Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Columnist Muriel Stevens: Mirage restaurants remodel, welcome renowned chefs

While Bellagio restaurants are readying to open next week, another Mirage Resorts property, the Mirage, is hard at work revamping the restaurants already in place there and building new ones.

Renowned chef Alex Stratta at Melange (soon to become Restaurant Alex Stratta). is winning raves for his innovative cuisine. He's not the only celebrity chef making waves at the Mirage.

This week, with two dining companions, I had the opportunity to attend a tasting of the new menu created by Todd English for Riva (soon to become Onda). English is the owner of the acclaimed Olives restaurant in Boston. The first Olives outside of Boston is opening at Bellagio.

Riva/Onda's menu reflects what English and Riva chef Luke Palladino do so well: skillfully blending the freshest possible seasonal foods to create wonderful dishes. Palladino knew English in Boston, but did not work with him. He left Boston to refine his skills, working in various regions of Italy. English remembered the talented chef when seeking one for Riva and convinced him to come to the Mirage. They're a wonderful team.

Riva's menu includes an antipasti selection that changes daily. This is not the usual antipasti selection. A meal can easily be made from the antipasti -- ours almost was. A sampler for two is $18.95; a grand antipasti for two is $37. Prices for a la carte antipasti range from $3.50-$13.

Our antipasti included items from the day's menu as well as items that were being considered: wedges of herbed frittata, butternut squash agro dolci (lightly sweetened), grissini (thin bread sticks) coated with white truffle butter and Parmagiana wrapped with proscuitto, roasted radicchio, slices of panelle (chick pea polenta) topped with Gorgonzola, roasted baby beets (chiaggio), a slender pepper stuffed with creamy cheese and caponato (a chunky eggplant mix). Each antipasti platter was artfully arranged. And there were more.

Meaty slices of red Heirloom tomatoes accompanied with wedges of green tomatoes and pea-sized red tomatoes. With it burrata cheese, mozzarella combined with fresh ricotta. I've not seen this unique cheese anywhere else in Las Vegas. The tomatoes were dressed with light olive oil, basil and balsamic vinegar.

Our tasting continued with tiny, delicate onion flans surrounded by a stew of porcini mushrooms -- the aroma was intoxicating. A new dish, "Rich man, Poor man," was equally exciting -- a shallow soup bowl of creamy shell beans topped with a wide swath of caviar. Todd advised us to mix the caviar with the beans. We chose to do it our way, using spoons to greedily scoop up the gleaming grains and then mixing in the few grains that had escaped our attack.

By now we were ready to say "enough!" But, there was more.

Spaghetti with tiny clams, handcut tajarin pasta with a Piedmontese meat sauce and butternut squash ravioli -- a personal favorite. I had enjoyed a similar dish when I dined at Olives in Boston. Three risottos followed: wild mushroom and mushroom ragu with truffle cream, cheese and truffles and squash with stewed duck. Each was worthy of its own critique.

Our final dish was a 15th century style fish soup with lobster, clams, mussels, shrimp and white fish in broth lightly touched with saffron. This Italian version of bouillabaisse is much more delicate and refined; the broth is almost clear. Ideal for dunking the slices of tasted ciabatta bread that perch on the plate.

Dessert was out of the question, but we did taste a rich milk chocolate "tiramisu" served in a parfait glass and beautifully garnished with long spiral cookie topped with chocolate -- not in any sense a classic tiramisu, but delicious; a caramelized semi-freddo (softly frozen) with grappa-soaked golden raisins; and a pumpkin panna cotta (baked cream) napoleon topped with a cluster of tiny champagne grapes.

There are so many authentic Italian touches here. Table settings include the very long bread sticks found on tables in Piedmont restaurants. Although part of the table top decor they're meant to be eaten. Just snap off a piece and scoop up some of the savory green and black olive mix that's served with meals.

Under the direction of English and Palladino, Riva has become a stylish Italian restaurant with an exceptional, well-priced menu that is never boring. Menu changes will be made with the seasons. Riva/Onda serves the kind of food I so enjoyed during trips to Italy. Once tasted, it's never forgotten.

Short orders

*More Mirage

Ask Gustav Mauler, Mirage Senior Vice President of Food and Beverage, about the new restaurants and he reacts as if the question was a shot of adrenalin. The Brazilian steakhouse, The Samba Grill, is under construction and will open shortly after the new year. Superstar chef Jean-Georges Vongrichten will open a restaurant in the Mirage within a year of the opening of his Prime Steakhouse at Bellagio; the Mirage Noodle Kitchen will get its own space (it's now behind the Caribe Cafe), a new look and an expanded menu. All of the other Mirage restaurants will be redone. And Mauler raves about his new Executive Chef Bernard Ibarra, who comes to the Mirage from one of the world's finest hotels, the Oriental in Hong Kong.

*Brunch at Gordon Biersch

Beginning Sunday, Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant in the Hughes Center will serve Sunday Brunch from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Brunch ($14.95) includes a complimentary glass of champagne or a bloody Mary, orange juice, soft drinks, muffins, and other breakfast breads, assorted fruits and antipasti. The selection of entrees includes New York steak and eggs, garlic-crusted prime rib, shrimp and crab enchiladas, omelets, eggs Benedict and more. Three desserts are offered: a Florentine cookie sandwich with mocha almond fudge ice cream, cheesecake with fresh berry sauce, and bananas Foster.

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