wynn resort (Las Vegas)

[BryanZ]

Bartolotta looks fantastic. A really striking space, too. I must say I don't get the whole slots thing, and have never heard of anyone who's actually consistently won playing them. Good for you.

[rjwong]

Tuesday

For my last full day at the Wynn Resort, I was preparing myself for dinner at Alex. Before dinner, I decided to make myself young and svelte by going to the spa and getting a massage. No, I didn’t become young and svelte. Mind you, I enjoyed the spa and massage treament anyways ... At Alex, the wearing of jackets is suggested. I heard several positive posts about this place, so my expectations were I little bit high. Now, on to dinner at Alex ...

I ordered the tasting menu with the wine pairings. Fortunately, I didn’t have to drive back to my room.

Amuse bouches, part one

Amuse bouches, part two

Three wine glasses and the designated water glass

Spiced kanpachi tartare with cucumber, cantaloupe gelée and ostera caviar

Champagne Charles Ellner, Brut Prestige, Epernay, France 1998

Butter braised Maine lobster with sweet corn custard, chanterelles and tomato confit

Hans Wirsching, Silvaner, Iphoefer Julius-Echter-Berg, Spaetlese Trocken, Franken, Germany 2005

Seared foie gras with taro puree, green almonds and roasted apricots

Kesner, Chardonnay, Hudson Vineyard, Carneros, Napa Valley, California 2005

Rouget de Roche’ with summer beans, gooseberries and red wine sauce

Shubert, Pinot Noir, Block B, Wairarapa, New Zealand 2004

Japanese Wagyu beef with Maui inion marmalade, pancetta and crispy Parmigiano potatoes

La fleur de Boüard, Lalande de Pomerol, Bordeaux, France 2003

I asked whether a certificate was available. Unfortunately, the restaurant didn’t receive one with their shipment. Mind you, an envelope with a packaging label inside was given to me. Very thoughtful of them ...

Chilled coconut tapioca with mango, lychee and yuzu

The tea list

“Strawberries and cream” with brown butter cake and strawberry sorbet

Champagne Veuve-Clicquot Ponsardin, Demi-Sec, Reims, France MV

Madeleines

Petit fours

Pu-erh tea (digestivo): 2000 Vintage Organic Wild Trees

My dinner at Alex was excellent. The food was very delicious and the service was professional. It was definitely the best meal on this trip and one of the best meals I had in Las Vegas. For those who gave raving reviews about Alex, thank you, especially Macarons&Mozart.

Alex

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Concluding remarks

Wynn is not a very huge resort, when compared to places like Bellagio among others. Wynn focuses on the little things that make staying there a pleasure: Opened drapes during the day, closed drapes at night, downed beds in the evening, chocolate squares on the night stand, and “the best of Monty Python” program on its own channel ...

Even though I haven’t tried all the other restaurants, like the Country Club, SW Steakhouse or Boulud, and with this Las Vegas trip coming to a close, I would conclude that Wynn has a decent selection of restaurants.You should give them a try on your next trip to Las Vegas.

[gmi3804]

Thanks for the great reports!

I wish I'd have happened upon this thread earlier, because I would have urged to to try Corsa Cucina. I had lunch there twice on a recent business trip, and I wasn't even staying at Wynn. Wonderful, "modern Italian" cuisine.

Has anyone else been?

[Elrushbo]

Even though I haven’t tried all the other restaurants, like the Country Club, SW Steakhouse or Boulud, and with this Las Vegas trip coming to a close, I would conclude that Wynn has a decent selection of restaurants.You should give them a try on your next trip to Las Vegas.

So you might be going back to Vegas in December? I'm shooting for Febuary, if my home sells before the winter(good chance it will, just made a huge price drop ). Got a two week block of time off in Feb, so keeping my fingers crossed. Your reports were wonderful, great pics and reviews! I'd love to try Alex, might be too much for my group. We usually hit a steakhouse, and we've done Prime and Delmonico, so Stripsteak is high on my list. I also want to try Bradley Ogden...might try to steer my group to them for steak?? Cause I'd really like to try Fleur de Lys, David Burke, B&B...it will be hard to narrow the list.

RJ- I have heard good things about David Burke at Venetian, they should be on your list. Boulud gets lots of inconsistent reviews, as does SW...which sucks, cause they had a really good thing going with Eric Klein. For some reason Steve Wynn wanted to mess with the chef (not alowing him to hire his own assistants, etc) of his biggest money making restaurant?!?! SW has by many accounts gone downhill since Klein left.

Seablue gets really good reviews at tripadvisor, I might try them cause my brother in law loves fish, especially salmon.

Fleur de Lys might also be something for your list, they get consistently good reviews.

I guess I'm hoping you'll try the places I want to go so I can narrow my list, so my tips could be a little self-serving! But I really appreciate people like you who write such wonderful reviews, cause I don't get to Vegas as often as I'd like, so I really try to 'make it count' when I go by avoiding restaurants I might be disappointed in. I have yet to have a bad meal in Vegas, thanks mostly to egullet!

[Ling]

RJ, did Alex compare favourably to other meals you've eaten in that price range (both in Vegas and outside of Vegas?) The amuse bouche are too cute.

[Swicks]

Great reports as usual Russell!

Alex looks amazing, how would you compare it to Guy Savoy and Joel Robuchon? Isn't it significantly less expensive? I seem to remember the tasting menu being around $125 or something close...I would be curious to know what the price was with the wine pairings.

[BryanZ]

Alex is $195. Savoy $290. Robuchon $350ish; supposedly it depends on the menu at the time.

Not to hijack and cross-post, but I'd say there's better value and certainly much more variety to be found in somewhere like New York. What Vegas offers is restaurants in a geographically constrained space that's pretty much unrivaled, save for maybe the eateries of Columbus Circle. To be honest, Ling, I think you'd be pretty indifferent to a meal at any of Vegas' second-tier restaurants (Picasso, Mina come to my mind because I've been to both). I'm not saying that you wouldn't enjoy them, it's just you wouldn't be wowed or floored by them, especially at the price. There's no Momo Ssam in Vegas, I can assure you that. L'Atelier I would highly suggest, but that's not a fine-dining restaurant and is something of an anomaly.

[Macarons&Mozart]

I'm so glad you enjoyed your meal at Alex, Russell. Before the "big guys" moved into Vegas, Alex was the indisputed top table in Vegas. But even with the likes of Robuchon and Savoy, it is still one of my most favorite restaurants. One of the thing that really keeps me coming back is the wonderful and very warm service. Savoy I found was also very good in terms of service, but I felt that Robuchon's fine dining restaurant (The Mansion) was severely lacking the first time I visted, and although better after subsequent visits, it was still disappointing.

I remember when Alex Stratta was at the Mirage (with a very small and intimate dining room called "Renoir" with original paintings by the impressionist master on the walls!) before he opened up his namesake restaurant at the Wynn hotel. His "signature tasting menu" was something like 98 dollars. Then I remember how after every time they revised the menu, they would sloooowly increase the price. But even for 195, I think Alex is a good deal indeed.

[rjwong]

RJ, did Alex compare favourably to other meals you've eaten in that price range (both in Vegas and outside of Vegas?) The amuse bouche are too cute.

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Yes. When you combine the price/value factor, Alex was excellent. I might want to rank my meal right up there with the French Laundry, Robuchon and Guy Savoy (in no particular order).

[Ling]

To be honest, Ling, I think you'd be pretty indifferent to a meal at any of Vegas' second-tier restaurants

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You're probably right. We'll see where we end up.