By Elizabeth Park
Restaurants in
Las Vegas have grown from the typical coffee shop and all-you-can-eat buffets of the 1980s to a plethora of award-winning eateries operated by "celebrity chefs." According to Fodors, a "flood of newer restaurants and ever-more-prominent chefs have radically changed the experience of eating in Las Vegas." Visitors looking for upscale restaurants in Vegas will have a variety from which to choose.
Alex
Frommer's Review says that Alex Restaurant at Wynn has "a general sense of food as pleasure and art...one of the most special dining experiences in Vegas." (Frommer's: "Las Vegas Restaurants", February 2010) Alex is a Forbes Travel Guide Five-Star award winner, AAA Five-Diamond Award winner and is a Two-Star Michelin Travel Guide winner. Diners select from two tasting menus or a prix-fix menu featuring appetizer, main course and dessert. The tasting menu offers Butter Poached Maine Lobster with sweet corn custard; Veal Sweetbreads with puff pastry and fresh plums; and Toasted Vanilla Custard with maple poached peaches and creme fraiche. Wine pairings are available. Prix fixe choices include a Seared Foie Gras appetizer with roasted peaches and honey gastrique and Crispy Pork Belly with English peas and compressed melons. Dessert selections include Roasted Pineapple with banana basque cake and Godiva Ice Cream.
Alex Restaurant
Wynn Hotel and Casino
3131 Las Vegas Blvd. S.
Las Vegas, Nevada 89109
(702) 248-3463
wynnlasvegas.com
Le Cirque
A Five-Diamond AAA award winning restaurant, Le Cirque at the Bellagio is decorated with French circus murals and billowing fabrics. Le Cirque is a One-Star Michelin Travel Guide award winner. A wine list of 900 choices is available. Main course selections include Filet de Loup de Mer, Sea Bass in a pinot noir reduction with crispy potatoes; "Blanquette" de Lapin, roasted rabbit with crispy spaetzles in a Riesling sauce; and Homard Retour d'Asie, lobster poached in butter with king crab ravioli in curry sauce. A pre-theater menu is offered from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. with selections such as the Coeur de Filet du Boeuf, beef tenderloin with potato souffle and peas mousseline; and Dos de Saumon, a Scottish salmon with Parmesan gnocchi. Crepe Suzette and Creme Brulee are among the desserts. A Degustation Menu is available with sommelier wine pairings upon request.
Le Cirque
Bellagio Las Vegas,
3600 Las Vegas Blvd. S.
Las Vegas, NV 89109
(702) 693-8100
bellagio.com
Joel Robuchon
Food and Wine Magazine critic Jane Sigal writes, "Joel Robuchon has brought rarefied cuisine to the Nevada desert, an extraordinary feat, and his food there is just as spectacular as his cuisine at Jamin in the '80's. Indeed the food at Joel Robuchon is on par with the best I've ever had in Paris." (Food and Wine: "Robuchon Headlines in Las Vegas", February 2006.) Located at the MGM Casino, Joel Robuchon is the only Three-Star Michelin Travel Guide winning restaurant in Las Vegas. Chef Robuchon, named "Chef of the Century" by the prestigious French Gault Millau Dining Guide, prepares traditional French cuisine. Entree choices include La Chataigne, a chestnut volute with foie gras; Les Crustaces, a lemongrass roasted lobster with green curry; and Le Boeuf de Kobe, Kobe beef rib-eye cooked on salt rock. Two-, three- and four-course tasting menus are offered with appetizers, soups, main course, cheeses and/or dessert. A 16-course Menu Degustation featuring the chef's signature dishes also is available.
Joel Robuchon
MGM Grand Hotel and Casino
3799 Las Vegas Blvd. S.
Las Vegas, NV 89109
(702) 891-7925
mgmgrand.com
Resources
About the Author:
Elizabeth Park has written since 1983, with work appearing in the "Oxnard Press Courier" in Oxnard, Calif., "The Centre Daily Times" in State College, Pa., and online at VisitSouth and other websites. Park holds a Bachelor of Arts in journalism from Pennsylvania State and completed graduate work at Rutgers University in English literature and Emory University in theology.
