On a recent trip to Las Vegas, where eateries and clubs can come and go faster than you can say ‘mini Kobe burger’, we dropped in at some old favourites to see whether they are still hot.
Social House
While Tao at the Venetian – a hip ultra-lounge, club and restaurant, with a 20ft hand-carved Buddha and a candlelit, tunnel-like entrance lined with petal-strewn baths – continues to cause the biggest buzz among the city’s flavour-of-the-moment oriental eateries, recent opening Social House (W*95) is also establishing itself as a hit. This is thanks not only to its Pan Asian menu (courtesy of ex-Nobu Las Vegas chef Joseph Elevado) and obligatory sushi bar, but the versatility of its design, by New York firm AvroKo. Up a stairway lined with what looks like gleaming safety deposit drawers, the venue is cleverly divided into a series of different but interconnected spaces, including four bars as well as semi-private and private dining areas, creating a sense of intimacy that makes this as good a spot for a drinks date (try the fruit-infused sake) as dinner. Fancy hydraulics mean dining tables lower to become cocktail tables to create extra lounge space, while late-night dining (until 4am, Tuesday to Saturday) caters to post-clubbing hunger pangs with mini Kobe burgers and, endearingly, banana splits.
Social House, TI, 3300 Las Vegas Boulevard, tel: 1.702 894 7777, www.socialhouselv.com
Mix
We also revisited Mix (W*81), Alain Ducasse’s Patrick Jouin-designed restaurant, 68 floors up atop the Mandalay Bay resort. From a cocooning pod seat, the all-white, slightly sci-fi extravaganza, complete with 24ft chandelier made of 15,000 glass spheres, still stands out as the most inspiringly designed restaurant we’ve seen in Las Vegas. Our dinner (roast autumn fruits and vegetables with pear shavings followed by Atlantic cod with brown butter, lemon and capers), although enjoyable, didn’t quite match the wow factor of the surroundings. It hardly mattered; the sparkling Halo cocktails (Scharffenberger Brut, Zygo peach vodka and peach purée), the equally effervescent view of the Strip, the faultlessly attentive service and the setting put this venue still very much in the mix when it comes to our favourite Vegas eateries.
Mix, THE Hotel at Mandalay Bay, 3950 Las Vegas Boulevard, tel: 1.702 632 9500, www.chinagrillmgt.com
Cherry at the Red Rock
As for clubbing, Cherry at the Red Rock (W*91), a Rande Gerber and Rockwell Group-designed fantasy of red leather and Swarovski crystal, offers the chance to spill outdoors to a poolside area with a fire pit, cabanas and rotating day beds or catch a desert view from an upper deck. But its biggest selling point may be its location, ten miles from the overcrowded Strip; Cherry offers kudos with fewer queues. Best of all, it gives an excuse to stay over in the hotel, a breath of cool, classy, contemporary fresh air that takes resort design to a new level in Las Vegas.
Cherry, Red Rock Resort and Casino, 11011 West Charleston Boulevard, Las Vegas, tel: 1.702 797 7777, www.redrocklasvegas.com
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