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Las Vegas’s pizza IQ has increased by cheesy leaps and bready bounds over the past 5 years. Franchised dreck (or Radio City dreck….or even the sadly declined Due Forni drivel) just won’t cut it anymore. Between the seminal slabs of Settebello succulence and the passionate pies of Pop-Up Pizza, true aficionados of artisanal pizzas now have multiple places to go when they’re craving top shelf ingredients displayed on superlative crusts.
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Let’s get one thing straight right from the get go: The name Echo & Rig means nothing. There is no Mr. Echo (or his Bunnymen); there is no Mrs. Rig.
The name is made up, contrived by management and conceived by contest — a competition, we were told, among employees to come up with a unique-sounding name. The name is catchy alright, but it also tells you nothing about the establishment. Thus, is the concept, like its cognomen , more than a bit confusing.
Through these doors on Las Vegas Boulevard South:
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….standing in the shadow of both the Olympic Garden strip club (literally) and the Luv-it-Custard ice cream stand (figuratively), lies the best goddamned gelato ever to melt on a Las Vegas sidewalk.
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The brainchild of pastry chef Desyreé G. Alberganti, these luscious concoctions are all made on premises, with all natural flavors, no additives, and a ton of passion — passion (and intensity) you can taste with every silky smooth spoonful.
It is gelato so good that we at ELV think it could soon challenge Luv-it for frozen dessert fabulousness on this little corner of our humble burg. (Truth be told, Luv-it-Custard hasn’t been the same ever since the original owner stopped manning the booth a few years ago. Now, it’s run by a bunch of teenagers and it tastes (and feels) generic.)
There’s nothing generic about AoFG, however, and after one bite of the cioccalato di pepperocino (chocolate spiced with the back-of-the-throat warming glow of peppers), you’ll be tempted to abandon that forlorn little shed around the corner forever.
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Yeah, it’s that good.
ART OF FLAVORS GELATO
1616 Las Vegas Blvd. South #130
Las Vegas, NV 89104
702.569.3636