RestaurantReviews

Council Oak Restaurant at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino

RestaurantReviews — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 21:07:00 GMT

Council Oak Restaurant at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino
Hollywood Florida

Here is another installment in The Crabby Old Guy’s review of Steak Houses.

This time the adventure in steakary takes us to The Council Oak Steak House Restaurant in the Seminole Hard Rock Casino Hotel in Hollywood Florida. The Savvy Old Lady and I visited here for a fun evening of gaming and dinner all under one roof. This casino hotel, which is also convenient to the Port of Miami and Fort Lauderdale Cruise Ship Terminals, is a great layover to and from that dream cruise. It is part of the Seminole Native American group of hotel casinos.

Let’s face it, the last place a steak aficionado would think of going to for a great steak is a casino hotel restaurant. Well, let me tell you, if you are around Miami, Florida and in the mood for a great steak, fantastic and knowledgeable service and some interesting people watching add this restaurant to your list. Located in Hollywood, Florida, just a short drive from Miami, Miami Beach and Fort Lauderdale, this 2008 Zagat Rated “Very Good to Excellent” has earned and keeps earning this distinction.

After a bit of gaming and in-casino people-watching Savvy and I headed off to the smart, contemporary and clubby-casual Council Oak restaurant off the casino main floor. The front of this 400 person restaurant has a cozy bar with a jazz quartet playing there most evenings; this bar is a nice retreat from the action in the casino even if you are not going to dine at the Council Oaks. Toward the rear of the spacious and bright main dining area are some wonderful windows looking out on to the tropical landscaping that surrounds the resort. And, for private parties of up to six special guests, there is a private dining wine cellar-atmosphere room off of the main seating area that is quite special.

While atmosphere is important you can’t eat it, so now to the main event – the steak and accoutrements. Top line – Exceptional! The meats here are carefully dry-aged, giving them a nutty-beefy flavor. The servings have a texture, quality cut and taste that rival the best steaks I have had anywhere. In a steak-house, portion size matters. At Council Oak one phrase sums it up – “Take home bag, please”. The potions on the steaks and the sides are HUMONGOUS. The ones that we tried and saw passing our table were very well prepared. One of the extra special specialties here is the Lobster Mac & Cheese. This dish is becoming increasingly popular as a lux-comfort food side dish. It is a great dish if well prepared and let me tell you that this rendition is THE BEST this Crabby Old Guy has had. Service here was professionally attentive, knowledgeable about both the food and the wine and quite efficient. The standard high-end steak house pricing applies but with the quality, portion sizes, people watching and complimentarily “gourmet” bottled water selection (Fuji or Voss, if you please) it is well worth it.

For this dining experience The Savvy Old Lady and I decided to stick with the classics. Savvy started with the French Onion Soup, very tasty with a rich beef stock flavor. Here’s a tip though, this same great potion is also served up in the Blue Plate casual restaurant on the other end of the property and it is every bit as good. I was feeling very much in the mood of a Diamond Jim Brady and for a starter ordered the Oysters Rockefeller. These came six to a platter served very traditionally, they, themselves and the plate. The sauce on top of these little jewels was crispy outside and had nice velvety inside. The oysters and spinach nestled underneath were done perfectly warm, not overdone as in some cases. The dish seemed just a tiny bit sweet for my taste (a bit too much Pernod perhaps) but not at all unpleasant. By the way, a bit of fine food trivia. Do you know why the oysters are presented on a bed of green? Ah, to represent “greenbacks”, of course. These two appetizers were great ways to start our classic steakhouse meal.

Next, we split a Ceasar Salad. This, of all the dishes we had that evening, was a bit of a disappointment. In sum it was adequate, at best. The salad came out premade. While the Romaine lettuce was crisp and the croutons crunchy neither the dressing nor croutons had that freshly-prepared quality or taste. There were no anchovies served and none were offered. This is a shame, as a Ceasar well prepared at table side with a bit of flourish speaks volumes about true steakhouse tradition.

Next was the star of the dinner – The Beef. Savvy had the Queen Cut prime rib with Yorkshire Pudding (something that we heard was one of the specialties of the house). Their idea of a queen-cut at Council Oak is quite reminiscent of the rather round-and-fully-packed Queen Victoria; quite a large serving. Same for the Yorkshire Pudding, huge and prepared as a cross between a popover and a pan-bread. The prime rib was served just as ordered and had a nice brown look to the finish, not that steamed look you see in all too many platters. It was very well marbleized but not so much so that you had to spend half your time dissecting morsels of meat. But most of all that dry aging process magic comes right through the dish and the meat’s taste is magnificent. The Yorkshire Pudding was also well done and a perfect accompaniment.

