Celebrity couple launch Italian restaurant on Strip
Giuliana and Bill Rancic — she of entertainment reporting, he of entrepreneurship, they of reality TV — are in town this coming week to mark the launch of RPM Italian in the Forum Shops at Caesars Palace (mentioned last week in this space). The celebrity couple’s restaurant partner is Lettuce Entertain You, which has six other spots in Vegas, including beloved Mon Ami Gabi in Paris Las Vegas. The Review-Journal’s Johnathan L. Wright is joining Giuliana and Bill on Monday for a quick chatski on the opening, making pasta from scratch and Mama DePandi’s pomodoro.
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You go to a great steakhouse for a great steak, right? At Jean Georges Steakhouse in Aria, you can certainly find a winning cut of beef (the restaurant is one of the few in the U.S. authorized to sell true Kobe beef, not the “Kobe” beef found in gastropub sliders). But at J-G these days, you also can find maitake mushrooms dipped in saison batter, then fried crisp and craggy. Chili honey adds a hum of heat and sweet. The meaty mushrooms are new to the menu, worth a visit and make the perfect adjutant for that A5 certified Kobe New York sirloin priced by the ounce.
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We hear Red Rice, a family-owned restaurant featuring the Chamorro cooking of Guam, has recently reopened, just in time to celebrate its seventh anniversary. Chamorro food blends Spanish, Latin American, mainland U.S. and Pacific influences with native Chamorro traditions. At Red Rice, be sure to try the kelaguen, a ceviche-adjacent dish of seafood, poultry or beef marinated in lemon juice, onions and hot peppers. Red Rice is at 9400 S. Eastern Ave.
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Southern Nevada’s Italian dining scene is growing ever larger as upscale Toscana Ristorante & Bar prepares to open its doors Wednesday.
Located in bustling Eataly, the enormous food and drink marketplace in Park MGM, it will focus on Tuscany — a region of Italy that’s a favorite of many.
Featuring decor designed to evoke Tuscany’s verdant landscape, the restaurant has an open woodfire grill where classics like bistecca alla Fiorentina (porterhouse steak) will be prepared.
Other famed regional dishes to be served at the 94-seat eatery include ribollita, a flavorful bean stew and ravioli Maremmani, ricotta- and spinach-stuffed dumplings topped with tomato sauce.
The restaurant’s wine cellar holds 450 Italian varietals by the bottle, and over 30 wines are available by the glass. In addition, its bar offers an extensive collection of spirits from fiery grappas to complex amaros.
Desserts include house-made gelati served tableside with toppings like deluxe Fabbri cherries and flourless chocolate crumble. And to wrap everything up nicely, every meal ends with cantucci, traditional Tuscan almond cookies.
Contact Greg Thilmont at gthilmont@reviewjournal.com. Follow @gregthilmont on Instagram. Contact Johnathan L. Wright at jwright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @ItsJLW on Twitter.
