last lunch at venetian/palazzo.

For someone who eats out as much as I do (way too much), I have surprising few regular dining companions. And now I have lost one. My friend and former colleague Lauren has run off to New York, and it's a big loss for lunching. She finished up her Vegas era working for the Venetian and Palazzo resorts, which meant that we did some serious work on the many restaurants in these two big, beautiful Strip properties.


We made some mistakes, just a few. We went to First Food & Bar and Grand Lux Cafe a few times too many, getting stuck in mediocrity. We didn't go to Bouchon enough, but that's not our fault; only recently has the place been open for a proper lunch. We had decent lunches at restaurants that should be visited at dinner, like Valentino and Pinot Brasserie. Wolfgang Puck's Postrio is okay, but straight across from it, Mario Batali's Enoteca Otto is better, with some of the best pizza and pasta around. And, to my surprise, the lasagna at Zeffirino is outstanding, as is pretty much everything at the quiet Zine Noodles & Dim Sum.

The last lunch was last week, and we closed our run at Emeril Lagasse's Table 10. This place is hidden in the second story shops in Palazzo, above the casino, between a closed space that used to be Woo pan-Asian and the genre-bending SushiSamba. If this sounds confusing, that's because it is. Many of the restaurants at Palazzo have struggled due to strange placement (see Restaurant Charlie, as in Trotter).


Table 10, despite the big name chef on the marquee, also has been somewhat forgotten, but that may be changing. The menu, described as a New Orleans eatery with market fresh ingredients, has taken a prominent turn toward the market. There's a nice little frisee salad with a poached farm egg, smoked bacon, parmesan reggiano and red wine vinaigrette with a mini brioche on the side (above pic). There are "snacks" on the lunch menu including candied North Country farm bacon, fried Great Lakes smelt with lemon mayo, and veal cheeks with wild mushrooms and fava beans. Sure, there is some heavy stuff, like these amazing Kurobuta baby back rotisserie ribs (pic) and a killer ribeye sandwich with grilled portobello and horseradish, but there's also seared tuna with a farro salad and some simple po-boy sandwiches. At dinner, there's Colorado beef and lamb, suckling pig porchetta from Iowa and Hawaiian snapper. Don't do like we did and eat way too much meat. Save room for dessert, since Emeril's spots always do sweets right: banana cream pie, coconut cheesecake, or a chocolate flourless cake with a Kona coffee milkshake.


You can't really eat your way through all the restaurants in these huge, bajillion-dollar hotel casinos. There are just too many great choices, and once you find some food you love and go back for more, that's one more missed opportunity, one more tally for the still-have-to-try-it list. It's a tough job, take it from me. I probably won't be dining frequently in the Venetian or Palazzo now that Lauren's gone, but I will return to Table 10. It's worth it.

INTERVIEW: Luciano Pellegrini

Luciano Pellegrini is chef and partner at Valentino in the Venetian and Giorgio at Mandalay Bay.

What's new at Valentino? How has the restaurant changed over the years?
Luciano Pellegrini: It was a very good year for us at Valentino. We first opened in 1999, right with the opening of The Venetian, and we've changed our look a couple of times over. The restaurant definitely looks different now. That's just something you have to do in Vegas to keep things fresh. And I believe the food has improved as well. You know, we're not a cookie cutter restaurant. We're still very much about first class service and food, and we've managed to stay that way.

How would you describe your vision for the restaurant when you first came to Vegas in 1999?
Well we came to town not as pioneers in Vegas but really in that second wave of big resorts opening up shop at the time. There was not a lot of fine dining Italian restaurant experiences on the Strip at that time. In fact there was nothing like what we wanted to do. That was our vision, to be the restaurant in that category. And really the work comes in maintaining that high reputation.

As a young man and burgeoning chef in Italy, you served as a parachutist in the military. What made you want to volunteer for that duty? And are there any similarities between jumping out of planes and running a couple of restaurants on the Strip?
Yes that's true. I remember being with all my friends, who also all volunteered for military service because really, everyone did at that time, it was expected, and on the first day of orientation this guy came in and started asking who wanted to be a parachutist. I really didn't know what I was getting myself into. I raised my hand, and that was that, I was one of about four guys out of 100 to do that. It was pretty intense. Obviously jumping out of a plane gives you quite a rush. After a while, I had done what I needed to, and I said that's enough for me, and I returned to doing what was my destiny to do for the rest of my life. But I did learn a lot of valuable lessons from being in the military, besides working at one time to serve three or four thousand meals, lunch and dinner, in the service. The kitchen can be very militaristic. The chef is the supreme being; the sous chef is like the lieutenant. Things need to go in a certain way with no questions asked, and being in the service definitely taught me to keep that order when in the kitchen. But you also need to know when to give someone else the room and space to operate on their own.

A lot of big time chefs have come to Vegas in recent years, but you are one of a very small group to be honored with the prestigious James Beard award. How important is that type of recognition?
I mean, what can you say? It's kind of huge. It took about a year for it to really sink in, that I could win something like that and what it meant, considering how many talented chefs there are out there. It was really a combination of things, a combination of timing, talent, luck, a little bit of everything. That's not to say that I rest on an accomplishment the day after. It was never my ultimate goal to win something like that, but it was a very pleasant surprise, very rewarding.

Awards are one thing, but the real competition among restaurateurs in Vegas seems to be where the hottest restaurant is, and how you can maintain that edge.
The hardest thing you can do is to maintain a spot as one of the top restaurants in town. Las Vegas is growing in so many ways, and the restaurant market is not to be underestimated. This is a place to shine, a place with opportunity for the underling to move up and the chance to gain recognition for the star chef. A lot of people come in ready to find success, and some have, and most have not. It's very difficult.

Giorgio at Mandalay Bay has become a popular, more casual restaurant. How do you compare it to the Valentino experience, and do you enjoy the differences between the two?
Well after the first year at Giorgio we really kind of stepped aside and let chef de cuisine Nico Chessa take over and do his thing, and he's doing a great job over there. We decided to really let him express himself to the highest degree, and it has been to the ultimate benefit of the entire company. It's vital for a restaurant to establish its identity, and Giorgio is a place to go for a good meal, to enjoy a pizza, and not get hurt too much in the wallet. It was fun to start a new project like that. New projects always bring a lot of excitement, and it was a great experience. Slowly but surely, it has come along, maybe a little slower than we thought. But it's doing very well.

What does the future hold for you and the Valentino group? Any expansion plans?
We are keeping our eyes open. We've had a lot of talented people leave our company to go find other opportunities. Las Vegas has turned out to be not such a great bet after all for many restaurateurs. But we're always considering our next move.