This weekly update covers noteworthy restaurant openings and closings, dining news, culinary events, and entertainment news
Events
Eat Your Heart Out — November 6
Eat Your Heart Out at the Durango Casino & Resort will host its next Patio Series event, featuring Mon Ami Gabi.
From 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., guests will enjoy a live DJ, French wine, and bistro bites of charcuterie boards, seafood, ribeye, casseroles, and more from the Vegas Strip French restaurant.
Tickets are $75 (plus tax) per person for this 21+ event. To purchase tickets, click here.
Omakase Kyara Sake Bar — November 8
Omakase Kyara Sake Bar (6555 S Jones Blvd.) is inviting guests to witness one of Japan’s most revered culinary rituals during a live Bluefin Tuna Cutting event.
The evening begins at 5 p.m. with the thunderous rhythm of KORABO Taiko, followed by Chef Winston Matsuuchi and his team skillfully breaking down a whole 200-pound bluefin tuna using traditional knives, a saw, and even a samurai sword. Each cut will be transformed into a series of courses served in real time, revealing the anatomy of the tuna: akami (lean red meat), chutoro (medium-fatty belly), buttery otoro (rich belly), and kama (collar). The eight-course dinner will feature sashimi, katsu, carpaccio, and other seasonal dishes.
Tickets are $200 per person for a shared table seating and $1,000 for a booth for six guests or a private room for six guests. (Center Counter Seat, Counter End Seat, and Booth for Four are sold out.)
Tickets are available through Nov. 7 at OmakaseLV.com.
Gaetano’s Ristorante — November 11
Gaetano’s Ristorante will host a multi-course dinner in honor of Owner Nick Palmeri’s 42nd birthday, featuring hand-selected wines from Paolo Cressi of Vinattieri and Antinori.
Courses are:
- Panzanella Salad with bread, tomatoes, red onion, cucumber, basil, and red wine vinaigrette paired with Chardonnay Bramito, Castello Della Sala, Umbria
- Pappardelle Cinghiale—classic wild boar ragu matched with Chianti Gran Selezione, Badia a Passignano, Tuscany (95 points, Wine Spectator)
- Black Angus NY Steak Tagliata with risotto cooked with Antinori Il Bruciato Super Tuscan paired with Tignanello, Tenuta Tignanello, Tuscany (95 points, Vinous)
- Gorgonzola Dolce DOP and Almond Biscotti matched with Vin Santo, Santa Cristina, Tuscany
The dinner will begin at 7 p.m. and the cost is $175 all-inclusive. Reservations are required and can be made HERE.
Allē Lounge on 66 — November 20-22
Allē Lounge on 66 at Resorts World, set 66 stories above the Strip, will host an exclusive mixology experience with world-renowned bartender Giorgio Bargiani during the F1 race weekend.
Giorgio Bargiani, Assistant Director of Mixology of the internationally acclaimed The Connaught Bar in London (recently ranked #6 on The World’s 50 Best Bars), will present a curated menu of signature cocktails, including his famed tableside Martini, paired with elevated small bites and live cocktail demonstrations.
The pop-up will run Nov. 20-21 from 5 p.m. to midnight and Nov. 22 from 5 p.m. to 1 a.m.
To make a reservation, visit rwlasvegas.com/dining/alle-lounge-on-66.
Pick of the Week: High Steaks
Ever since Chef James Trees exploded onto the Las Vegas culinary scene with the opening of his first restaurant, Esther’s Kitchen in the Arts District in 2018, he has thrived and seemingly has the Midas Touch. He’s opened a string of restaurants throughout the Vegas Valley to acclaim and popularity, and after opening Esther’s in 2018, quickly followed with Ada’s the same year, Al Solito Posto in early 2021, and Petite Boheme/Bar Boheme earlier this year. Now Chef Trees is turning yet another creation to gold, as his spanking new High Steaks at the Rio has opened to stellar reviews and views.
Set in the former space of VooDoo Steak, which had been operating for nearly 30 years before it closed this past summer, the views of the Strip and Las Vegas Valley from the 50th floor at the top of the Rio’s Masquerade Tower are astounding. The 240-seat restaurant’s décor includes an abstract painted mural, forest-green walls, and floor-to-ceiling windows, as well as a patio offering a phenomenal view.
The steakhouse concept is not new to the James Beard Award finalist for Best Chef Southwest and recipient of the Key to the City of Las Vegas, Chef Trees, who has decades of experience, having worked under culinary legends including Eric Ripert, Gordon Ramsay, and Michael Mina. Chef Trees shared, “I was lucky to open several Mina steakhouses, and it’s a genre I love. I hope to live up to expectations and make this the best steakhouse in Las Vegas and among the 20 best in the US.”
