Tucked away in the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino is Tom Colicchio’s Las Vegas outpost of his legendary restaurant, Craftsteak. Earlier this month, I, along with three wonderful friends, had the opportunity to dine at this amazing restaurant.
Everything on the menu sounded delicious, so it was difficult to decide on what to order. Lucky for us, they were featuring their Summer Tasting Menu, which consisted of a first course, a second course, side dishes and dessert. Unlike most prix fixe menus where you are asked to pick one item in each course from the pre-selected options, Craftsteak serves you everything that’s listed on their Summer Tasting Menu. A total of 13 different items! All courses were served family style with more than enough food to keep our appetites sated.
Dinner Rolls
Semi-sweet rolls, glazed in butter, then sprinkled with sea salt
Served with even more butter
FIRST COURSE
Shaved Fennel Salad
Citrusy ribbons of fennel
Grilled Quail, Vincotto
Perfectly seasoned quail halves, served over mixed spring greens and drizzled with a wine reduction
Buffalo Mozzarella with Red Pepper Caponata
Smoky red peppers top generous pillows of soft Buffalo Mozarella
Persian Cucumber Salad
Crisp Persian Cucumbers served with mixed greens, dressed in a light vinaigrette
(unfortunately, forgettable)
SECOND COURSE
Prime Beef Flat Iron
Loved this! Cooked as ordered to a perfect medium rare. Luxuriously bathing in its own juices.
We were given two cast-iron pans of this!
Angus Skirt Steak
I’m usually a fan of skirt steak, especially if it’s cooked properly. This was just ok. It was a bit overdone and maybe was sitting on the counter waiting to be served for a bit too long. The meat was dry, but even the pan juices could not make up for it that much.
Diver Sea Scallops
Perfectly seared. Sweet. Not dry at all. Good.
SIDE DISHES
Yukon Gold Potato Puree
Who would have thought that potatoes, cream and butter could taste this heavenly?
Simple, tasty and done well.
The pound or so of butter that they used didn’t hurt either.
Sauteed Sweet Corn
Sweet. Juicy. Fresh. Roasted. Summer.
Roasted Shiitake Mushrooms
Not remarkable, but a great side dish, just the same.
DESSERT (Chef’s Selection)
Mini Molten Chocolate Cakes and Chocolate Mousse topped with Dark Chocolate
The mini chocolate cakes (aka brownie bites) were ok, if not a bit too sweet for my taste. But the chocolate mousse, which reminded me of a Hostess Ho Ho, encased in dark chocolate was a perfect chocolate dessert.
Cinnamon Monkey Bread & Banana Ice Cream
Alone, the monkey bread was too sweet and the banana ice cream too generic. Together, they each balanced each other out.
Peach Sorbet
with Lemon Verbena Meringue
Probably my favorite dessert. I didn’t know that my friends had told them that it was my birthday (well actually, it was two weeks after the fact, but like I was going to give back free dessert…) Perfectly sweet peach sorbet served over whipped mascarpone or maybe even a panacotta, with fresh peach slices. The only drawback on the dessert was the lemon verbena meringue. The taste and smell was so overpowering that I thought I had accidentally stepped into a Crabtree & Evelyn store.
And because all of that food wasn’t going to suffice, we also ordered from the regular menu to supplement our already over-indulgent meal.
Warm Frisee Salad
Frisee. Bacon. Blue Cheese. Warm vinaigrette. Awesome!
Diver Sea Scallops (entree portion)
(ordered by the non-beef eater in our party)
French Fries
This was an after-thought. We saw a few of these pass our table and just had to order it because they looked so good. They tasted even better!
Craftsteak will be serving this same menu during Restaurant Week (August 31 – September 6, 2009) at $50.09 per person. A portion of the proceeds benefits Three Square Food Bank, a partner organization of Feeding America.
Happy Spooning and Forking!
*****
Craftsteak
at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas
(Northeast corner of Las Vegas Blvd. and Tropicana Ave.)
Call for reservations: 702.891.7318
