Las Vegas Weekly

December 29, 2009 · 4:24 PM

Photo Gallery: Star chefs are aplenty at CityCenter

By Robin Leach

The chefs of CityCenter gather for the Grand Opening of Aria on Dec. 16, 2009.

Photo: Tom Donoghue/www.donoghuephotography.com

It has become one of the world’s best dining destinations within a city that already prides itself on having the greatest chefs and restaurants. In less than 15 days since opening, the star chefs at MGM’s CityCenter have won raves for the newest additions to our top-ranked Las Vegas culinary scene.

Twist @Mandarin Oriental

Come wander with me on a dine-around tour, and we’ll start with the newest star in the gourmet galaxy, Pierre Gagnaire at the Mandarin Oriental with his restaurant Twist, which, if his three-star Michelin sensation in Paris is any guide, will join his seven global eateries as a world winner within weeks. Pierre takes the conventions of French classic cooking and makes it modern cuisine with a juxtaposition of flavors, tastes and textures for perfect fusion. Mozen Bistro also is at the Mandarin.

Silk Road @Vdara

At the Vdara condo hotel, my award-winning chef friend Martin Heierling scores again with the eclectic dining menu at his gorgeous breakfast, lunch and dinner stunner Silk Road. He was applauded for culinary genius with Sensi in the Bellagio, which was his four-kitchen tribute to cuisine from all four corners of the Earth. Now he’s pulled off another sensational food experience with the legend and spices of the historic Silk Road trail across the Eastern Mediterranean to the Far East.

Dining in Crystals

Over at the retail district Crystals hidden away among the big name brand boutiques and jewelry stores, celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck will score in March with two restaurants: Brasserie Puck and The Pods. Actress Eva Longoria Parker has already opened her Spanish-themed steakhouse Beso in partnership with star chef Todd English, which has become an overnight hit. Todd opens his own English Pub opposite Beso in a couple of months.

Social House, formerly at Treasure Island before Phil Ruffin bought the casino and turned the space into Khotan, will reopen in Crystals’ shopping cathedral. Pure Management Group, owned in part by Andre Agassi, Steffi Graf, Celine Dion and Shaquille O’Neal, oversees Social House. Also opening at Crystals will be Mastro’s Ocean Club in its Las Vegas debut and Katana from the folks who brought us BOA and Sushi Roku.

Culinary scene @Aria

It’s at the crown centerpiece in Aria that you’ll find restaurants over two floors of the new Cesar Pelli-designed casino hotel. Upstairs beside the Cirque du Soleil Viva Elvis theater are three of my longtime food friends. Michael Mina serves up seafood in his restaurant American Fish; Sirio Maccioni, the revered and legendary figure of the American dining scene from New York, is Italian all the way in Sirio; and Jean-Georges Vongerichten does steak at his Jean-Georges Steakhouse.

I’ve already dined at all three, and to say they are sensational would still be an understatement. I love the open kitchen windows that serve as a giant TV screen to the secret workings of the spotlessly clean kitchens and prep areas. Jean-George’s jewel box features an impressive wine-dining room and tiered, nearly private stadium VIP box seating.

At Sirio, you can watch the chefs prepping pastas, curing meats and slicing the paper-thin prosciutto in a dining room that reminds one of Rome and Manhattan elegance. The master view is of the five cooking procedures at Michael’s fifth Las Vegas restaurant. He proudly displays the sous vide (hot seawater) poaching tanks, an oven for wood grilling and three grills and hot stone surfaces he designed himself for the regional American seafood.

Downstairs on the casino and lobby level are Julian Serrano’s Spanish tapas and paella palace, creative Chicago chef Shawn McClain’s debut Las Vegas restaurant Sage and Iron Chef sushi guru Masayoshi Takayama with his elegant and exclusive 36-foot-high-ceilinged and 54-seat restaurant Shaboo and its neighboring casual eat-in Bar Masa. Julian has counter-top seating right out from the long main bar, and his chef’s use of deconstructed raspberries and pineapple to add flavors will, like me, have you telling everybody to go try it. Penn Jillette and Wolf have raved about Julian Serrano. Shawn’s luxurious masterpiece restaurant in purples and brass is a sexy, sensual eye attraction, and the New American cuisine with a Mediterranean influence is just as mouthwatering.

Dead center in the casino floor is chef Brian Massie’s Union that serves food similar to his restaurants Fix and Stack in the Bellagio and The Mirage, respectively. Check out the revolving turntable of liquor on the Union bar. Elsewhere alongside the gaming areas is the first and only Thai restaurant in a Strip casino, Lemongrass, with a charcoal-burning satay bar, and Blossom, an intimate high roller’s Chinese restaurant. Additionally, there’s Jean Philippe Patisserie by Jean Philippe Maury, who dazzled previously with his Bellagio patisserie, and a buffet.

Food critics from New York to Los Angeles, including our own respected writers, are abuzz already about the culinary collection. Even Wolf says they will all add to the reputation he helped Las Vegas win as one of the world’s top dining destinations.

Robin Leach has been a journalist for more than 50 years and has spent the past decade giving readers the inside scoop on Las Vegas, the world’s premier platinum playground.

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