From Las Vegas
The Top Restaurant Town in
the World
Why Not?
By
Alain Gayot with reporting by Charlette Krane
We
are not here to chronicle the history of Las Vegas, but now
that Sin City has become a major tourist and business destination
and leading metropolis, having weathered wars, recessions,
depressions, anti-gambling crusades, the Prohibition, greedy
gangsters, Howard Hughes, Mike Tyson, killer heat waves, floods
and nuclear tests, we would like to remind you of a few items
on its culinary timeline.
When
Mormon leader Brigham Young passed through in 1858, he abandoned
plans to colonize the valley for lack of basic resources.
In 1931, when the Hoover Dam project kicked in, it would have
been difficult to find much more than beans and whiskey at
the casinos erected in a jiffy to cater to the mostly male
workforce, or fried chicken at the Green Shack. We know that
when Bugsy Siegel opened the Flamingo in 1946, patrons did
not spend their dollars on gastronomic adventures; there simply
were no options. In time, casinos took the hassle out of the
eating experience and set up the all-too-notorious $1.99 all-you-can-eat
buffets.
About
fifty years ago, the Venetian, an Italian restaurant owned
by Larry Ruvo’s family, jumped on the bandwagon, closing
two years ago, a few years after patriarch Lou Ruvo passed
away. Larry Ruvo, along with partner Steve Wynn, founded the
Best Brands liquor distributor in 1970. Several years later
that business was sold to Southern Wine and Spirits, now Nevada’s
largest wine and liquor distributor, for which Larry is Senior
Managing Director. Among restaurants that followed the Venetian
were the late-great Candlelight Room at the Flamingo, Luigi’s,
Villa d’Este and the Palace Court, which started decent
service at Caesars
Palace in 1975, closing in April 2000 to make way for
the resort’s high-roller villas. Two fine-dining restaurants
from the 70’s that remain are Andre's
French Restaurant and Michael's,
which is reminiscent of the Candlelight Room.
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The
culinary revolution started in 1992 with the arrival of Wolfgang
Puck, followed several years later by Charlie Trotter, Emeril
Lagasse and Todd English. But not everything was a success
then. After serious losses, high-rollers would be ushered
into dining rooms to be comforted. They demanded thick steaks
rather than roast squab, right in the middle of service, therefore
posing a great challenge to a gastronomic temple. In the case
of Charlie at the MGM,
the frustrated perfectionist chef departed… to return
later. That room is now none other than the posh and successful Nobhill restaurant, operated by gifted chef-turned-entrepreneur Michael
Mina. Our first print coverage of these developments started
as a chapter in our 1995 Los
Angeles Restaurants guide where Top Toques of 14/20 were awarded to Andre's
French Restaurant (closed in 2009), Isis, Pamplemousse, Spago and Tillerman.
At
the turn of the millennium, Las Vegas had spun some serious
dining rooms, which were awarded in our now stand-alone book, The
Best of Las Vegas, where the top level suddenly was
raised to 18/20 for Picasso;
17/20 for Aqua (now Michael
Mina Bellagio); 16/20 for Le
Cirque, Lutèce, Nobu,
Renoir and Valentino.
 Today
we are proud to award a 19/20 to Joël
Robuchon at the Mansion, putting Las Vegas on
the same rating level as New York (now joined by fellow
countryman, über chef Guy
Savoy). Not Chicago nor Los Angeles, Paris or
San Francisco can brag about such ratings from GAYOT.com today. Alessandro Stratta at Alex,
currently with 18/20, is not far behind. Mathematically,
if we were to project this growth, there is no doubt
that Las Vegas will become Top Restaurant Capital
of the World. Top, because there will
be more great places than anywhere else. Sure, you
won’t have the plethora of bang-for-the buck
eateries that Southern California offers or the ethnic
diversity that other top towns have.
Top
artisans are coming from everywhere to practice their art
and science. The major difference between the first two waves
and today is that the big-name chefs are now actually living
in the desert, lured by huge contracts and opportunities. Julian
Serrano and Luciano
Pellegrini, to name a few, did it then. But now Rick
Moonen decamped from New York, Takashi
Yagihashi left Farmington Hills, Paul
Bartolotta escaped his native Europe and Eric
Klein turned his back on Los Angeles. The competition
is intensifying, all due to visionary extraordinaire Steve
Wynn. He demanded (with one exception in the case of Daniel
Boulud Brasserie) that each chef be there at his celebrated, eponymous,
just-opened behemoth of a casino complete with Ferrari
showroom.
You
do or you don’t like Las Vegas and what it stands for,
but if you consider yourself a devoted foodie, no matter where
you come from in the world, Sin City University might be the
best school you could ever attend.
Bon
appétit (once again) but Vegas-size this time. Especially
if you're planning on appearing at one of the buffets,
which to this day are among the most searched pages on our
site!
Note:
The city of Las Vegas has the highest concentration of Master
Sommeliers, actually more than San Francisco and New York
combined alone.
(Date
published: 10/26/05) |
