Star chefs put on a VEGAS SHOW
These days, foodies are flocking to the strip to eat, not to gamble
Ialways thought I’d hate Vegas. I don’t gamble or ogle showgirls. I hadn’t even seen any of those Ocean movies. Good food is always good fun, but Vegas’s reputation as the buffet capital of America kept me far, far away.
But five years ago, foodies I know who go to gourmet destinations such as Paris, New York and Barcelona were including Las Vegas. Chefs’ names they mentioned were impressive: Joel Robuchon, JeanGeorges Vongerichten, Thomas Keller, Mario Batali, Guy Savoy, Bobby Flay.
Dozens of star chefs count at least one Vegas property in their portfolio these days — for when it comes to celebrity-chef cred, a Las Vegas restaurant is as essential as a cookbook, a cooking show or a line of cookware.
Las Vegas has become a dining destination surpassed by few cities, as there exists no area that counts as many top-notch restaurants in such proximity to each other as the Vegas strip.
Today, entertainment has surpassed gambling as the prime source of revenue for Las Vegas hotels. It all started with Wolfgang Puck, the Austrian-born California cook who made gourmet pizza part of the ’90s zeitgeist with his Beverly Hills restaurant Spago. Stroll through the Caesars Palace Forum Shops, and you’ll come upon Spago Las Vegas. In 1992 it became the place for Vegas regulars looking for a sophisticated dining experience — leaving all those cowboy bars, buffets and hotel lobby coffee shops in the dust.
Nowhere else will you find as many fabulous restaurants within walking distance of each other.
The late chef Jean-Louis Palladin introduced French nouvelle cuisine at Napa.
Then came Emeril Lagasse. Emeril’s New Orleans Fish House made Vegas a destination for chefs looking for a satellite operation. Soon hoteliers such as Steve Wynn — former owner of the Mirage and the Bellagio, and current owner of Wynn and Encore — wanted in on the gourmet action. By the late ’90s, chefdriven eateries were popping up in Vegas hotels as quickly as Cirque du Soleil extravaganzas.
Those early days could be dicey; former New York Times critic Bryan Miller said in 1997 that “food and service vary as much as a gambler’s luck.” But the Las Vegas I visited three times — in 2009, 2010 and again last May — was impressive, for both food and service, especially wine service, as Las Vegas restaurants employ more certified sommeliers than any other city in the United States.
And while the food is generally impressive, the extravagance of the dining rooms punch home the fact that you’re in the entertainment capital of the U.S.
Though considered tacky by many, Las Vegas — or should I say the socalled “New Vegas” of glitzy resorts like the Wynn, Pallazzo, Bellagio, Venetian and the chic, new Cosmopolitan — is awe-inspiring. Today’s Vegas is an adult Disneyland with opulent suites, serious shopping, spas, nightclubs, headline entertainers and extravagant shows. Names such as Gucci, Prada and Louis Vuitton grace the strip alongside billboards featuring Celine Dion, Jerry Seinfeld and Cher. Restaurants by chefs such as Alain Ducasse, Pierre Gagnaire, Gordon Ramsay and Jose Andres play right into that luxury niche.
None of Vegas’s name chefs is local, there’s nothing in the way of indigenous cuisine, and most every ingredient arrives by truck or air. Although an effort is being made to develop a relationship between chefs and Nevada farmers, when I dined there, the strawberries came from California, the lobster from Brittany and the cuttlefish from Sicily.
A food lover’s Vegas itinerary could read something like this: Breakfast at Bouchon, Thomas Keller’s magnificent bistro in the Venetian, where you can feast on sourdough waffles or toasted almond brioche. As several of the top restaurants are closed at lunch, go casual and head to Bobby Flay’s Mesa Grill at Caesars; if you want to soak up some sun, visit Le Cave at the Wynn, where you sit on an air-conditioned terrasse overlooking the hotel’s spectacular pools. Dining on a budget? The $22.13 lunch at Milos (yes, that Milos) is considered the best lunch deal in Vegas; for a quick bite, try Gordon Ramsay BurGR at Planet Hollywood.
There’s also Mario Batali’s new B&B Burger and Beer, where you can enjoy a killer hamburger with craft beers or flights of wine priced for about $10 for three glasses.