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| - The best meal of my life was at Picasso (Julian Serrano's fine dining establishment at the Bellagio), so I had very high expectations for his restaurant at Aria. I was pleasantly surprised to see him offering a tapas menu here, which makes his cuisine more affordable, in a casual space that opens onto the main lobby area. Where the food was concerned, Serrano lived up to all my expectations. Four of us shared four dishes as a light lunch - the chicken croquetas, wild mushroom risotto, ahi tuna tempura, and fried calamari - and all were terrific. I just love love love tapas, being able to try a little bit of a lot of dishes, and Serrano's are some of the best I've had (next to Jose Andres's dishes at The Bazaar, in LA). Service was a bit spotty, but I'll cut them some slack since it was only day 4. I'm thrilled to see Chef Serrano offering his immense talent in a more casual, moderately-priced restaurant. It's no Picasso, but for being the "next best thing," it's pretty darn wonderful.
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