The Skinny Critic

dinning and "whinning" in Vegas - a very disappointing meal at Fiamma

When I plan a trip to Vegas, my number one concern is always restaurants.  Vegas is now home to some of the greatest chefs in the world and with a little effort meals in Vegas can be quite remarkable (and expensive).  On my most recent trip, I was there with group of about 10 friends celebrating a belated birthday. Since I was with a large group the high end fine dinning restaurants were out of the question. No one wants a group of 10 rowdy 24 year-olds being loud as they pay for their $200 per person meal.

Instead I choose places that would have a fun atmosphere with what I hoped would be good food.  Our first night we went to Tao. I've eaten at Tao several times now and am usually quite happy with the experience. Good food, good drinks and a great atmosphere. There is something for everyone on their Japan meets China menu and prices are high but not outrageously so. 

My second night I made reservations at Fiamma. I asked several concierge and locals and read up reviews and overall all I heard was positive feedback. We showed up, a party of 9, hungry and ready for a great meal. The restaurant is located off a dimly lit corridor in the MGM grand. It has the feel of a mall restaurant with a cheap modern design.

We started with a few cocktails and eased our way into standard Italian appetizers of burrata, fried calamari and grilled octopus. All the starters were decent enough and we ordered our entrees. All the reviews raved about the lobster gnocchi --finished with a black truffle crema, roasted leeks and baby portobello, it sounded wonderful.  At least 5 of us ordered this dish, especially when I mentioned that it was supposedly so well regarded.

What a let down!! It wasn't the worst thing I've ever tasted, but it sure wasn't worth the thirty some dollars I paid for it.  It was bland and had too many mushy textures in it.

The other dishes I tasted didn't fare much better. The short rib raviolini with barbera wine, melted butter and black truffle was just as disappointing as the gnocchi.

It was as if the ingredients weren't fresh and thus no real flavors stood out. 

The worst were the pan seared diver sea scallops. They tasted like a saline solution and were actually so inedible that we sent them back. 

Dinner cost around $60 per person. No one left happy and we all wished we'd spent $80 for a better meal. I hate the feeling of wasting a good meal and we definitely wasted a meal here.

I don't know if maybe they were having an off night or if their food is just generally bad. I know that with all the stiff competition in Las Vegas, I would never recommend or return to Fiamma again.

Bouchon

*Skinny Seal*

Thomas Keller is easily the best chef in the country.  He has two 3-michelin star restaurants in the US: The French Laundry in Yountville, just outside Napa Valley and Per Se in New York City.  I have been to both and can easily say my meals at Per Se are of the best in my life. 

Keller also has a few casual restaurants known as Bouchon, one of which is located in The Venetian Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.  Bouchon is a French Brasserie done really well.  Steaming hot baguettes arrive to the table with jam and butter.  Staples include chicken and waffles, croque madame, and brioche French toast.  The chicken in waffles dish is far from ordinary.  A plate of steaming hot rotisserie chicken comes out next to four pieces of a bacon and chive waffle.  Three sauce dishes adjoin the plate, one a savory gravy, another sweet maple syrup and a third, Tahitian vanilla butter.  This dish is the perfect combination of salty and sweet...ying and yang.  

The croque madame is a toasted ham and cheese sandwich on brioche with a fried egg, mornay sauce and a heavy helping of french fries.  This dish was good, but not as spectacular as the chicken and waffles.  

The Bouchon French toast is more like a dessert as layers of brioche and cinnamon create a bread pudding with apples, custard and maple syrup. 

If they are offering a strawberry croissant as a special you must try it: a half croissant covered with a strawberry jam and a crumble topping.   The food here makes for the perfect lunch on an afternoon in Vegas.  Service is usually worse than spotty but the food is more than well executed and therefore worth the visit. 

