TWO NEW RESTAURANT OPENINGS AND A HIT MOVES WESTWARD
Starchef Alessandro Stratta who already runs the top-ranked, five-star, fine-dining Alex at the Wynn has now opened a sleek casual Italian trattoria there.
Corsa Cucina has been transformed into the new Stratta serving up the best of regional Italian cooking, and opens its doors this week. Said the celebrated chef, “Alex is uptown and Stratta is downtown—a bustling restaurant with a totally different vibe of fun and good food. Its very soulful and very representative of what I consider to be the best of regional cooking. We apply the same spirit and cooking techniques that we use at Alex but in a very approachable way focusing on flavor and tradition. We use the same flavorful 0live oils from Tuscany and Liguria, the same San Marzano plum tomatoes that make the best sauce in the world in Alex but Stratta is far more down to earth. Our signature dishes at Stratta include roasted prawns with beans, wood-fired pizzettes, clams casino with peppers and pancetta and homemade pastas.”
Ten years ago when he cooked at the Palace Court here in Caesars Food and Wine magazine tapped him as “best new chef.” Last year in New York after creating several successful restaurants around the country he was honored by Bon Appetit magazine as 2007 Restaurateur of the Year. Now acclaimed chef Laurent Tourondel has returned full circle and has just opened his new award-winning BLT Burger at The Mirage!
Burgers?, you sniff. Oh yes, but the best burgers in the world apparently if his famed restaurant in Manhattan is the standard. It is the biggest and most successful burger joint ever opened in Gotham and diners lineup for blocks for their bite! Says Laurent, “I’m excited to bring it to The Mirage. It’s exciting to come full circle. We’ve got a variety of burgers including beef, American Kobe lamb and Atlantic salmon all served on soft buns with tomato, red onion, iceberg lettuce, pickles, ketchup, mustard and mayonnaise. The beef patties are a combination of certified Black Angus sirloin, short rib, chuck and brisket. Our specialty burgers include the Tex-Mex, a 7-ounce burger with jalapenos, chili, avocado, salsa, jack cheese onions and sour cream. Our Lamb Tandori Burger is a slightly spicy Colorado lamb topped with mint-cilantro yogurt sauce, cucumber, olives, red onion and tomato. Our Stripper burger is a 7-ounce beef burger is served with lettuce, tomato, onion, and bell pepper, but no bun! The signature Meatball Burger is composed of ground veal, pork and ricotta and served with garlic pomodora sauce. Though burgers take center stage Laurent serves up eight-different types of fries and has an array of classic and spiked milkshakes! The 198-seat restaurant celebrates the DNA of the burger with a circular open central grill surrounded by glazed red brick tile. A 16-seat yellow-glazed lava stone bar features overhead TV screens for sports events. A 16-foot floor-to-ceiling brown- and white-panoramic photomural of the surrounding Sierra Nevada landscape dominates the curved rear walls. Mirage president Scott Sibella commented, “Burgers, fries and shakes prepared by a chef as talented as Laurent are a sure hit and BLT Burger is a wonderful addition to our restaurant offerings and having eaten my way through all the burgers I know it will be a great success!”
The Venetian starchef Thomas Keller is regarded as being at the top of America’s best chef rankings.
His Per Se restaurant in New York and his French Laundry in the Napa Valley have been hailed as brilliant masterpieces by worldwide food critics. In fact he’s the only American chef with two three-star restaurants. Ever since he opened his casual French dining bistro, Bouchon at The Venetian, it’s also been applauded.
Now as a result of its Vegas success he’s opening his first ever Bouchon restaurant in Beverley Hills, and none other than the city commissioners themselves made the deal. They’re housing Thomas’ restaurant in the city-owned Garden Building alongside the new Montage hotel. It will be an 11,000-sqaure-feet 2–storey wonder that includes both the Bouchon restaurant and the Bouchon bakery. Our good friend and regular Vegas visitor Adam Tihany will design the building.