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| - Okay, I'm going to admit it, I'm a huge fan of "Hell's Kitchen," and frankly, the reason why we ventured off the Strip to go to this restaurant was because the winner from Season 2 of HK, Heather, won a job there. Yes, the food was AMAZING. Heather didn't work there anymore but the the food was still A-MAZ-ING. When you sit down, they start you off with a selection of breads and a mini antipasto plate with artichoke hearts, a hunk of good parm cheese, these to-die-for Queen olives and grilled bell peppers. MMMmmmMMM!!!
We started with the beef carpaccio and green bean salad. The beef carpaccio was excellent and the green bean salad was a nice, refreshing contrast to our later, heavier pasta dishes. I would definitely recommend the beef carpaccio. Yummy.
The green bean salad was good but not something that would knock your socks off. It was basically blanched green beans on iceberg lettuce, with shaved palm hearts, small pear tomatoes and a light lemon vinagrette. You could make that at home.
Let me just rave about the pasta, though! My hubby's rigatoni with spicy sausage and peas was very good but my pasta? OMG. Let me say that again. OMG. I can't remember the exact name of the pasta it but they're basically half-moon shaped raviolis that are filled with this marscapone cheese and osso bucco mix. Did I say OMG. OMG. My first bite was HEAVEN. I literally was silent for the first several bites as I savored the complex flavors and textures of the pasta. OMG. 'Nuff said.
I wish I could have ordered dessert but we were so stuffed from the generous portion sizes. I was more full from that meal than from the Paris Hotel buffet that we went to the night before.
Now, with that said, I gave the place 4 stars because the service was weird. We're at this fine dining establishment but the wait staff seemed to be culled from a casual dining restaurant (or even less). I'm all for women's lib but when it comes to fine dining, I like to be treated like a lady. So how weird was it that I was given the bill and not my husband (nevermind the fact that my lovely husband did all the right chivalrous things like pull out my chair, order my meal for me, refreshed my other drinks from the bottle--just follow his lead!)? And then why was it that we were waited on by our waiter AND a busser but still had to ask for my water to be refilled? And how did our waiter forget what the specials were for the evening? Or why was our candle never relit after it blew out half-way through our salad course? And why was it that when the waiter took my knife with my salad plate, that he never brought me a replacement? Or that he took my bread plate but not my husband's? Or that they cleared my husband's plate while I was still eating my entree? Sadly, the weird service took away from the entire meal experience. Also, note to the owners...waiters in jeans with a collared shirt and tie? Yeah, no. Jeans just don't work well for fine dining.
I think what killed it for us (and why we probably won't make the drive out there again) is that the waiter poo-pooed Heather from HK. Yes, we had to ask b/c we're dorky that way. He said, "It was just a publicity stunt. She only had a year contract and was out literally to the day that her contract expired. She couldn't cook anyway." Wow, that was a major disappointment. At least lie to us and tell us that she was great and that she's moved onto new ventures? It's not that we didn't enjoy the food but since there are so many great restaurants on the Strip, we didn't need to make that 20-minute drive all the way to Red Rock Resort when we could walk 5 minutes to one of Mario Batali's 2 new restaurants at the Palazzo.
Bottom line: Great to eat there if you're already in that part of town. Otherwise, not completely worth the drive out there when there are comparable places on the Strip.
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