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The Best City in the U.S.A. for Food and Wine

New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Atlanta and Los Angeles may be the finalists, but the winner is Las Vegas. There are 120 Master Sommeliers in the world (wine knowledge and blind tastings are part of the rigorous exam). 74 of them live in the USA; 13 of whom work in Las Vegas. There are celebrity chefs who promote their TV shows, books, clothing lines, pizza, etc., and rarely turn on a stove. I have eliminated the two most prominent examples from this discussion. If you put your name on a restaurant, you should be there working at least half the time.

Janelle Brown of the New York Times in 2004 wrote: “When the Rat Pack moved out, Las Vegas lost its reputation for chic. Between the ubiquitous frozen margaritas, the roving bachelorette parties, the theme-park décor (and don’t forget the $3.99 buffets), the town scared away the nation’s arbiters of taste. The emerging Las Vegas is now sexy rather than tacky, knows its contemporary design and is definitely priced for the high-roller crowd.”

There are 76 Wine Spectator Grand Award-winning restaurants World-wide, and 4 are in Las Vegas; 28 of the 700 Best of Award of Excellence restaurants are also in Las Vegas. Follow along with me as I sliced, diced and slurped my way through ten days of the best food and wine of Las Vegas.

Las Vegas strip at night

Time to wine and dine.
The MGM/Mirage group includes 10 hotels (MGM Grand, Bellagio, Mandalay Bay, The Mirage, TI, Monte Carlo, Luxor, New York-New York, Excalibur and Circus Circus).
MGM Grand- Joel Robuchon and L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon. Chef Robuchon cooks here at least six times a year. He was named Chef of the Century and his Joel Robuchon restaurant has won a Mobil 5 Star restaurant (one of 17 in the U.S.) as well as an AAA Five-Diamond Award. The five room space recalls the glamour and elegance of 1930’s Paris.
L’Atelier presents his cuisine in an accessible, informal style. Sommelier Darren Lutz is great at food and wine pairings. 750 wines; tre cher and elegant.

NOBHILL- Michael Mina restaurant- 500 wines, 70 champagnes. Try to get one of the semi-private cabanas by the entrance. Meant to recreate the atmosphere and cuisine of San Francisco.

Emeril’s New Orleans Fish House has 1,275 wines and a Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence. I doubt Emeril has much time to man the kitchen here.

Bellagio- Celebrity restaurateur Sirio Maccioni sent his son Mario out here 9 years ago when the Bellagio first opened.
Le Cirque & Osteria del Circo have 1,000 wines and the elegance the Maccioni’s bring to everything they touch shows. Both restaurants have a Wine Spectator Best Award of Excellence award.

Picasso has 1,525 wines on their list assembled by Master Sommelier Robert Smith. Another Wine Spectator Grand Award winner and a AAA 5 Diamond winner. French cuisine with a hint of Spanish influence, and numerous works of art by the great master Picasso.

Aureole's wine tower

Mandalay Bay- I spent a lot of time here. Aureole- William Sherer- wine director- a Charlie Palmer restaurant. He has many places outside of his home base of Chicago. Does he still cook here? No other place in LV comes close as a wine lover’s mecca. This Wine Spectator Grand Award winner with over 5,000 selections has a 42-foot temperature controlled wine tower with bungee jumping “wine angels” who are trained acrobats and gymnastics. Their rare wine collection includes half-a-dozen examples of the prestigious 1900 vintage in Bordeaux. Ask about the eWinebook, the world’s first electronic wine list. Worth the show.

Fleur de Lys- Jason Reed sommelier. Chef Hubert Keller commutes from his restaurant in San Francisco and is here at least twice a month. 900 wines, with 100 ½ bottles (great for single diners). Best of Award of Excellence from WS. The chef loves to DJ on occasion. In 2005 Bon Apetit Magazine named Fleur de Lys as one of the nation’s “Hot 50 Restaurants.”

RM Seafood is comprised of restaurant rm and rbar café- at Mandalay Place. Located on a 100,000-square-foot sky bridge connecting Mandalay Bay and Luxor resorts, it is the first retail center in the world directly attached to two major casino resorts. Christopher Janz- sommelier & beverage director. Chef Rick Moonen has moved to Las Vegas from NYC and is in the kitchen 5 or 6 nights a week. 450 wines designed to compliment seafood specialties with fresh fish flown in 7 days a week. Although rbar café is less formal than restaurant rm, the same menu items are available.

STRIPSTEAK- A Michael Mina Restaurant with 600 wines including a rare collection of cult classic California wines and a separate Single Malt Scotch list of 100.

55° Wine Shop & Bar

Directly opposite RM Seafood is 55 Degrees Wine Shop & Bar owned by the Mandalay Bay Resorts. There are 2,000 wines; 30 by the glass. Silver Oaks & Caymus are the most popular premium wines at the bar, (what no Thunderbird?)

