New Restaurant of the Year – SPARROW + WOLF

http://sparrowandwolflv.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Timelapse_Sparrow-and-Wolf.jpg

If you’re going to judge the New Restaurant of the Year based upon the splash it made, no one did a bigger cannonball in our restaurant pool than Sparrow + Wolf. After leaving the Strip and wandering in the desert for a few years, Chef Brian Howard found a home smack dab in the middle of Chinatown, and from day one he’s been pulling in locals and tourists with a protein-rich menu that demands you pay attention. Never before has Chinatown, much less the rest of Las Vegas, seen things like clams casino with an uni hollandaise, beef cheek and bone marrow dumplings, and halibut in a white Alabama bbq sauce, and our restaurant scene will never be the same again.

It’s that influence — along with the groovy cool vibe, inventive cocktails, and spot-on service — that will probably prove to be Howard’s legacy. By going so far out on a limb — with his menu, his concept, and his location — he has established a template for chefs who want to break with the corporate culture and do it their way. His is not cooking that bows to any convention (sweetbreads wrapped in grilled romaine with smoked bacon is not exactly grandma-friendly), but it is squarely aimed at the GenX/Millennial customers — those who have come of restaurant-age in the age of the internet. They are the customers who will drive the restaurant business for the next twenty years, and the S+W menu taps right into the zeitgeist.

Whether you’re looking for a fusion homage to the neighborhood (udon Bolognese), hearth-baked bread or coal-roasted beets, Howard has you covered. That he can squeeze so many flavors into such a modest space is a testament to passion and planning. That his intended audience responded immediately bodes well for the future of chef-driven restaurants. I don’t know if Las Vegas has enough dedicated foodies to support other young chefs trying to do what Sparrow+Wolf has pulled off, but its success is a mighty good start for the future of good eating.

SPARROW + WOLF

4480 Spring Mountain Road

702.790.2147

http://sparrowandwolflv.com/

Chef of the Year – Francesco Di Caudo at FERRARO’S

Francesco Di Cundo

How do you take a venerable, very good local restaurant and make it great? Should a local’s favorite eatery even try to mess with success? Shouldn’t it leave well enough alone, especially when it’s been serving solid renditions of Italian food for over thirty years?

There is no magic formula for upping a restaurant game, and an argument can be made not to fiddle with a good formula. And when you’re dealing with a place as iconic as Ferraro’s Italian Restaurant & Wine Bar, you run the risk of alienating customers if you change so much as the breadbasket. That being said, there can be no progress without change, and the change the Ferraro family effected by putting Francesco Di Caudo in the kitchen in 2015 has paid big dividends for them, while not disturbing what has kept this place at the top of the Italian food chain since 1985.

Di Caudo is a Sicilian by birth (born at the foot of Mount Etna), but his training took him all over Italy until he arrived in Las Vegas over a decade ago. Stints at Circo and Sinatra no doubt prepared him for a life of leading corporate kitchens, but when he landed at Ferraro’s doorstep, they had to know there was a show pony in their midst who was dying to strut his stuff. Taking over an operation as famous for its osso buco as its wine cellar had to be a balancing act, but Di Caudo has managed to incorporate such push-the-envelope dishes as risotto roccaverano (risotto with Rabiola cheese, lamb ragu and pistachio-coffee dust), with such classics as the house-made salsiccia Calabrese (spicy sausage), without losing a customer….while gaining a lot more.

The trippa satriano is about as old school as you can get, but when paired with Di Caudo’s sea urchin pasta in a ginger-carrot sauce, or new-age beef tartare, you have the best of old and new Italy all in one meal. The Ferraro’s crowd has always been a meat-loving one, but the things Di Caudo does with black bass and salt cod are now enticing true gastronomes, as well as the conventioneer crowd.

Making an established kitchen sing a new tune while still playing the golden oldies is a remarkable feat. Ferraro’s is better than ever in 2017, and that is quite an accomplishment for the restaurant, for Francesco Di Caudo, and for the whole Ferraro family.

FERRARO’S ITALIAN RESTAURANT & WINE BAR

4480 Paradise Road

702.364.5300

http://ferraroslasvegas.com/

The Best New Restaurants of 2017

ELV note: It’s that time of the year, food fans. The time when every half-baked web site offers up “best of” lists of places they’ve never visited, and hardly know anything about. Some will no doubt regurgitate whatever they’re being paid to advertise….er…uh….I mean post, but for the serious connoisseur, this is the place to find the good stuff — the worthwhile places that rang our chimes in the past year. A few of these opened in late 2016, but we didn’t get to them until the past 12 months, and since we’re the only critic that counts (ARROGANT? YOU BET!), that’s good enough for us.  Of all the eateries that showed up in 2017, these are the ones that matter.