I had the bone-in Cowboy Rib Eye. What a beautiful piece of meat. What a great presentation. What perfection on the grill. This splendid cut was, no kidding I measured it, 14 inches long from the tip of its nicely butchered bone to the tail of its lovely beef steak. It was served au natural on a long unadorned white platter that barely held its magnificence. Ok, my eyes and mind are impressed…now to taste. Ah, yes! Sheer culinary steakary heaven. Buttery, nutty and beefy. Perfectly grilled and tender as is should be, just needing attention from the steak knife but not needing any distracting effort to cut.

As a side we split the Lobster Mac & Cheese. This was a very different preparation than I have had in the past. It was lovely. The cheese sauce was just understated enough so that the sweetness of the large and generously dispersed chunks of lobster meat popped through. This side dish went well with the steaks but it certainly was about as rich a side dish as I would ever want to have. But I must admit it was worth having to suffer through.

For desert we split Savvy’s all-time favorite, chocolate soufflé. This confection came out in perfect rise and our experienced and personable server, Pascal (who opened this restaurant with pride four years ago), elected to serve the soufflé with the Grand Marnier vanilla sauce on the side. That, I think, is the perfect way to do it. I could never understand why folks take the light, delicate chocolaty puff of a soufflé and weigh it down taste and look wise with a sauce.

This is a thoroughly delightful and classic steak meal in an unexpected and “happening” casino resort hotel venue. For a sure thing in a classic steakhouse experience while in Miami, Fort Lauderdale or in route from a Caribbean cruise, going for an evening of gaming excitement and classic steakhouse fare at The Council Oak at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino is something to put onto your travel agenda. You will not be disappointed.

SUNSET SAM’S FISH CAMP, ORLANDO, FLORIDA

RestaurantReviews — Fri, 16 May 2008 16:15:29 GMT

A GIFTED LEGACY…A JOY OF LIFE

What better legacy is there than to leave our children and grandchildren “a joy for life”? The opportunity to expose children to different adventures, sights, sounds and tastes at an early age only reinforces their curious minds and enables them to appreciate all that life has to offer.

If you and your family are vacationing in Orlando, Florida and are enjoying Disney World, Universal, Sea World, and the numerous water parks you may find that between the character meals and the theme park food your body is begging for one night’s respite at a fine dining restaurant. However, with your children’s adrenalin flowing and yours wavering you might have that nagging feeling that with the hectic pace you have been setting since your arrival in the Sunshine State this desperately needed respite just may have to wait until you go home.

Well your wish can come true. If you are looking for a unique experience in fine dining for your family the Gaylord Palms Hotel’s Sunset Sam’s Fish Camp Restaurant is definitely the place you want to be. Dress is casual but the dining experience far exceeds the norm.Sunset Sam’s Fish Camp not only offers its guests a fine dining experience but also provides entertainment for the entire family. Fire Eaters, magicians, stilt walkers, animal balloon artists, fire throwers, jugglers and a musical venue that includes the children’s participation creates an amazingly festive atmosphere for an extremely enjoyable evening. While the children are enjoying themselves onboard the S.S. Gaylord, a 60 foot sailboat, Chef Goia is in the kitchen preparing his creative and inspiring dishes for the gourmet palate.

Fish caught from local waters, vegetables and fruit that are harvested right here in Florida add a freshness and zest to each and every appetizer and entrée. It is a rare find that mixes a fun, family friendly atmosphere with creative and sophisticatedly prepared fare that is served by a knowledgeable and professional wait staff. Sunset Sam’s turns that hat trick.

The Crabby Old Guy and I recently took our seven year old grandson, Adrian, to Sunset Sam’s with our daughter Robin for an evening of fine dining and entertainment. Now, one thing I must mention about Crabby is that he has dined in lots of fantastic restaurants all over the world on a Fortune-10 business executive expense account. While Adrian has not yet reached that level he is working on his fifth cruise and has been dining out with family at places like the Ritz Carlton and Fleming’s Steak House as well as Perkins and the local spaghetti restaurant since he was old enough to be propped up in his car seat at the table. He also is one of those kids who will taste most anything – at least once. To try and appease Crabby’s palate and to test just how Adrian liked a real seafood establishment we ordered a rather extensive meal for the four of us who were rather curious about the kid-appeal of a wide variety of seafood dishes.

Top line about Sunset Sam’s cuisine at the Gaylord Palms in Orlando: the food is excellent, creatively seasoned and presented with a touch of Caribbean flare that is as sophisticated as it is fun. So let’s review our Family Friendly Key West/Caribbean-style feast menu course by course.

