Las Vegas Weekly

January 6, 2009 · 2:26 PM

Restaurant Roundup: Switch moves walls and ceilings; Botero offers inside and outside dining; Guy Savoy opens Krug champagne parlor

By Robin Leach

Switch chef Marc Poidevin and the not-to-be-missed chilled seafood tower.

Photo: TVT

It will go down in the record books as the most unique theatrical-experience restaurant in the world, and I think diners will actually stop eating the fabulous food and remain open-mouthed in amazement. At Steve Wynn’s new Switch restaurant in his just-opened the Encore, everything changes!

Not once but several times a night. Everything? Well, at least the walls and the ceiling -- and maybe even accessories on the servers’ uniforms! It makes you believe that every 20 minutes, you’re sitting in a different restaurant in some other part of the world because it certainly doesn’t let you know you’re in Las Vegas.

The idea is genius! It could have come from a Hollywood movie set. There are five different “scene” changes -- three different sets of walls that completely transform the mood (the setting adds to the experience of the changing outside scenery), plus two sets of different disappearing ceilings -- one more spectacular than the other with the lowered trio of crystal chandeliers.

Photo: TVT

The kitchen staff of Switch at the Encore.

My longtime friend chef Marc Poidevin, who dates back with me to his Le Cirque days in New York, is a fine-food impresario, but he’s even upstaged by the amazing walls and decorations that silently slide into play and transform the room three times an hour.

“It’s certainly a truly unique dining experience” Marc told me. “The theatrics enhance the dinner. The French-inspired cuisine combined with the shifting ceiling and walls offers an event that’s in a class of its own. There’s nothing like it I know of anywhere else in the world.”

The romantic steakhouse and seafood restaurant is a beautiful work of art when you enter, but then it goes on changing even better as the meal progresses. And what a dinner! The seafood tower not only is topped by a sculpted seahorse, but Marc also has placed pearls in their shells on the triple-tiered service of oysters, caviar, crab legs and scallop ceviche. His appetizers of Hawaiian-style tuna poke come with roasted beets, and the sautéed foie gras comes with wild blueberry.

Call the recipe for success here equal parts restaurant and theater -- and prepare to be dazzled by both!

Botero Steak

Nearby in the Encore is nightclub czar Victor Drai’s new indoor-and-outdoor Botero Steak restaurant. It’s a circular eatery set around a massive stone sculpture of a well-endowed woman -- “Fertility Goddess” as seen by Colombian artist Fernando Botero. A black lacquered bead chandelier dangles above it, making the luminous pool below glisten. The artist’s humorous larger-than-life creations, including another sculpture and three paintings from his successful 2007 Circus series, also are built into the restaurant.

Guests have a 360-degree view of the adjoining XS nightclub and its extraordinary day-and-night pool playground. In warmer weather, Botero will open its outdoor area for poolside dining, making it a complete in-and-out, sexy, sophisticated and modern steakhouse.

Photo: TVT

The XS pool at night.

Mark LoRusso is the executive chef and serves up “steak your way” prepared in traditional, pepper or chimichurri styles for the 12-ounce filets, 18-ounce dry-aged New York Strips or 20-ounce bone-in rib eyes. For those who crave fish, there’s a whole roasted European Loup de mer or poached halibut!

Once again, it’s a restaurant for the eyes and senses in addition to unique taste treats.

Krug Champagne Parlor

Over at Caesars Palace, world-renowned chef Guy Savoy started the New Year right with the inauguration of the only Krug champagne room in the U.S. The world’s most prestigious champagne, made by six generations of the same family and regarded as the most sought-after bubbly in the world, has been endorsed by everybody from my hero, Sir Winston Churchill, to famed French fashion designer Coco Chanel.

Photo: TVT

Guy Savoy and Alizma.

Our friends the violin-playing Alizma triplets were among a group of celebrating guests, including Caesars Palace President Gary Selesner and Flamingo/Harrah’s President Don Marrandino.

Now from spring onwards, private parties and large dining groups will be able to experience the exclusive Krug parlor of pleasure at famed Michelin three-star Guy Savoy and drink “the heavens’ sparkling stars” while sitting among the finest cuvees in the world.

Photo: TVT

Mike Severino, Guy Savoy and son Franck.

Top Restaurant Awards

On a final gourmet note, our local public broadcasting food critic John Curtas has announced his Top Restaurant Awards in an end-of-the-year tradition. According to Curtas, this year’s list is notable for “… the explosion of great local dining that’s finally made it to our neighborhoods.” The 2008 award recipients include: Cocktail Bar of the Year, the original Nora’s Cuisine on West Flamingo, for its trailblazing creativity in the cult of the properly crafted cocktail. Excellence in Management and Service: CUT, Wolfgang Puck’s steakhouse in the Palazzo. Says Curtas: “No one ran a smoother operation this year … better than the team at CUT.”

Sommelier of the Year: Desi Echavarrie at Restaurant Charlie in the Palazzo “… because he paired not only wine, but beer and cocktails with this restaurant’s sophisticated food flawlessly.” Pastry Chef of the Year: Vanessa Garcia at Restaurant Charlie. According to Curtas, “Her deconstructed beauties put a post-modern spin on sweets that still have me scratching my head over their hyper-deliciousness.” Chef of the Year: Mitsuo Endo of Raku. Curtas recognized Chef Endo for his culinary mastery, saying, “… taking an invisible corner of a run-down shopping center and turning it into a local and nationally recognized restaurant is nothing short of amazing.” Restaurant of the Year: Raku. Curtas describes Raku as “a 30-seat gem that puts out superior Japanese food on a level that Las Vegas has never before witnessed. (Raku) specializes in small plate wonders of flavor, composition and texture.”

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