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LAS VEGAS IS A VAST AMERICAN DREAM, constantly reinventing itself. Alongside the mega-resorts, outrageous shows and big-name musical acts, the number of Las Vegas haute cuisine establishments has grown tremendously. Epicurious diners can be sated by a voyage through various dining rooms.
The prices can be hefty—but if a fabulous dining experience is desired, Las Vegas will not disappoint. Here’s your menu to some of the finest dining in town.
THE FIRST THING that strikes you when you walk into Alize is the incredible view. Located on the 56th floor of the Palms Hotel, the restaurant’s 180-degree panorama is breathtaking. No wonder that in the three years since opening, Alize has been one of the most-desirable spots in town. It’s a place to bring your significant other, to dine on superb French cuisine.
Chef Andre Rochat, who operates two other restaurants in Las Vegas, presents guests with refined flavors, such as his splendid foie gras in maple-syrup reduction. The cuisine easily finds a match in the restaurant’s 1,600-bottle wine list. Alize also offers 102 half-bottles of wine, a practical trend gaining momentum.
One of the latest entries on the fine-dining Vegas tableau is the eponymous Bradley Ogden. Unlike many other celebrity chefs, Ogden is actually in the kitchen, nightly. The restaurant epitomizes the San Francisco–based company’s mantra: Bring diners farm-fresh-to-table American food.
With a handsome décor, Bradley Ogden is in perhaps the best location in Vegas—100 feet from the Celine Dion Coliseum Theater inside Caesars Palace. And Ogden’s Kobe beef hamburger is the best in town. “My menu changes every day to reflect the finest American food there is to offer,” he says.
Picasso offers exemplary Mediterranean-inspired dishes, presented by renowned chef Julian Serrano. Inside the Bellagio casino-hotel, Picasso is for adults. With dark woods and tony carpeting that accent a collection of Pablo Picasso’s paintings, it looks like a dining room at the Louvre—or maybe Donald Trump’s house.
The buzz at Picasso is palpable. For a remarkable treat, sample the sautéed fillet of black bass with saffron sauce and cauliflower cousseline.
Diners can hope for a front-row table at Lutece, which overlooks a gondola-trafficked Grand Canal inside the Venetian casino-hotel. Despite the Vegas glitz outside, the elegant black-and-copper Lutece exudes power and refinement.
The French cuisine, created by New York chef David Feau, is presented with delicate service. The Lutece chef’s five-course tasting menu is a must. Courses of note include artsy black-and-white scallops and the superlative sautéed foie gras with chocolate sauce and orange marmalade.
For a different slice of the American pie, there’s Commander’s Palace. This venerable New Orleans staple has gone upscale, bringing saucy Creole flavor to the Strip. Within the Desert Passage shopping area at the Aladdin casino-hotel, Commander’s Palace is a large, old-fashioned restaurant featuring friendly, excellent service and arresting cuisine.
Chef Carlos Guia produces outstanding French-based, Creole-infused seafood combos with enough heat and zest to make a Southern belle blush. The alligator gumbo or the jumbo lump blue-crab cake bursts with flavor. The original bananas Foster, invented at Commander’s Palace, is a dessert to remember.
Another local standout is Charlie Palmer Steak, in the understated Four Seasons Hotel, nestled atop the Mandalay Bay casino-hotel. Executive chef Steven Blandino creates artistic dishes, like a red-and-yellow pepper mousse, an ahi tuna sashimi tower and a handsome Kobe beef carpaccio salad. Of course, steaks reigns in this scion of the famed New York steakhouse, and the quality of the meat here is unsurpassed.
Fine dining has taken root at Lake Las Vegas, inside the new Ritz-Carlton. Long known for preeminent sophistication, the Ritz-Carlton brought in Stephan Marshall as executive chef, and he’s putting the Medici Terrace Restaurant on the culinary map. This “pan Mediterranean” restaurant offers diners less Vegas sizzle but more steak, as it were.
At Medici and throughout Las Vegas, the fine-dining landscape shines bright enough for any high-roller.
Alize Restaurant is in Palms Casino Resort, 702-951-7000, open 5:30-10:30 nightly. Bradley Ogden at Caesars Palace, 702-731-7410, is open 5-11 p.m. nightly. Charlie Palmer Steak, Four Seasons Las Vegas (within Mandalay Bay), 702-632-5120, is open 5:30-10:15 nightly. Medici Terrace Restaurant in Ritz-Carlton Lake Las Vegas, 702-567-4382, serves dinner from 6 to 10 nightly. Lutece in the Venetian, 702-414-2220, has dinner 5:30-10:30 nightly. Picasso at the Bellagio, 702-693-7223, offers dinner seatings from 6 to 9:30 p.m. Wednesday through Monday.
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