For appetizers we truly had trouble selecting from the nine items listed on the menu. The all sounded wonderful when reading the menu and, as we saw plate after plate pass by our table, they all looked as sumptuous on the plate too. So we did what any good family might do, we ordered the Three Tiered Tower sampler. This was impressively presented on a two-and-a-half foot tall colorful server, which to Adrian must have seemed like the Empire State Building of dishes. The eight different items were wonderfully presented in a sparking display of smells and color. We did ask for one substitution on the tray and the waiter gladly obliged.

The Tower was loaded with conch fritters – light with a mild taste and perfectly fried, lobster skewers – with a substantial amount of deliciously grilled lobster meat that was sweet and perfect, blue crab salad – well prepared with some nice mild Caribbean inspired flavors that provided a cool contrast to the hot items, ahi tuna tartar – a bit mildly flavored but very good quality tuna (only Crabby had this one), shrimp cocktail – good sized butterfly shrimp that were plump and cooked properly (these came with a good but fairly standard cocktail sauce) and soba noodles - that were nicely cool and slightly tart, surprisingly Adrian enjoyed this a lot. The standout on the Three Tiered Tower for the adults was the Cigar Shrimp. These are jumbo shrimp coated in a light and savory crust and fried to perfection crisp outside lovely moistness inside. If all fried seafood dishes were prepared this well it could resurrect the Fisherman’s Platter to glory – well, maybe. The Cigar Shrimp was served with a tangy Thai style dipping sauce. By the way, if you order these Cigar Shrimp as a separate appetizer they are served in a cylindrical dish with dry-ice inspired smoke surrounding it. Ok – maybe a bit hokey but with the fun and bright atmosphere of the restaurant and the exceptionally good quality of the food-product it works quite well.

We ordered the Key West Calamari Strips and the Crab and Spinach Dip in lieu of a salad course a bit of appetizer over kill but we were enjoying ourselves just watching our grandson try all of the selections and we were so glad we did. The calamari was not the ubiquitous ringlets but nice light and flavorful strips. Strips are a bit harder to cook properly than ringlets but at Sunset Sam’s they were done perfectly; the horseradish based dipping sauce goes great and is not at all over powering, not even for our grandson. If you like calamari you will love these. Adrian loved the Crab and Spinach dip. It had lots of crab and not overly sauced or seasoned. The adults found this dish to be perfectly delightful but, in comparison to the other items we sampled; it was not quite the star of our first course mini-feast.

While Sunset Sam’s does have a pretty robust clientele of locals it does cater a bit more too meeting goers. So the prices here are a bit on the high side; figure about $40-50 per adult person and $20 for child menu option. If you are on a budget ordering a range of these fun, tasty and well presented appetizers would make a fantastic dinner for those whose appetites are not as impressive as our families.

Finally, after a bit of breathing and stretching and entertainment (a juggler who came by the table to entertain all, particularly Mr. A who got a chance to juggle some plates), we began our main, or rather I should say, entrée course. The entrée menu features several nice fresh fish selections that were geared to adult tastes so the Little Person was having a bit of trouble finding something to have. He looked at the kids menu and found that it featured Fettuccini Alfredo and the ubiquitous burger and several other options. But, they are extremely accommodating at Sunset Sam’s – important for a place that wants to be family friendly - and we asked the chef to prepare the Seafood Paparadelle Pasta offered on the regular menu without the scallops, shrimp and lobster for our grandson. Our accommodating waiter did offer to have chicken added but Mr. A took a pass on that. It sounded so good I too decided on the Seafood & Papardelle Pasta but, of course, I had it with the shell fish added. This rather large portion had several large succulent scallops, three jumbo shrimp, which were perfectly sautéed and a nice portion of rock lobster meat. The sauce was like an Alfredo but a bit more robust with a touch of garlic that did not at all over power the taste of the shell fish.

The Crabby Old Guy had one of the fresh-catch offerings of the night, the Seared Sushi Grade Ahi Tuna that was served with a very nice Ponzu dipping sauce. He ordered it done “…slightly more than seared, but slightly less than rare.” You gotta admit, he not only knows what he wants but how he wants it, at times I do wonder if he is tempted to go into the kitchen and cook it himself! At any rate, the tuna dish came back perfectly done for him and it was delicious. There were two substantially large tuna steaks colorfully presented. Our daughter had the Grilled Mahi Mahi in Cracked Conch and Tomato Stew, with a side of cheese polenta cakes and drizzled with a tiny bit of basil aioli. This dish was the star of the entrées and I would highly recommend it. The fish was buttery and wonderfully prepared and the saffron flavored conch and tomato stew was reminiscent of a fantastic bouillabaisse with a Caribbean flair courtesy of the bit of conch added to the dish. Just lovely!

By the time we finished our entrees we were so stuffed that the thought of dessert was a bit overwhelming. However, our seven year old grandson couldn’t resist the spectacular Banana Mama Split. Of course, being a doting grandmother I agreed to split the split with him. It was so creatively presented that we all forced ourselves to try a bit. We did take a Peanut Butter bliss and a slice of Key Lime pie home and it was worth the calories as a midnight snack after putting Mr. A to bed.