The kitchen is helmed by longtime local chef Joe Swan, an experienced executive chef who most recently was at Bar Boheme and before that was the Director of Operations for Mabel’s BBQ, Corporate Chef for the LEV Group, Regional Executive Chef for Michael Symon Restaurants, and Executive Chef at Hawthorn Grill.
Like traditional steakhouses, the Starting Things Off section of the menu includes standards like Seafood Towers, Royal Ossetra Caviar by Regiis Ova, French Onion Soup, and Chopped Wedge Salad. But there are also items you will not likely find elsewhere, like Lobster Chowder that is bisque-like in rich flavor but with corn and potato and caramelized puff pastry to add texture; Wild Game Tartare with spicy olive tapenade; Pastrami Glazed Bacon with bourbon brown sugar glaze; and Truffle Crusted Mushrooms stuffed with duxelles, cheese, and grated truffle. Little things matter, and the bread service your meal begins with such as Potato Dill (served with a Dijon, yellow mustard, and mayo blend) made in Chef Trees’ Main Street bakery, is so good you’ll be tempted to fill up before your entrees arrive.
The Beef of the menu has usual cuts of Hangar, NY Strip, Porterhouse, Boneless Wagyu Ribeye, and Filet Mignon, but also not so commonly found Denver Cut, 4.5 hour Smoked Prime Rib; and The Hunt section with Bison, Elk Chop, Wild Boar Chop, and Venison Backstrap, all with the sustainable ranches they are sourced from listed on the menu.
There’s something for everyone, as the Entrees include Butternut Squash Tortellini with pumpkin seed crumble, an Indian-style Tandoori Chilean Seabass with spiced braised chickpeas, the Midwest classic Salisbury Steak with mushroom gravy, Smoked Jidori Fried Chicken with Calabrian chili honey, and Rigatoni Nero with lobster sugo and nduja butter.
Sides worth investing your appetite in include Chef Joe’s Scalloped Potatoes with cheddar gratin and caramelized onions, Craft & Asparagus Oscar Gratin with bearnaise, and Crispy Brussels Sprouts enlivened with saba, pecorino, and mint.
Not surprisingly, the desserts are unique renditions, such as the Hummingbird Cake—banana cake with pineapple and toasted pecans with cream cheese icing, Black Forest Piecaken—cherry pie inside of a chocolate cheesecake with cocoa whipped cream, Pumpkin Spice Souffle with butter toffee sauce, and seasonal ice creams (all made in-house).
Complementing the food menu is a beverage program featuring quality, reasonably priced wines such as Poet’s Leap Riesling, Greywacke Sauvignon Blanc, and Leviathan Red Blend. The cocktail offerings are mainly classics like Cosmo, Brandy Alexander, Tom Collins, and Old Fashioned. It’s fitting that as Chef Trees is a native Las Vegan, the beer list is nearly all from local breweries from Chef’s neighbors in the Arts District, with Able Baker Mango Drop Hefeweizen, Beer Zombies Boomstick Blonde Ale and Zombie Duck Hunter West Coast IPA, and CraftHaus Czech Plz Pilsner and Tropical Forrest Hazy IPA.
With this new opening, Chef James Trees is showing his versatility and that he can excel in yet another cuisine type and at a price point below steakhouses less than a mile away on the Vegas Strip.
Current hours are 5 to 11 p.m. daily, and there’s also an upstairs area that will be turned into a nightclub on weekends. For more info and to view the complete menu, visit riolasvegas.com/restaurants/highsteaks.
Dining News
Blue Orchid Thai Kitchen Launches New Happy Hour and New Menu Items
Blue Orchid Thai Kitchen, located at 10516 Las Vegas Blvd. South near Cactus Avenue, from the team behind the renowned Pin Kaow Thai Restaurant, has unveiled a new and refreshed happy hour available Monday through Friday from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.
