EATING LAS VEGAS – The 50 Essential Restaurants – Hits the Home Stretch

 

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ELV, the man, the myth, the arbiter of all things culinary in Las Vegas, has hit the home stretch in listing the 50 Essential Restaurants® of Las Vegas.

Below are the first 36.

Care to validate, vandalize, vilify, or vet any of his picks for their vacuity?

Or perhaps vouchsafe some of your own volition?

Then please vacate this vellum and veer to the comments section.

But, verily, be sure to verbalize your vehement and venomous vexation with his vaunted, viable, vulpine, veritable, venerable, voluble and voluptuous vichyssoise  without vituperation or verbosity.

Lest we vanquish you.

And you may call me V.

The List:

1. Joël Robuchon

2. Restaurant Guy Savoy

3. L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon

4. Raku/Sweets Raku

5. Carnevino

6. Twist by Pierre Gagnaire

7. Bartolotta Ristorante di Mare

8. Kabuto Edomae Sushi

9. Picasso

10. Estiatorio Milos

11. Yonaka Modern Japanese

12. China Poblano

13. Julian Serrano

14. Sage

15. Allegro

16. China MaMa

17. Mizumi

18. Le Cirque

19. db Brasserie

20. Giada – The Restaurant (on Earth – The Planet)

21. Rose.Rabbit.Lie.

22. Yusho

23. Carson Kitchen

24. Spago

25. Lotus of Siam

26. Michael Mina

27. CUT

28. Bouchon

29. Bazaar Meat

30. Eiffel Tower Restaurant

31. Forte

32. Due Forni

33. Jaleo

34. Rao’s

35. District One

36. Chada Thai

 

 

 

 

 

3 thoughts on “EATING LAS VEGAS – The 50 Essential Restaurants – Hits the Home Stretch”

  2. Since you extended an invitation, I have not dined at all on your list yet, so I’ll largely withhold judgement on those, but I’ll chime in on others.

    Items on your list that surprise me:
    (1) Carson Kitchen. I think it’s quite good, but it wouldn’t make my Essential 50.
    (2) Spago. I give Wolfie huge props for starting the fine dining revolution in Las Vegas, and even bigger props for maintaining high standards for this much time, that’s no mean feat. However, I just can’t call it Essential at this point in time. Still good, though.
    (3) I like Due Forni, but I can’t rate it higher than Settebello.
    (4) Would Eiffel Tower make this list if it weren’t French? (Of course, I don’t expect the restaurant at the top of Paris to be Hungarian or anything, but you know what I mean.)
    (5) While I haven’t tried it, I accept your opinion that Giada is good. I’m surprised it makes the Essential 50. With some of these I wonder if their newness is skewing their scores (see RRL and Carson Kitchen as well).

    Positive surprises:
    (1) Michael Mina’s culinary sensibilities always appealed to me. I always got the sense that he wasn’t quite your cup of tea. Glad to see him get a mention.
    (2) Glad to see Bouchon get a mention. I often feel that this one is left out of lists of LV’s best restaurants.
    (3) I laughed out loud at your mention of Sage’s pear tarte tatin, I agree. It may be my all time favorite Las Vegas dessert. A shame it’s no longer on their menu.

    What would have appeared by now if it were my list (and I assume will appear soon, *cough*):
    (1) Leticia’s Mexican Cocina
    (2) 1900
    (3) Monta
    (4) B&B
    (5) Sen of Japan
    But then again, my tastes have always turned more toward the casual family run joint that just does things *better* than their competition over fine dining options.

    Can’t wait for what’s next.

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