One other interesting feature here, strictly for adults, is the large number of fine sipping-rums. Sunset Sam’s stocks rums from all over the Caribbean and a few from Latin America. You can order a tasting flight of some fantastic rums before or after dinner. These are handsomely served along with a map showing where the product comes from. If you are a rum aficionado, or even if you are not but want to experience a pleasant experience, give the sipping-rum flight a try.

At the end of the evening, Adrian gave Chef Goia two thumbs up. He loved the food and thoroughly enjoyed playing the maracas on the stage with several other children while the adults were also pleasantly entertained. The highest praise Adrian could give was to ask before going to bed “When are we going back to Sunset Sam’s for dinner again?” I replied “Very soon.” Kudos, Chef Goia your presentation and creative menu definitely made for a memorable evening for our entire family.

OLD HICKORY STEAKHOUSE

RestaurantReviews — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 17:42:00 GMT

I love steak. I love the traditional food that comes with steak. I love the steakhouse atmosphere.

There is something about an American Steakhouse that is special and unique in the world. I have traveled all over four continents and eaten in some of the most highly acclaimed foodie cities in the world. Let me tell you NO WHERE can you find the atmosphere and food of an American Steakhouse to be quite the same outside of the United States. Ok, so how do I know good steak and good steak houses? Anyone ever heard of “The Palm”? How about “Smith & Wollensky’s”? Gallagher Steak House? Bobby Van’s? How about the fabled Peter Luger’s, in Brooklyn, (going to way back-in-the-day when it was working on becoming fabled). Yes, over a period of decades, while living and working in one of the World Capitols of Steakhouses, New York City, I’ve been to all of them. Multiple times. In fact, my Manhattan office while working at a Fortune 10 corporation was within six-city blocks of three of them; I was fortunate enough to go all of these frequently. One other qualifier I have been on the Atkins diet for so long that some folks think I am growing cow-horns…so when I traveled (and I did quite a lot of that with a nice Fortune 10 style expense account) I ate a lot of steak, sometimes twice a day.

Since our move to Nashville I have decided to try out some of the steakhouses in this great and vibrant city. This is the first in a series of articles on The Steakhouses of Nashville. Hope you enjoy!

With all that steak-history behind me why start with a steakhouse in a hotel chain? Because it is a good steak house in an atmosphere that is just as steeped in the traditions of this part of the country as those steak palaces in NYC are steeped in their traditions.

First, Old Hickory’s ambiance. The restaurant is located at the heart of The Opry Land Hotel. What an incredible venue. Big, sprawling and every inch of it a celebration of Nashville, America’s South and Music City. The restaurant is an actual life sized replica of the Evergreen Plantation, an antebellum mansion in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. There is an upstairs area, complete with white banister balcony views for special events and catering. Downstairs there is a very clubby-looking bar, with overstuffed chairs and very traditional and comfortable old wood styling. There are tables inside the main restaurant and outside on the patio (ok it’s not really outside as the whole building is in an enormous climate controlled space) complete with gaslights, trees, brick walk and the sounds of a waterfall. So the atmosphere here is just an appetizer for the eyes to precede the food.

The kitchen is under the direction of Executive Chef Forrest Parker, who trained in several fine establishments, including Johnson and Wales, in Charleston South Carolina. Recently relocating to Nashville, Chef Forrest worked in several upscale restaurants that cater to a very discerning clientele. We had the pleasure of meeting Chef Parker while we were dining there. In talking with the Chef and Old Hickory General Manager, Nando Rodriguez, we found out one of the secrets to the success of this great find. The goal of Old Hickory is to provide the best food and service possible to compliment stays and visits to The Opry Land Hotel and complex. Since Old Hickory is only one component of the hotel it focuses more about diner experience and quality than meeting an imposing financial target as some stand alone restaurants have to do just to stay in business; point well taken. Everything at Old Hickory, the décor’, the wait-staff, the wine list and certainly the food are first rate. While not an inexpensive place to dine it is certainly competitively priced to any other major steakhouse.

The evening we went to Old Hickory my wife and I were with two friends. One special feature at Old Hickory is the gourmet Artisanal cheese course overseen by the Maitre Fromager, Richard Peterson. This wonderfully executed offering is a beautiful and elegant way to enjoy some world-class gourmet cheeses along with fine wines or whiskies. The cheeses offered, along with accompaniments, can be had as a spectacular appetizer or as a unique, and very Continental, desert course. Either way ask the Maitre Fromager to present the cheeses to you and try a few types…it is well worth the experience.