Final note: Only time will tell if ’17 was the watershed year in local restaurants we hope it was. But there’s no denying a lot of serious cooking made it to the neighborhoods, and if this portends a trend, it bodes well for the future of good eating in Las Vegas.

Without further ado, and in no particular order (except the last one) here are the Best New Restaurants of 2017 (click on the name to link with the restaurant’s web site or Facebook page):

Ping Pang Pong

I know PPP is not new, but it might as well be.  It’s fresh digs in the Gold Coast Hotel (at top of page) make it seem like a whole new restaurant. Actually, it is a whole new joint when you consider the upgraded surroundings, the expanded (and easier-to-navigate) menu, and the alacrity with which classic Mandarin and Cantonese dishes are brought to your table, only seconds after being wok-tossed, steamed or deep-fried. Our best, classic Chinese restaurant (and dim sum) got a whole lot better in 2017, and for that it rates a wave.

Tony Xu (the chef behind the über-Sichuan Chengdu Taste), quietly opened this Chongqing-style noodle house on Spring Mountain Road a few months ago, and seemingly like magic, every Szechuan-loving fellow traveler for 250 miles knew it was there. Tongue-numbing soups and chewy noodles (above) that take no prisoners, but you won’t find any better soups this side of the San Gabriel Valley. Since it’s the only restaurant on this list without a web page, a Facebook page, or a listing (beyond an Instagram page, for its namesake restaurant in California), we will tell you it’s located at 4355 Spring Mountain Road, #107.

https://www.reviewjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/8215010_web1_chica_lorenagarcia1_030817.jpg(Why is this woman smiling? Because she’s never in the kitchen.)

Chica

Within months of opening in the Spring, Chica lost its executive chef (Mike Minor), who returned to his former gig at Border Grill. Vagabond chefs drive our staff crazy, but all we can hope for is that Lorena Garcia’s operation is tight enough to keep up the quality cooking. (She, of course, will show up once or twice a year to get her picture taken and pick up the cash.) Regardless of those concerns, the food here is a refreshing blend of the familiar (guacamole, classic ceviche) with the fascinating (asado negro arepas, porchetta with crispy yuca hash). Sara Steele’s desserts are not to missed, so get all of them.

Sparrow + Wolf

As with Boteco and The Black Sheep, we’re sometimes tempted to call out Brian Howard on how over-complicated his food can be. But there’s no denying how tasty his udon Bolognese or Campfire Duck is, so we bite our tongue. When, like his colleagues, he hits his marks, the results are thrilling. If you’re over 40, you’ll be the oldest person in the joint. No matter what your age, if you love belt-and-suspenders cooking, you’ll be in hog heaven.

8oz Korean Steakhouse

Several new Korean steakhouse chains landed(?) on our shores in 2016. This one arrived three months ago and is locally-owned, not a franchise, and the best of the bunch. Superb sides (called banchan), and beef that’s a cut above. Nice bar, too.

Ramen Hashi

Ramen excites me about as much as Vietnamese pho, which is to say not at all. But the Food Gal® swears Ramen Hashi could finally unseat Monta for tonkotsu hegemony, and we’ll take her word for it.

Boteco

The only thing I hate about Boteco is how far it is from my house. Located on the loathsome south Eastern corridor, it is small, personal, wine-focused, and everything a locally-owned joint should be. At dinner, there are only twelve things on the menu, but the sliders, avocado crunch salad and Singapore Chilli Crab dip are a delight, and the kind of food that’s usually unknown this far from the Strip.  There’s even a poutine on the menu for the calorie-challenged. Fabulous Spanish ham, good oysters, and escargot croquetas, and braised beef with Piedmontese rice are also there for ectomorphs in need of a good rib-sticking. This is a mix and match menu that’s made for fun. Boteco means “meeting place” for friends and family, and if you and yours are looking for a place to congregate, you won’t find any better in this neck of the culinary desert.

7th & Carson

Gregg Fortunato is one of the few chefs in town confident enough to serve us a plate of simple, perfect tomatoes seasoned only with a little salt. His menu is full of the same confidence, and doesn’t have a clinker on it. His chicken wings deserve to be in the poultry hall of fame.

