I ate my way around Las Vegas

Las Vegas isn’t touted as America’s “hotspot” for nothing. And when I say hot, it’s brutally hot everywhere you go — not just in the entertainment venues.

Sin City basically has two seasons: warm and hot. So summers in this desert town can be quite warm and unbearable.

We were in Las Vegas for the International Pow Wow (IPW) last June when the sun was at its brightest. Temperatures would rise to the 100s (Fahrenheit scale) on a daily basis. Still, despite the blazing heat, cool stuff awaited delegates.

IPW is a yearly gathering organized by the US Travel Association (USTA), the largest generator of travel to the US with over 1,000 travel organizations, 1,200 international and domestic buyers, and approximately 400 media delegates.

Held at the expansive, 11-acre Mandalay Bay Beach, the opening night showcased Las Vegas’ endless entertainment options right in the middle of the 1.6-gallon wave pool with 2,700 tons of real sand. Some guests didn’t bother to take off their leather shoes and stilettos as they combed the beach in style.

Sponsored by MGM Resorts International, Cirque du Soleil, and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, the event was a feast for the senses. MGM Resorts International’s renowned celebrity chefs such as Wolfgang Puck, Charlie Palmer, Julian Serrano, and Michael Mina took care of the food, while the Blue Man Group and Cirque du Soleil provided the entertainment.

Well, IPW has every reason to celebrate as travel to the US is surging again.

“As the global economy recovers, we’re seeing the travel industry leading the way,” enthused Roger Dow, president and CEO of USTA. “It’s a positive sign for the future — this resurgence in travel. We know IPW will only help to drive the continued comeback.”

EATS SHOWTIME

To experience the entertainment capital of the world in full effect, IPW organized various tours for delegates to take part in — from museums to retail rendezvous, to dining and nature.

While the majority signed up to explore exotic landscapes such as the Red Rock, Hoover Dam, and Lake Mead, I opted for an “eatinenarary” that would take me around Las Vegas strip, where every illustrious restaurant run by celebrity chefs — Nobuyuki “Nobu” Matsuhisa, Mario Batali, Gordon Ramsay, Bobby Flay, Daniel Boulud, and Wolfgang Puck — has a Vegas outpost. 

A hotel built around food

My culinary journey began at Caesars Palace, where chef Nobuyuki Matsuhisa’s Nobu Hotel is located.

Designed by New York-based designer David Rockwell of the Rockwell Group, Nobu Hotel is the ideal destination to be seen at and socialize. The dining rooms are decked out with elements that pay homage to time-honored Japanese culture.

Bowed columns of bamboo line the exterior of the 327-seat restaurant to resemble the structure of the traditional Japanese ikebana basket. Oversized lighting fixtures inspired by Japanese tea whisks float above the private dining pods to give guests a sophisticated and whimsical dining experience. 

“It’s the first time in the history of the US that a hotel is built around food,” said general manager Bryan Shinohara. “While the hotel boasts VIP amenities, its centerpiece is still Nobu Restaurant.”

Considered the largest Nobu Restaurant in the world, the posh resto focuses on family-style dining. In this way, each family member can savor as many flavors, tastes, and textures as possible in a meal.

Nobu Caesars Palace is also the first Japanese restaurant to offer teppanyaki in the US. Here, the teppanyaki experience is focused more on the food than the “show.”

“Of course, our chefs can perform some tricks on the teppanyaki table if the client so wishes,” noted Bryan.

Nobu offers four teppanyaki tasting menus, which range from US$90 to US$280, and a seven-course Grade 5 imported Wagyu beef banquet prepared on the teppanyaki table.

“Each course consists of at least two ounces of the imported Wagyu, the highest Wagyu grade we get out of Japan,” boasted Bryan.

We didn’t get to try the Wagyu dishes, though, because Bryan and his team saved the best for last: chef Nobu’s famous black cod with miso. The sweet, buttery and silky fish, which has been cloned in restaurants all over the globe, melts in the mouth and oozes with freshness.

Chef Nobu, who shared the recipe of the dish in his book Nobu: The Cookbook, is pretty confident that even if readers followed the recipe by heart they would never be able to recreate the dish exactly: “For I always put something special in my food — my heart.”

Steak it away

Nestled inside The Palazzo, on the casino level just off the walkway to the Wynn and directly across the casino from the Jersey Boys Theatre, is Carnevino (from the Italian words carne, indicating the highest-quality steaks; and vino for superlative-worthy wine), an Italian steakhouse owned and operated by chef, writer and restaurateur Mario Batali and noted winemaker Joe Bastianich.

The classic steakhouse’s grand, dramatic setting (high ceiling, Italian marble floor, antique furniture, and fine silverware) sets a luxurious tone.

We were welcomed by chef Jason Neve, culinary director of Carnevino, who oversees the menu that Batali designed.

Named as one of the best steakhouses in the US, Carnevino takes pride in its dry-aging program.

“Dry aging is the traditional way of preserving meat,” explains Neve. “And it’s something that no other steakhouse in the city does; and very few in the country or maybe around the world do.”

Carnevino has an off-site warehouse where it stores 2,000 to 6,000 pounds of meat every week, which all comes from its slaughterhouse in Utah. The company buys meat from a cooperative run by farmers who assure clients that no antibiotics and growth hormones are injected into the animals.

“We then dry the meat in our facility,” continues Neve. “The normal dry-aging process lasts from 21 to 36 days. Here, our minimum target is 90 days. We even have dry-aged meat as old as eight months. By that time, the enzymes of the meat have broken down a little. The meat becomes tender and more flavorful.”

The US$100-per-inch Riserva steaks are described by Neve as having the “deep flavors of blue cheese and truffles. Unfortunately, the eight-month-old steak was not on the menu during our visit.

“It’s seasonal. Again, it’s a very interesting piece of meat that takes time, labor, and love to make,” notes Neve, while carving the Porterhouse steak, which we got to sample with a glass of red wine.

Rubbed with sea salt, black pepper, and fresh rosemary, the juicy chunk of meat tasted divine.

Batali is right: food, like most things, “is best when left to its own simple beauty.”

Make that cut

Master chef and restaurateur Wolfgang Puck’s Cut restaurant at The Palazzo Resort Hotel Casino has definitely raised the bar for fine dining in the US. The Avery Brooks & Associates-designed chophouse doesn’t have the look and feel of a traditional steakhouse — lots of dark wood, turn-of-the-century-style light fixtures, oak flooring, white tablecloths, and nicely framed oil paintings. Cut boasts rich textures such as a basket-woven felt wall that provides a soft white architectural envelope high above bronzed mirror walls and acid-etched glass which surround the dining area. The flooring is comprised of honed, white limestone, walnut wood tiles, and custom-designed carpeting.

Adjacent to the main dining room is an upscale bar and lounge showcasing exclusive custom cocktails, classic drinks and a smaller menu called “rough cuts” featuring Cut’s popular appetizers such as the mini Kobe sliders and tuna tartare sandwiches. But what makes the “cut” here is still the steaks. There’s Australian and Japanese Wagyu; some are corn-fed, others are grain-fed. Both are irresistible and will surely create a dent in your credit card. Well, price is never an issue for Pow Wow guests, so we indulged with gusto.

Eating one’s way around Vegas is no easy task. It takes a huge appetite and a generous host (in our case, the US Travel Authority) to cover the cost. Still, the toughest part is staying hungry enough to sample all the dishes that bear the stamp of the geniuses of the culinary world.

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Delta Airlines, chair of the International Airline Committee of IPW for the Philippine market, flies daily to Las Vegas via Narita, Japan.