The menu at Old Hickory is excellent. It features many traditional steakhouse favorites, such as Crab Cakes and Oysters Rockefeller as appetizers, Classic Casers (made at tableside, the traditional way) Beefsteak Tomato salad and Lobster Bisque. In addition it offers some specialty items, such as Bison Carpaccio and Baked Lobster “Mac & Cheese”. One of the starters that they are deservedly well known for is their wonderful Lobster Bisque. This is a lovely, rich potion that has all of a velvety taste and texture usually found only in the finest French restaurants not steakhouses. This is one worth the extra calories. But mind you, if you select this bisque and are planning to enjoy one of the larger steak offerings you might want to skip the salad course.

That evening we all had a beef-heavy dining experience befitting the theme. Two of us had the Cowboy Rib eye, one of the ladies had Bison Tenderloin and I tried the house specialty preparation of a classic, the “1885 Bone In Strip” steak. Each of these dishes was fantastic and a standalone entree, just as you would expect in a big-name steakhouse. They were all excellent cuts of meat. They were rich, and the beef cuts were well marbleized and very flavorful. The Bison Tenderloin, which is inherently a leaner meat, also had a full-bodied beefy taste and was juicy and tender. One of the hallmarks of a great steakhouse is whether or not the meat arrives at your table exactly the way you ordered it. At Old Hickory even though we had three very different types of meat preparations, impressively, they all came to us together and exactly the way we ordered them; Perfecto! The “1885” steak preparation was a bit of a deviation from the traditional purist approach to steakhouse fare bit since I could take a little taste of everyone else’s, I ventured out a bit with this Old Hickory special preparation. The “1885” steak is high quality well cured and cut 16 oz bone in rib eye that is prepared with a special dry-rub that contains perceptible amounts of brown sugar. This rub imparts a slightly sweet and almost molasses like taste to the meat which is surprisingly good. Maybe this style is not for “purists” but for a bit of a change of pace, this provides a welcome alternative to the ubiquitously found “blackened/Cajun” variations. Prior to the steak entrees we had a delightful selection of 12 cheeses. One of our dining companions thought that the steak was a bit anticlimactic after the fabulous cheese course; as for the rest of us, we just enjoyed both to the fullest. However, we did make one concession to moderation; we went a bit easy on the sides. However, we did force ourselves to try the Maytag Blue Cheese Au Gratin Potatoes, the Broccolini with Hot Bacon (which also has melted cheese on it), and – another creative specialty – the Baked Lobster “Mac & Cheese”. The latter is an adventuresome delectable. It is not really a “mac & cheese” dish with bits of lobster meat but more like a lobster bisque that has been married to a mildly cheese enhanced pasta. I know it sounds a bit odd – but it is very, very, very good. I would suggest that if you are going to have this as a side you choose a starter other than the Lobster Bisque. All were quite nice. The Broccolini dish was a bit novel and well prepared. While I did not care for it too much one of our dinner companions just loved it and was more than willing to sacrifice himself to finish it off. The potato au gratin was good as well.

For desert we tried a sampling of 3 deserts. This included some fresh made biscotti, bread pudding and a crème brulee. They were all well done and nicely presented. The delicious bread pudding is made of a mélange of breakfast-breads and has a delightful cinnamon taste that works very well with the nicely done custard. The biscotti, my type of desert, was freshly made and had just the right amount of crunch to hold up to an accompanying espresso and not too sweet. But a real standout her was the crème brulee. It was one of the best I have ever tasted and my wife, a real aficionado, said she had wonderful dreams about it for two nights after having it. We were told that the Old Hickory Sous Chef had previously worked at a Disney owned property and adapted the recipe from there for Old Hickory guests. No matter how you feel about a standard like crème brulee, you or one of your dinner companions must try this one!

The wine list at Old Hickory offers a broad range of wines for very refined palates (with commiserate prices) to some great value wines. We had wine with our cheese course so we did not order another bottle with our main meal. No matter what you might like in wines there will be something to accommodate your preferences and wallet.

The service here was very good. It was attentive while not being obvious. Steakhouses sometimes treat customers as if they are doing the owners a favor by dining there. But here General Manger Rodriguez’s staff was most professional and attentive. I have heard that service at Old Hickory can be spotty, but given some of the surprises that can happen on any given day this can occasionally happen in any restaurant; so while I take what I read and hear under advisement, I make my own judgments. The night we were there, and we were there for a good four hours, our service was spot on. My observation of the service levels at the tables around us indicated that other patrons that busy night were equally satisfied with the service, as well as the food and ambiance.

So all in all I would definitely recommend the Old Hickory Steakhouse. Standouts are the lobster bisque, the Cowboy cut, the baked lobster mac & cheese the crème brulee and, for a special change of pace the gourmet cheese service.

It earns 5 Crabby Old Guy Rib-Eyes out of a possible six.

