. What, you already knew about Austins, the hotel-casino’s fine steak house? San Lorenzo is considerably less grand but no less accomplished. The muted, slightly drab décor features several mock Italianate frescoes on its walls and the odd wrought-iron fixture. But young chef Thomas O’Neill is cooking old-Vegas Italian dishes with gas, adding a personal flair to make them more complex, tastier and colorful than you have a right to expect so far from the Strip. Read more »