Bouchon The Venetian Hotel & Casino (702) 414-6200

Michael Mina

*Skinny Seal*

Michael Mina has created a name for himself, particularly in San Francisco and Las Vegas.  His restaurant collection is now at a whopping 16 and they are in no way run like a cheesecake factory, but rather each as its own unique establishment.  We decided to try the Michael Mina at the Bellagio, because if a chef is going to put his name on a restaurant, it better be good.

It is one of the few restaurants not along the Bellagio fountains but rather back behind the beautiful floral garden over looking the pool.  An elegant yet bustling atmosphere gives way to two rooms with tourists and locals alike doing the tasting menus and ordering a-la-carte. 

His cookbook tasting menu features his signature items.  Tuna tartar prepared tableside with pine nuts and spices along sidepieces of fresh toast is a wonderful dish to start the meal. 

A lobster pot pie comes steaming hot, creamy and rich.  This dish would have been too much as an entrée on its own, but was fun to try in the tasting menu.  Black cod comes in a light Asian style broth with mushrooms and greens and ribeye atop mashed potatoes spinach and a jus is topped with foie gras.  The meat was a little chewy for me. 

 

Dessert was fun as it was a plate with four mini desserts: warm chocolate chip cookies, a root beer float, a red velvet cupcake with cocoa nib ice cream and a small piece of cheese cake. 

 

I felt like it was a very good example of Michael Mina’s cooking.  The service was wonderful and each dish was beautifully presented.  I look forward to exploring more of Mina’s restaurants.  

Michael Mina 3600 Las Vegas Blvd S (866) 259-7111

Carnevino

Las Vegas is a city of excess. Grand buffets, gambling and even ridiculous clothing all add the the allure that makes it Sin City.  Mario Batali has added his own place for the Vegas consumer to overindulge: a new steakhouse in the Palazzo known as Carnevino.  They say what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas...I wish this were true with the amount of food I eat while I'm there.  The waiters come round to insist that you order 3 courses, even though two would be more than enough food for the average person.  As you browse the menu you notice anti-pastas, pastas and of course the highlight care or meat.  We were presented with a wine list hundreds of pages long and a cocktail list featuring an Italian take on famous cocktails.  I started with a Prosecco cocktail with bitter cherries on top that was the perfect mix of bitter and sweet.
   My mother and I decided to share 3 courses as the gentlemen we were dining with wanted to do it Vegas style and we knew that would be more than enough food.  We started with the Prosciutto De Parma "Riserva" with gnocco fritto.  The gnocco fritto were tinny little fried pieces of dough that we used to wrap the prosciutto around.  For our next course we had the Ricotta and Egg Raviolo with brown butter.  This dish was almost identical to the one served at Osteria Mozza.  For our final course we shared the Osso Buco alla Milanese with saffron orzo and gremolata.  The meat was so tender and had been cooked for 7 hours.  This dish was excellent.  Dinner was ended with a chocolate peanut butter torte and homemade gelato: goat's milk, Dulce de leche and vanilla.  I would recommend avoiding the goat's milk... Over all dinner was excellent, extremely heavy and very expensive.  Service was rather spotty for a restaurant of this caliber but the food was right on par. 

Carnevino The Palazzo Hotel 3325 Las Vegas Blvd. South  (702) 789-4141

Prime Steakhouse

For a great piece of steak in a beautiful setting it is harder to beat Prime at the Bellagio Hotel. I've realized that there are two important factors when it comes to steak: the cut/quality of the meat and the sauce you put on it.  Prime has great steak sauces and great cuts of meat.  I'm personally a filet mignon girl...I almost always get filet mignon (except when I'm at Cut of course!). Medium rare with a red wine sauce is my preference. The sides of creamed spinach and wild mushrooms are amazing.  They also serve warm fresh pretzel break that is out of this world.  Ask for a table by the window and gaze out at the Bellagio fountains during your meal.  Have dessert outside on the patio so you can hear the music to the fountains.  Another perfect evening in Vegas. 

Prime Steakhouse.  Bellagio Hotel, lakeside. (702) 693-7223