Celebrity Chef Eateries in Las Vegas…How Do Their Restaurants Fare?

RestaurantReviews — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 00:20:00 GMT

A Tale of Three Italians… Beloni’s Zeffirino, Batali’s Enoteca San Marco and Bamparola’s Canaletto Restorante Veneto: Slugging It out in Las Vegas.

As every meeting goer and red-blooded, fun loving, American knows Las Vegas is now a Foodie Paradise as well as an entertainment and gambling mecca. In the past several years celebrity chef after celebrity chef has decided that it is essential to their reputation to put in a restaurant. These restaurants are usually very visible, gaudy and hyper-expensive and are located at the cross roads of the Western Entertainment Roads in the desert, Las Vegas. Some of these folks have even opened more than one… is that because they are so good? Is it because there is so much money floating around that town? Or, is it because their toque sizes have swelled so grandly? Now a days the mega-hotels of Las Vegas look like an outlet for The Food Channel Network or a living breathing section of your local Barns and Noble cookbook section. While I am willing to lay you three-to-one odds (with only a modest skim for my-house) that Vegas has the highest concentration per square mile of celebrity chef eateries it isn’t of course the only place in the US where you can find name brand cuisine. But the question is does this name brand cuisine “reign supreme” to borrow a phrase from The Iron Chef series, in these places? Is the food, and the service, worth your dollars and the effort? It is a tough job but somebody has to do it but The Crabby Old Guy, with some encouragement from my spouse and partner in travel, The Savvy Old Lady, has decided to do a series of comparative reviews of some Celebrity Eateries.

Recently I traveled out to Las Vegas, one of my favorite people watching spots, and decided to try out three restaurants by three different celebrity chefs all at the fabulous Venetian Hotel and Casino’s Grand Canal complex. I had dinner at Zeffirino (a place I have frequented over the years), owned by the son of the originator of this fine group of restaurants, Maestro de Cucina Gian Paulo “Zeffirino” Beloin, at Canaletto, brainchild of Luigi Bamparolo and Enoteca San Marco, one of two new eateries recently opened there by Molto Mario Batali. An amazing breadth and depth of Italian culinary experience in one place! There’s almost as many there as in my first home town, New York City.

First, Zeffirino. I like this place. I like it a lot. The heritage of this fine and handsome restaurant is Genoa, so naturally it bills itself as specializing in seafood. The Executive Chef is the talented Francesco Schintu, who trained and worked under Maestro Beloni himself in Genoa. I have eaten there several times over the years. It has been consistently good and the service is usually very attentive and professional with a touch or real Italian flair. Only once do I recall the service being a bit distanced. That was during Rodeo Week out there and I think that the cultural challenges the Italian staff was having while coping with Cowboys who refused to take their western hats off during dinner was just making them aggettivo, that is nutso. This time out I dined with a good Southern gentleman colleague and friend who had never been there before but who also is a foodie. The service was excellent, attentively efficient and non-intrusive. My guest started with a Caesar Salad. Ok, so who can ruin that? Plenty of restaurants, particularly those who cater to tourists often do. This was well done in the classic style. He also had the Filetto de Branzini alla Catalana. This lovely white fish was prepared with white wine a touch of lobster and a very light tomato based sauce. It was the focus of the dish and it was served with some braised leaks and lightly seasoned sautéed potatoes. I had the Fritto de Calamari e Zucchine. This is a rather large portioned dish so I split it with my friend; it made a great accompaniment to his salad. The Calamari and zucchini combination is quite nice. There seemed to be an over abundance of tentacles in my portion but other than that it was well prepared, served hot and crispy. The dipping sauce was fine but nothing to write home about; the real star is the lightness of the fried items themselves. As an entrée I had one of my very favorites there the Costoletta di Vitelo alla Valdostana. This is a lovely and thick cut veal chop lightly breaded and then stuffed with fontina cheese. The dish is finished with a rich Borolo wine sauce and served with a small portion of a hearty polenta, also with a bit of fontina. The heavy sauce goes well with the veal, which was cooked to perfection. It is a rather large portion so if you choose this entrée save room. Another wonderful dish at Zeffirino that I have had in the past is their Aragosta Diavolo. A very traditional preparation of lobster, shrimp, mussels, clams and scallops. The lobster is advertised as a “one pound” portion however, when I went to dinner there I forgot my food scale so I had to eyeball it and it seemed to be a small, one-pound tail, but maybe that was the weight before shelling, deveining and cooking (sort of the way they weigh the burgers at Mickey D’s). At any rate the portion for this dish is also substantial and the shellfish are very well prepared. The sauce was quite good too but I did need a few extra pepper flakes to get the devil in the dish out there for me. My one complaint about the dish was not the dish but resided with the server. Being of Sicilian extraction, I often like to have grated cheese with my pasta dishes. Now, many chefs and food purists would thumb up their nose at the thought of putting cheese on a fish dish; they claim it detracts from the delicate nature of the fish tastes. But wait a minute there Bucko! This type of dish has garlic, and lots of it, hot pepper flakes and wine. Now, just how is some cheese going to interfere with anything here? There is nothing subtle about a diavolo preparation; so get off it food-snobs. When I asked the waiter for cheese, he looked aghast and, as only a real Italian can, made a great, and not so subtle point, about how he will accommodate me but that he would not tell the chef (sure, like he actually has conversations with the chef about this sort of thing) as he would be very offended. Give me a break. First off, this is a diavolo preparation, second off, I’m paying for it and third-off, I added more pepper flakes to counter balance the intrusion of the cheese. Yes, this is a pricy place but, unfortunately, in the new Las Vegas the celebrity chef category restaurants are all a bit stratospheric in price. Does it matter? From a business standpoint I guess not since seats are almost always filled at the top tier restaurants. It is a shame but the phrase, “Price what the market will bear” was made for Las Vegas. Zeffirino is, in my humble opinion, one of the places in Vegas where the price is worth it. The entire experience was most satisfying for me as a repeat patron and for my guest who agreed that it was worth it and would certainly go back again.