Monte Carlo- Andre’s French Restaurant was voted #1 restaurant in Las Vegas by Zagat’s Guide. A Wine Spectator Best of Award winner with 1,700 wines. Chef/owner Andre Rochat patterned this restaurant, opened in 1997 after his longtime first venture opened in 1980, in the Fremont Street area. It is reminiscent of Versailles, with its ornate Renaissance décor and gilded opulence. The Louis XVI Salon located upstairs is the best place to enjoy a fine cigar and rare Cognac’s. The chef has assembled the most extensive collection of rare vintage Cognac’s this side of the Atlantic. His oldest being a 1777 Jacques Hardy honoring the first flag of the United States of America. Andre is not a late bloomer but the veteran of fine dining in town and he honored me by joining me for dinner.
In 2001 he added Alize on the 56th floor of the Palms Hotel with 2,200 wines and another Best of Award of Excellence.

Palms- N9NE Steak House- Pronounced as Nine. Christian Margesson- wine director- has 850 wines. Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence. Also renowned for its champagne and caviar bar.  (See Alize above.)

Venetian- Piero Selvaggio Valentino- Wine Spectator Grand Award winner- 2,400 wines. Sister restaurant to world renowned Valentino’s in Santa Monica. Voted best Italian restaurant in Las Vegas.
Delmonico Steak House- Owned by Emeril Lagasse; Master Sommelier Kevin Vogt is in charge of the collection of 1,800 wines. Another Wine Spectator Grand Award winner.

Wynn Las Vegas- There are 17 sommelier in house with 100,000 bottles of wine. Master Sommelier Paolo Barbieri can be found at Alex with 1,100 selections including over 200 burgundies.
The all-Italian wine list at Bartolotta Ristorante di Mare is 23 pages including 23 dessert wines. Steve Wynn insisted that his chefs live in Las Vegas, and so far all but Daniel Boulud have done so.

Harrah’s group of hotels include Rio, Paris, Caesars Palace, Bally’s, Harrah’s, Imperial Palace & Flamingo.
Rio Las Vegas has The Wine Cellar offering over 1,400 wines at retail, 100 wines by the glass and a 50,000 bottle wine inventory. The wine bar has munchies and cheese platters to enhance your wine enjoyment. Custom wine and food dinners are also served here. The oldest bottle in stock is an 1800 Thomas Jefferson Madeira. The 1924 6 Liter Mouton Rothschild sells for $200,000 and there are 170 vintages of Château d’YQuem dating back to 1855 which can be yours for a mere $1.5 million.

Paris Las Vegas- Eiffel Tower Restaurant boasts a wine list that contains over 1,000 wines including 47 different half-bottle selections. Almost the entire list is French and Californian with 16 vintages of Chateau Latour & 17 of Chateau Mouton Rothschild. The 1982 Chateau Petrus is the most expensive at $12,000 & a DRC Le Montrachet 2003 is $4,600. Located 11 stories up it has a panoramic view of the strip, along with a romantic piano bar.
Napoleon Champagne Bar- 100 champagnes and sparkling wines.

Caesars Palace- Master Sommelier Lois De Santos can be found at Wolfgang Puck’s Spago in the Forum Shop area that features California-style cuisine.
Payard Patisserie & Bistro whose signature shop is at 73rd Street & Lexington Avenue in Manahttan.
Guy Savoy has a 1,900 bottle wine list including: 14 Krug Champagnes, 23 Le Montrachet, 42 DRC’s, 14 vintages of Château Mouton & Lafite Rothschild, 13 Château Margaux’s, 15 Château Petrus, 29 Guigal Grand Cru Côte Rôtie’s and 17 vintages of Château d’YQuem.
Bradley Ogden restaurant opened by the superstar chef from San Francisco.
Rao's original restaurant is at 114th Street off Pleasant Avenue, and has been duplicated with two rooms of 10 tables each to replicate the New York City restaurant. There is also a “feast area”, bar and outdoor seating, including a Bocce ball court. At Rao's, as in all the restaurants I visited, there is a connection to ownership. No absentee or TV chefs here.

What drew me to Adam’s Ribs, a BBQ restaurant across the street from UNLV, was the Freakin’ Frog Bar/Lounge collection of 900 beers. Above the bar is the Whisky Attic, a private club with over 600 whiskies including Rye, Irish, Canadian, Bourbon, Scotch and International products. It boasts the largest collection in a whisky-only bar in the world. If anyone knows of a larger collection, please let me know.

Sites of interest:
Las Vegas Tourist Board – (877) VISIT-LV


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Ron Kapon is seeking wine tasters for the New York Tasters Guild.
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