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| - At Olives within the Bellagio,
You'll find shades of light Caravaggio
Would love to portray.
Its chefs, I would say,
Hit zesty home runs like DiMaggio.
The dark interior of Olives with its spot lamps creates a play of light on dark that a 16th century Baroque painter with a dramatic flair for chiaroscuro would appreciate. The evening we were there, they also hit a tasty home run in my culinary ballpark. However, you don't have to know much about Caravaggio or Joe DiMaggio to appreciate the goodness of this excellent restaurant at the Bellagio.
We arrived early on a Friday night in February before attending the 7:30 Cirque du Soleil "O" show. We were shown to a table next to the window where we could easily see the fountains out front. Our waiter, Paul, promised not to dally too much so that we wouldn't be late for the show. Because we were time constrained, we only ordered main courses and wine. There were five of us who ordered and shared four dishes: a sirloin, a beef tenderloin, a pork tenderloin and (last but certainly not least) a lamb popsicle special that I hogged all to myself except for a few bites.
These delicate lamb chops, served rare, were simply luscious. I sampled the tenderloins and sirloin, but their flavor paled next to the lamb. Complementing the meal perfectly was a Petite Sirah from Clavo Vinyards near Paso Robles, CA. There was absolutely nothing petite about its robust tongue-tantalizing presence. I got my big "O" for the evening, not from Cirque du Soleil, but from the meaty delights found at O-lives.
Being that we were at the Bellagio, the meal, the tastiest I had in Vegas, was a major $$$$plurge. The bill (excluding tip) came to $330 for four entrees and two moderately priced bottles of wine.
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