Then there was Batali’s Enoteca San Marco in the heart of the Grand Canal scene. A perfect spot for lunch or dinner and some big time people watching if you eat ’outside’ or at the stylish bar-counter. It is a bit quieter ‘inside’ but just as stylishly decorated. But after having eaten there all I can say is: Mario, Mario, Mario; what are you doing? Have you actually eaten in this place? Oh, I suppose if you did the experience would be quite different then mine was, but maybe you should send a “secret eater” or something here every now and then. This place was awful. Even worse it could be grand if some caring was showered on the patrons. The servers were rather yuppie (to the point where I thought I was at third tier LA restaurant), very inexperienced and seemed to care about managing table-turns more than making sure that the patrons were happy, well tended to and relaxed during the meal. I wanted to eat light so I ordered the Bitter Broccoli with Spicy Lemon Oil as an appetizer and the Linguine with Spicy Tuna as the entree. I did not want wine with the meal. Savvy has put me on a diet and if I am going to consume mega calories in the line of duty I do not want to use them up on an alcoholic beverage. When I only asked for water you would have thought I asked for Kool Aid. I suppose the server was much happier to serve the rather interesting couple across the way from me a lovely bottle of pink Champaign (an elegant choice with Italian food) then me my water. I always ask for water without ice or lemon. You would be amazed how hard it is to just get water prepared this way. At Enoteca San Marco I asked for my usual “water-no ice, no fruit” and I got it adulterated with ice and lemon. It took about 10 minutes to get it replaced, no kidding. There was some very nice looking bread and olive oil served, but the bread was not crisped. Ok, serving bread at room temperature is just fine but this bread took about 15 minutes to come up to room temperature; what a shame. The Bitter Broccoli, actually broccoli rabbi, was on the menu as a vegetable dish so the server made it a point of telling me that this was a cold dish. So, when the dish came I expected it to be cold, but the darn thing was so cold that the spicy lemon oil was congealed on the top of it. The lovely fragrance and taste mix of the lemon oil which should have lit up my palate was totally blunted by serving the dish right out of the deepest recesses of the commercial grade refrigerator. It took about half of the time I was there eating my two entrees (more on this in a moment) for this dish to come to what I would consider a proper room temperature and finally be enjoyed. To compliment my rabbi I first ordered the Linguine with Spicy Tuna. It was not at all good. The dish was brought at best lukewarm, the spicy sauce was lacked any depth of taste and not at all spicy and the stuff in there that was presumably the tuna had the palate appeal of those lovely white (or pink) packing peanuts. The tuna was totally inedible. I was very dissatisfied with this dish after just a few bites and when I finally was able to flag down the manger, who was gracious enough about my dissatisfaction, I had this entrée changed to the Cavatappi with Lamb Ragu, mint and pecorino. This was a very lovely preparation. Batali’s style is known for crisp and clear tastes and presentation that stars the food rather than some sauce or side dish; such was the case with this lovely dish. I was even pleasantly surprised that the mint used in the sauce (an herb Mario seems to be unusually fond of) added an interesting harmonic to the palate. It was thoroughly satisfying – but it was apparent that it was made to order to satisfy a displeased customer. My server was no gem. I had a hard time finding her during the meal not because I could not see her but because she so quickly flew around her service area that in order to get her attention I would have had to get off my chair and tackle her NFL-style. Getting my water(neat or not) refilled was a bit of a chore. Even after it was quite apparent that I was not pleased with the entrée I still could not fine the young lady. She was, unfortunately for Mr. Batali’s reputation, not the only unimpressive person working here. The young man working behind the bar was prepping some fruit and was cleaning up the service area at the same time. Unfortunately, as he shifted from cleaning to prepping no food service gloves were used and as far as I could tell there was no hand washing either between cleaning the counter and slicing the fruit, yuck. I also curiously observed two other yuppie-like servers conspicuously arguing in the middle of the bar area over something or other. This tiff seemed to extend for a bit of time as the looks-to-kill between them were rather obvious the whole time I was trying to dine and if I was not mistaken a bit of shoving also ensued. The price at Enoteca San Marco would have been more than reasonable if the food and service were up to par but under the circumstances I certainly got my money’s worth of material for this review. Too bad it was not positive material rather than my monies worth of a pleasant dining experience. This is not a place I would recommend unless these service lapses are corrected and the staff in the kitchen and in the dining area learn that they are not there just to turn tables but to create a wonderful dining experience and enhance Chef Batali’s reputation not sully it. Maybe my comments will actually get through to Chef Batali and he can save his and his partner’s reputation. Chef Batali has another higher end restaurant at the Venetian but, unfortunately, my experience here does not inspire me to go there!

