Las Vegas Weekly

July 30, 2009 · 2:06 PM

Counter Intelligence: Secret lets you dine like VIP at Palazzo

By Robin Leach

The Palazzo.

Photo: Courtesy

I’m going to let you in on a very special fine dining secret! High above the casino floors at the Palazzo and The Venetian is an exclusive experience normally reserved for invited VIP guests and high rollers. One of the top award-winning and acclaimed Asian chefs from Hong Kong, Simon To, heads up an army of master chefs from across China to serve up amazing, authentic Asian cuisines in the Paiza Club.

It’s an almost individual cook-to-order feast from any part of the Chinese food culture and can be as little as one sensational bite or a massive 21-course meal of magnificence. Simon, a dim sum master, has 35 years of experience and won the coveted Bleu Ribbon Award from Le Cordon Bleu. He was inducted into the prestigious Les Amis d’Escoffier Society of China and named honorary chairman for his culinary achievements.

General Manager Ken Wong also was inducted and named honorary chairman for his outstanding hospitality service. Simon serves casual and adventurous diners with delicacies such as rare filet mignon noodle soup to Singapore-style pan-fried crab with chili.

If halfway through, you feel moved -- or lucky -- and want to place a $1 million bet, I think they’d wheel a table right up to where you’re sitting with your own dealer. Probably, though, you’d have to walk just a few feet to where a private salon of blackjack, baccarat and roulette tables awaits with dealers, and it’s open 24 hours a day all year long in case the need for hunger and gaming strike simultaneously.

Photo: Courtesy

Zine Noodles Dim Sum in the Palazzo.

As the good book says: “Paiza is designed to fulfill every need no matter how extravagant!” It even shows live sporting events from all over the world on a series of HD flat screen TVs. The first Paiza Club at the Sands Macao, which opened in May 2004, proved so popular with high rollers, Las Vegas executives opened one in The Venetian in April 2005 and a second at the Palazzo in 2007!

The Paiza Club serves the finest of wines, champagnes and other libations, plus a stunning selection of the world’s best cigars. It’s probably the ultimate in Las Vegas luxury and indulgence for the world’s most elite gaming enthusiasts. Ten centuries ago, the Golden Paiza served as the Emperor of China’s personal pass to the riches of his empire. In 1266, the Golden Paiza was presented to Marco Polo by Emperor Kublai Khan, which made possible the Venetian explorer’s travels through China and the introduction of that culture’s wealthy wonders to our Western world.

There have been some specially invited celebrities to the Paiza to experience its miracles. Jessica Alba and Cash Warren dined there family-style with friends, and I even talked my way in to see and taste it for myself. It was brilliant, but now to the secret!

Now you can partly experience the wonders of chef Simon To and Ken Wong’s extraordinary hospitality with some of the same cuisine in a new, “almost hidden away” restaurant. Zine draws from Cantonese, Taiwanese, Vietnamese, Szechuan and other Asian cooking styles melding traditional dishes from the simple to the exotic in an extravagant yet comfortable contemporary setting.

I worked my way through some of the highlights of the staggering 120 items on the menu. I raved over the Vietnamese noodle seafood delicacies, the Cantonese roasted barbecue duck and the Taiwanese-styled chicken with wine and mint in a clay pot!

This is not your mother’s Chinese restaurant. Ken told me that this is the genuine article as opposed to American Chinese fare. You’ll know the difference instantly, and now if you want to dine like the casino VIPs, you know the secret! You’ll find Zine tucked discreetly away in a corner of the Palazzo casino floor.

Thomas Keller’s new books and restaurant

Elsewhere, The Venetian and Palazzo’s culinary scene also is sizzling! (Excuse that pun!) Time magazine has hailed Thomas Keller as America’s best chef, and Michelin awarded him more stars than any other chef and restaurant owner. Now he’s just introduced his newest culinary bestseller Under Pressure. It’s his third book, which explores the French “under vacuum” cooking process in airtight plastic containers submerged in hot water for a longer, slower cooking time.

Thomas told me that many U.S. star chefs have introduced this style to their kitchens, and he’s hoping eventually to have a price-sensible home-kitchen version of the process. Thomas, who has the award-winning Per Se in New York and French Laundry and Bouchon in Napa Valley, operates Bouchon in The Venetian.

In addition to opening a restaurant in L.A. this year, Thomas has a fourth book being published in November -- a $50 stunner titled At Home Ad-Hoc Family-Style Recipes. He promises that it will be the easiest of his cookbooks to understand and will allow readers to create in their own homes what he does in his.

He explained: “Shortly after we set out to write this book, my father died. I was very lucky to have him just next door to me during the last years of his life and to be able to cook for him. I cooked his last meal, and we shared it together. It was his favorite barbecued chicken with mashed potatoes and braised collard greens. It was spring and the first strawberries were in season, so I made strawberry shortcake.

“It was a good dinner, and I am now unspeakably grateful to have made it because it will remain important to me for always. Food is always the comfort of our lives for family and friends.”

Vineyards of style

Four times a year, the Palazzo holds a unique Wine Stroll, and the latest featured 28 wines from seven wineries. Guests wander the Shoppes at the Palazzo, where the vineyards have set up for wine tastings. David van Such provided the live jazz, and Zine, Woo, First Food & Bar and Charlie Trotter provided cuisine. All net proceeds from all four wine strolls this year are donated to food charity hub Three Square, which distributes donated and rescued food to 250 agencies.

Photo: Kelsey McNeal

Photo: Bravo

With his long hair and lingering accent, Hubert Keller has been a recognizable presence behind the judges' table on Top Chef. Now, he's stepping into the competition on Top Chef Masters.

Beer is the new wine

At celebrity chef Hubert Keller’s Fleur de Lys in Mandalay Bay, a selection of unique beers has been added to the menu. Hubert hosted a hybrid night with a world-class six-course dinner, with each course paired with a beer. Hubert was still in the running as of last night with just three weeks to go on Bravo’s Top Chef Masters, where he is competing for a $100,000 prize to donate to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. He was the first guest chef ever to be invited to the White House and cooked for President Clinton, first lady Hillary and daughter Chelsea.

Hubert selected beers from Hawaii (I never knew the islands had their own!), Belgium, India, plus one beer from a 1679 recipe and one with the most telling label ever -- “End of the World.” Incidentally for you Top Chef fanatics, the Top Chef Las Vegas premiere date has been changed to Aug. 19. And congratulations to host and head judge Tom Colicchio, who runs his MGM restaurants here, on the news he and wife Lori Silverbush are expecting a baby boy to be born right around that date!

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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