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| - Traveling with friends is about making a series of compromises and since I was going to get my way on our third day in Sin City, I had to be good for the other two days. Day 1 ended with dinner at Lupo by Wolfgang Puck.
I halfheartedly tried to talk my friends out of this place because based on the reviews, I expected mediocre food at best at $$$ prices. I don't mind spending money on food (au contraire, most of my discretionary income goes to eating out), but I want good food in return. Living in NY has made me very spoiled (as if I wasn't bad enough before) and the prospect of spending money on subpar food made me grouchy, but I swallowed my complaints because I knew we were all making sacrifices at one point or another for each other.
I dislike going to celebrity restaurants where a chef owns a several restaurants because I *know* there is no way that they could possibly manage and visit each one on a regular basis. I feel that they're simply selling their name. This certainly is the case with Wolfgang Puck and with Lupo.
We received two very long breadsticks and two different kinds of dips (white bean and a black olive tapenade) for the sticks. Although I enjoyed the flavor of the white bean dip, it was way too runny as none of the dip clung to the breadstick. In order to get the flavor of the dip, I had to let the bread soak the dip, which then made the bread mushy. The dip needs to be thicker, more like a spread, rather than watery like soup.
I ordered linguine alla vongole (linguine with clams) because I love this dish in general. It was $26 ~ the typical price point I expect for an upscale restaurant. I received was a Vegas-sized platter of food. I was only expecting half as much food (indeed, even if they had only given me half, I would have thought that it was a generous serving). The food was a sad disappointment. The clams were overcooked. I would have preferred the pasta to be a little more al dente. And the sauce made from olive oil was way too runny (like the dips). The quality of the food is entirely unworthy of an upscale restaurant.
The desserts, however, were quite delightful. We ordered the 15 layer chocolate cake with gelato and the tiramisu. The 15-layer cake made of 15 very thin layers of milk chocolate and dark chocolate cake. It had a very good chocolate flavor and richness. The tiramisu wasn't quite the traditional tiramisu as there wasn't as much lady fingers and far more mousse. It was more a tiramisu mousse, but it was lovely and light. We polished off the desserts with much gusto.
Except for the superlative desserts, I would rate the food as 2 *s. Lupo gets another star from me because of the service. Seriously, the service at Lupo was absolutely incredible and it was one of the best service experience that I've ever had. They were absolutely correct in everything (served from the left and removed from the right); water was discreetly and miraculously refilled without drawing our attention; a beautiful synchronous harmony of waiters, bussers, and runners working together to create a masterpiece of a posh elegant dining experience. Too bad the food didn't match the level of expertise and care given to us by the staff.
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