Last but not least, was the Venetian inspired Canaletto Restorante Veneto. The noteworthy owner celebrity chef is Senor Luigi Bomparola and the chef at this restaurant is Chef Gianpaolo Putzu. This is another beautifully designed restaurant with lovely hardwoods and colors. I have eaten here a couple of times in the past, mostly because it has reliable food and is convenient but not because of anything particularly special about the food, the presentation or the service. The most memorable foodie event here was that one corporate dinner a while back when a few friends of mine and I decided that we needed to have an impromptu grappa tasting session. Grappa, for those of you who have not had the pleasure, is highly volatile liquor with a linage that I believe could be considered the equivalent of Italian moonshine. My Grandpa Papale use to make this stuff (in legal quantities only mind you) with the remnants of the grapes that he used to make his home made wine. The basic ingredient for grappa, you see, is the virtually totally expended squeezing from wine grapes. The juice, if you can really call it that, comes from this second, or third pressing of grape skins, and sometimes seeds and stems, which is fermented to a high alcoholic content (sometimes approaching 80% alcohol, or 160 proof) and left to rest. Sort of like a brandy. It may sound like rather ruff-stuff (which many types are) but well made grappa is a wonderful thing. At any rate, at that one rather pleasant evening at Canaletto’s we had a tasting of grappa…about 5 different types if I remember correctly. It is unusual for a restaurant these days to carry any grappa let alone several different types. I honestly did not look at the menu for this treat when at the restaurant this time so if they still have this available, and you don’t mind missing much of your memory for that evening, you might too try a grappa tasting.

At any rate, back to the food experience at Canaletto this time around. I ordered the Calamaretti Frittoi as an appetizer, just to give me some comparison to that which I had at Zeffirino a couple of nights earlier. It was perfectly fine. Not particularly crisp but well prepared and a good, not huge, portion. It was every bit as good as you can get anywhere. The dipping sauce, a marinara based sauce, is nice. Not overwhelming to the taste of the calamari. It was served with a tasting-size portion of nicely prepared polenta. Next, I ordered the Linguine ala Brunella. This was a well prepared and nicely seasoned combination of shellfish, mussels, prawns, scallops and clams in a wonderful terabbiano wine sauce. Trebbiano wine is a crisp white that by itself goes very nicely with the traditional cuisine of Northern Italy, particularly with fish dishes. Its addition here, while the subtlety of the wine itself was a bit lost in the dish, it was a nice touch. Canaletto, is what I would call a moderately expensive place to eat. So, if you are not looking for a particularly ambitious menu or flashy surroundings, but pleasant and non-surprising Northern Italian food this is a good place. For example this is the kind of safe bet place for those business dinners where the guests may have refined but not adventuresome tastes – or even worse - you are in the mood for good Italian but don’t know about your guests tastes or sophistication – and you just happen to be hanging around the Venetian hotel…then this is the place for you.

Since I am doing a comparison piece here I suppose it is fair to compare these three. Canaletto teaches that to be a celebrity chef does not always mean that the food has to be very novel or exceptional…but sometimes having good food that appeals to the average taste and is consistently well structured, presented and prepared can make you a celebrity. Zeffirino, even at its knock-your-socks-off, get-out-the-Platinum-card, prices has never disappointed and the celebrity here is grand food in a grand setting…at a grand price. Unfortunately the lesson Enoteca San Marco gives is that celebrity is fragile. All the right elements for success and high expectations that come from celebrity as a renowned and talented chef can be subverted very easily by a poorly managed kitchen and service staff.