The Black Sheep

People keep calling Jamie Tran’s new joint “Vietnamese-American” because that’s how it describes itself, but there’s nothing remotely Vietnamese about braised short ribs, tuna tartare (above), and smoky beet salad. Hers is a unique, personal cuisine with influences befitting a classically trained chef who wants to infuse European techniques with Asian sensibilities. (Or is it the other way around?) Unlike any other place in town, and a foodie favorite because of it.

Café Breizh

Our best French pastries, period. With coffee, crepes, and a few, house-baked breads to match. Lots of people extol the virtues of other pastry shops, but this is the real, artisanal deal. We’d walk five miles for a bite of that crepe (pictured above), and have! Merci beaucoup, Pierre Gatel!

 

https://i0.wp.com/www.novusarchitecture.com/cms/wp-content/uploads/Zuma-Entrance_Web.jpg (About as intimate as Wal-Mart)

Zuma

Big box Japanese restaurants are sooo 2oo7, but if you insist, this is the one to go to.

Prosecco Fresh Italian Kitchen

Good restaurants in the southwest part of town are harder to find than a sous chef without tattoos. Daniele Dotto’s menu is full of pleasant surprises, not the least of which are his seafood offerings – like the shrimp and squid ink pasta seen above — as tasty as you’ll find five miles west of Las Vegas Boulevard, at much gentler prices.

Image may contain: food(Slurpable on Spring Mountain Road)

Marugame Monzo

Another noodle joint? Yep, and just the ticket for lovers of those thick chewy Japanese udon noodles (and killer chicken karrage) that taste just like they do in Shibuya.

(At Bavette’s, photoshop is the only way to see anything)

Bavette’s Steakhouse

Darker than Kevin Spacey’s sex life, and not for the faint of wallet or dim of eyesight. But if you can find your food (on the menu or on the plate) you’ll enjoy some magnificent meat at some magnificent prices. The $73 dry-aged strip announces itself as a major player in our rootin’ tootin’ high steaks rodeo.

https://cdn1.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/8804929/MB_Steak_3.jpg(Here, at least, you can see your food)

MB Steak

More modern, more inventive, and better lit than Bavette’s…and in the Hard Rock Hotel. Well, three out of four ain’t bad. The steaks are top shelf, but it’s the burger, the appetizers, and the veal chop that will get your attention.

Contento Pizzeria & Bar

Pulchritudinous pies, excellent pastas, and a reasonable wine list (that can be purchased retail) have suddenly made Jerry’s Nugget (in North Las Vegas!), a must go for intrepid seekers of great pizzas and Strip-worthy Italian food.

(Fiery food that ‘s fit to be Thai’d)

Chuchote Thai Bistro & Desserts

Korean isn’t the only Asian country to see a marked improvement in its Vegas restaurants. No longer is Thai food consigned to the sloppy, sweet-sour appeasement of American palates. Southern Thai specialties are what to get here, and the brothers and sister who run the place will joyfully guide you through their artistic interpretations of classic Siamese dishes.

Image may contain: people sitting, food and indoor(Rib-stickin’ ribs at Blue Ribbon)

Blue Ribbon

Another vastly improved re-boot — substantially different and so much better than its forerunner. The Bromberg Brothers got back to basics, and in doing so, brought the best of their Big Apple icon to our humble burg. There is no better American food anywhere in Las Vegas. This new BR reminds us of the old BR in lower Manhattan — the one that put the BB boys on the map.

Elia Authentic Greek Taverna

One word: galaktoboureko (pictured below). The world’s greatest dessert. (TRUE!) Every lunch and dinner. Made on premises, just like everything here — unlike many a Greek joint that couldn’t exist without cheap, nasty Sysco gyro meat.  This is Greek food like it tastes in Greece. Very little pita bread, a mountain of mezze (dips and such) and seafood done right. (The owners are Estiatorio Milos veterans.) One of the many reasons we consider 2017 to be a watershed year for fabulous new food in the ‘burbs.

 Dishonorable Mention: Momofuku. David Chang’s one-note cooking swept Millennials off their feet a decade ago. Now he’s drowning them in a tsunami of umami. Like all “celebrity chefs,” (save the French), expect him in Vegas about as often as you see me at Applebee’s. If/when he shows up, he will no doubt opine on everything from Anthony Bourdain’s love life to the state of soba noodles on Spring Mountain Road — all to the rapt attention of his adoring followers — the same people who love overpaying for the privilege of eating food done much better two miles away.