Royally Flushed

Stratta will be one of the restaurants at Wynn Las Vegas honoring Julia Child at Restaurant Week Las Vegas 2009. (Photo/content copyright RoyallyFlushed.com 2009)

Masters in their own right, top chefs at Wynn Las Vegas and sister property, Encore, will be paying tribute to culinary icon Julia Child throughout next week’s Las Vegas Restaurant Week. Chefs like Alessandro Stratta, chief toque at Wynn’s two-star Michelin rated French restaurant ALEX and the more casual rustic Italian restaurant, STRATTA, will be offering special and specially-priced menus based on dishes associated with Julia Child and her impact on American cuisine.

Chef Stratta, who met and cooked for Child during his run at Renoir at Mirage Las Vegas, will be preparing his rendition of lobster Newberg at ALEX while at STRATTA, he’ll be offering a special version of coq au vin, the classic dish of chicken, mushroom, onions, bacon and herbs cooked in red wine and served with egg noodles. Diners will be paying at most $50.09 to dine at these and other top Las Vegas dining spots during the national charitable event. A portion of the proceeds from Restaurant Week Las Vegas will benefit Three Square Food Bank, a partner organization of Feeding America, which is working to end hunger in Southern Nevada. (more…)

"MGM Grand restaurant SeaBlue will be just one of the top dining spots participating in next week's Las Vegas Restaurant Week." Photo/content copyright 2009 RoyallyFlushed.com

Restaurant Week Las Vegas starts just one week from now and brings with it your chance to try some of the city’s best – and we mean absolute BEST – restaurants for a fixed price of $20.09, $30.09 or a high (we think “low”) of $50.09. Running from August 31 through Sept. 6, more than 50 of the city’s top dining establishments will participate in the annual event which benefits Three Square Food Bank, a partner organization of Feeding America. Working to end hunger in Southern Nevada, a portion of all Restaurant Week sales will benefit Three Square.

When we say best, we aren’t kidding. Take a look at just some of the top restaurants (link to a list of all participating restaurants at the end of the post) that will be firing up the stoves for this national charitable event:

Wynn/Encore: Alex, Botero, Bartolotta Ristorante di Mare, Daniel Boulud Brasserie (more…)

The ethereal Mix at Mandalay Bay offers diners luxurious surroundings, superb food and a fabulous view of The Strip and all at a discount this summer.

If you’re like us, planning the perfect trip to Las Vegas starts with finding the best Vegas hotel room at the lowest rate. Once we’ve secured where we’re staying, we go right on to figuring out the next most important trip detail — where we’re going to eat while we’re in town! We love great food and we love great deals so when we can combine the two it’s like hitting the Vegas dining deal equivalent of a Wheel of Fortune jackpot.

That’s exactly how we feel about the gift certificates available through Restaurant.com. We’ve written about these before and frankly, we really don’t know why everybody isn’t using them not only in Las Vegas but in any vacation spot around the country not to mention for restaurants in their own hometowns. (We and our friends use them here in Phoenix all the time.)

So, we’re writing about them again because in looking over the list of restaurants to choose from for our late-July trip, we were so excited to see a bunch of terrific Mandalay Bay restaurants added to the selection. Here’s a recap on the deal: for just $10, you buy $25 restaurant gift certificates from restaurant.com good at top spots all over Vegas. But, wait (yes, we do know we sound like an infomercial!) use this restaurant discount code SEVENTY and get those same $25 certificates for just $3 now through July 13.

Now, check out the great slate of Mandalay Bay restaurants that are participating in the program –

Fleur De Lys – Renowned chef Hubert Keller’s contemporary French restaurant. We’ve been fans of Keller since he hit the dining scene in San Francisco and we watched as he recently competed on the Bravo TV show “Top Chef Masters.” (He was the winner of that round so we look forward to seeing him in the series finale later this summer.) (more…)

Dine for less at Enoteca San Marco at The Venetian and check out Chef Mario Batali's signature orange Crocs.

We’re always thrilled to bring you news of great deals on Las Vegas hotel rooms and now we have an amazing offer on some of the best restaurants in Las Vegas.

We’ve sung the praises of Restaurant.com in our “Las Vegas Values” article for “Casino Player” magazine (March 2009) and right here on RoyallyFlushed so we were excited to see this fantastic deal from the money-saving website.  From now through March 31 — you can purchase $25 dining coupons for just $3! Yes, you read that right…three bucks buys you twenty-five dollars in dining at restaurants all around Las Vegas.

And here’s what we really like about the program:  you buy certificates only for those restaurants you plan on visiting.  No more buying a whole “book” of coupons only to use one or two.  At Restaurant.com, you choose only those places you like or you’d like to try while on vacation.  (And if you live in Las Vegas, it’s a great way to try some new spots for a lot less dough or save some bucks at your favorite places, too.)

Here are some of our recommended restaurants in Las Vegas: (more…)

Stylish dining at Botero Steak at Wynn Encore in Las Vegas.

A lot of special occasions are celebrated by going to Las Vegas.  Birthdays, anniversaries, bachelor and bachelorette parties, “the-divorce-was finalized-and-it’s-time-to-party”-party.  You name it; we celebrate it by taking a jaunt to the Nevada desert.  So on a recent trip to Las Vegas, when it was time to pick a restaurant for a birthday dinner for P.B., we chose the new Botero Steak restaurant at Wynn Encore.

Being huge fans of SW Steakhouse at Wynn Las Vegas, we were curious to see how the newest steak-centric Wynn restaurant would stack up.  It’s a real pleasure to report that this newest eatery is firing on all cylinders – and that’s just a few weeks after opening.