The deals include:
- $6 bottled and draft beers with Singha, Chang, Lucky Buddha, Asahi, Modelo, Blue Moon, Corona, and Asahi; and wines by the glass with options of Josh Cellars Pinot Grigio, Cupcake Chardonnay and Merlot, Kendall Jackson Rose, Rodney Strong Cabernet, and Erath Pinot Noir
- $8 appetizers with choices of Spring Rolls, Crispy Chicken Skins, Tempura Mushrooms, Orchid Wings, and Tiger Cry on a Stick
- $9 for all signature cocktails, such as the Blue Orchid with Bacardi, blueberry, ginger, and lemon
- $30 for top-shelf liquor, including Don Julio 1942, Johnnie Walker Blue, Clase Azul, and Weller 12-year
In addition, the modern Thai restaurant has introduced a variety of new menu selections such as Boat Noodle Soup (beef broth with short rib), Larb Salad (with chicken, pork, beef, or shrimp ceviche), BBQ Pork Belly Skewers (served with nam jim sauce), Waterfall Beef (NY strip with cilantro and spicy lime dressing), Drunken Noodles (with egg, chilies, and Thai basil), Gravy Noodles (charred flat noodles, dried shredded pork, and soybean gravy), Curries (panang, yellow, green, and red varieties with chicken, pork, tofu, beef, or shrimp), Kalbi “Bangkok-Style” Short Ribs (24-hour marinated and charred short ribs with dried chili and jasmine rice), and Thai Chicken & Rice (ginger-poached chicken, toasted garlic rice, and Hainanese sauce).
Blue Orchid is open daily from noon to 10 p.m. For more information, visit blueorchidthaikitchen.com.
Rebellion Pizza Happy Hour
Rebellion Pizza now has a dine-in happy hour at both its Las Vegas (7240 W Azure Dr. #145) and Henderson (2540 Anthem Village Dr, Suite #100) locations.
Offered Monday through Friday from 2 to 5 p.m., deals include $5 slices, $6 wine by the glass, $7 draft beer, and 50% off appetizers: Meatballs, Garlic Knots, Wings, Chicken Fingers, and Fries.
Rebellion Pizza is renowned for its NY-style pies and for having the most extensive selection of local Las Vegas breweries of any establishment in Southern Nevada. To view the complete menus, visit rebellionpizzalv.com.
Echo & Rig Annual Thanksgiving Feast
Echo & Rig will again offer its annual Thanksgiving Feast (which has sold out 12 years in a row), featuring oven-ready turkey and heat-and-serve sides for you to serve at home.
The menu, which serves 6-8 and is priced at $280, includes oven-ready Diestel Farms whole turkey (14-16 lbs), brown sugar yams, roasted autumn vegetables, dinner rolls, traditional stuffing, mashed potatoes, turkey gravy, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie. All sides are pre-cooked, and instructions for heating are included. All items are also available à la carte.
Pick-up will be only at the Echo & Rig location at Tivoli Village, and available times will be Nov. 26 from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. and Nov. 27 from 8 a.m.-11 a.m. To place your order and reserve your pick-up time, visit echoandrig.com/thanksgiving.
Recently, on the Food and Loathing Podcast
Be sure to check out Food and Loathing this week (and every week). The podcast features veteran food writer Al Mancini along with co-host Samantha Gemini Stevens and producer Rich Johnson as they give the lowdown on what’s new, hot, and delicious in America’s most glamorous city as they talk with chefs, bartenders, journalists, and other experts on where to go and what to order when you get there.
For last week’s episode, Gemini and Al are reunited (via Zoom, but we’ll take it). It’s a great episode that includes interviews with Chefs Jose Andres, Shawn McClain, and Oscar Amador, as well as representatives of Cabinet of Curiosities and a company called Sadie that builds AI to answer the phone at restaurants. We also have restaurant reports, news, and Andrew Morgan’s Happy Hour Report.
To listen, click here.
Entertainment News
Caesars Entertainment Extends Nevada Residents’ Discounts and Free Parking
Caesars Entertainment’s offer of a 25% food and beverage discount, complimentary self-parking, and discounts on attractions and shows for Nevada residents was initially set to expire on Oct. 30, but has been extended through Dec. 25.
Entertainment perks for Nevada residents include 20% off attractions like the High Roller Observation Wheel, Fly LINQ Zipline, and Eiffel Tower Viewing Deck; discounts on spa and salon experiences; and deals on shows such as DISCOSHOW, Donny Osmond, Wayne Newton, Menopause the Musical, MJ Live, Piff the Magic Dragon, Chippendales, and Criss Angel: MINDFREAK.
The deals are available to those with a valid Nevada ID Sunday through Thursday across its eight Las Vegas resorts: Caesars Palace, Planet Hollywood, Paris, Horseshoe, Flamingo, Harrah’s, The Cromwell, and The LINQ.
For more info on these offers, including participating venues, blackout dates, and exclusions, visit caesars.com/las-vegas/hotels/deals/locals.