Botero – named for the South American painter, sculptor, and artist who is a favorite of Steve Wynn’s – is striking in its design and lay-out no doubt in part to nightlife impresario and Botero partner, Victor Drai.

(more…)

Daniel Boulud at Wynn Las Vegas failed to impress this diner.

Our favorite food writer visits Daniel Boulud Brasserie at Wynn and comes away with a less-than-stellar impression.

Not even the crustiest critic goes out looking for a bad experience.  Au contraire! Hope springs eternal that each new restaurant just might be the one that delivers a great meal with adept service in a charming environment.

Naturally, the more high profile the eatery,   the more the diner is led to expect and if the name Daniel Boulud is not emblazoned in the culinary firmament, I don’t know what is.

Boulud’s Vegas home is at The Wynn, tucked downstairs with a view of the lagoon (they actually call it a lake) and its always-surprising conceptual sound and light show. The room is narrow, sinuously curved and with a palette of grays, coolly cozy. Cool might best describe the staff as well, at least until an issue arises. (more…)

Rick Moonen's RM Seafood at Mandalay Bay Las Vegas.

It may seem odd to go to the Nevada desert to indulge in your favorite seafood dishes but that is exactly what P.B. and I set out to do when we dined at RM Seafood at Mandalay Bay Resort And Casino. RM refers to Chef/Owner Rick Moonen, a former New Yorker who previously helmed the kitchens at two of our favorite NYC seafood restaurants – The Water Club and Oceana. Because we were familiar with his food, we were expecting excellent meals and weren’t disappointed.

Occupying a back corner of the casino, the two-story restaurant is near the Mandalay Bay theater. Upstairs is the high-end more formal restaurant complete with chef’s tasting menu, Hudson Valley foie gras and an assortment of caviars. Downstairs, where we ate, is a seafood joint that would be perfectly at home on any street corner in New York or San Francisco.

White leather banquettes, teak chairs and table tops — plus a few TV screens perched over the bar — let you know you’re in the “slang” portion of the restaurant. While the setting and menu may be more casual, the attention to food and service is most decidedly not. (more…)

Morels French Steakhouse at The Palazzo made our list of favorites.

Doing a “Best Restaurants in Las Vegas” list is sort of like doing the “Sexiest Man Alive” issue of People magazine.  We’ve probably missed a couple of hotties; you might think a few are past their prime; and we may even have you shaking your head in a “What-the-hell-were-they-thinking-picking-Zac-Efron?” kind of way but, hey, it’s our list and we’re sticking to it.  (At least until our next trip to Vegas later this month….)

And while you can go to innumerable websites and find scrolls and scrolls of Las Vegas restaurant listings, we’re going to give you a workable, two-page printable list of our favorite Las Vegas restaurants — mostly on the Strip — conveniently arranged into different categories.  We’ve even included the 36 links you need to check them out for hours, phone numbers and all the info you may need.  Also, be sure to check out the most up-to-date Las Vegas dining deals and restaurant coupons at our sister site, BestLasVegasValues.com.

Steakhouses:  SW Steakhouse at Wynn Las Vegas     BOA Steakhouse at the Forum Shoppes at Caesars Palace     CUT at The Shops at the Palazzo     Morels French Steakhouse at The Palazzo     Delmonico Steakhouse at The Venetian     Craftsteak at MGM Grand     Strip House at Planet Hollywood     N9NE at The Palms     Prime at The Bellagio     Charlie Palmer Steak at The Four Seasons Las Vegas

Seafood:  RM Seafood at Mandalay Bay (either upstairs or the more casual downstairs)     AquaKnox at the Venetian     Bartolotta Ristorante di Mare at Wynn Las Vegas     Emeril’s New Orleans Fish House at MGM Grand     Joe’s Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab at The Forum Shoppes at Caesars Palace     Michael Mina at The Bellagio     SeaBlue at the MGM Grand

Sushi:  Koi at Planet Hollywood     Social House at Treasure Island     Nobu at The Hard Rock Hotel & Casino     Sushi Roku at The Forum Shoppes at Caesars Palace     Yellowtail Sushi Restaurant & Bar at The Bellagio     Shibuya at MGM Grand

Chef-Driven, Food-as-High-Art, Titanium Card Preferred Fine Dining: Alex at Wynn Las Vegas     Restaurant Guy Savoy at Caesars Palace     Bouchon Bistro (Thomas Keller) at The Venetian      L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon at MGM Grand     Picasso (Julian Serrano) at The Bellagio

Staff Favorites:  Olives at The Bellagio     Burger Bar at Mandalay Bay     Mon Ami Gabi at Paris     David Burke at The Venetian    Bobby Flay’s Mesa Grill at Caesars Palace     Rosemary’s Restaurant (Off-Strip and completely worth the cab ride!)     The Grill at Valentino at The Venetian     Mix at THEhotel at Mandalay Bay

Chef Todd English's "Olives" at The Bellagio is a great bet for lunch.

Don’t be fooled by the location or first impression of Olives at The Bellagio, Las Vegas.  It’s open to the walkway through the tony shopping arcade and at first glance appears trendy-casual. And while it is marketed as one of the resort’s casual eateries, Olives at The Bellagio is actually a paragon of culinary consistency and excellence.

Once inside, it’s also pretty nifty looking with rich, dark hues, luxurious furnishings and over-sized arched windows leading out to a lovely patio overlooking the fountain.

The briskly professional staff sweeps to the table with water, menus and the most seductive bread service ever. An artisinal assortment is accompanied by both mellow, satiny black and green olive tapenades and glistening, giant whole olives. Warning — don’t overdo — the dishes that follow are equally spectacular.  (more…)