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Mott 32 (Las Vegas, NV) [2]

Hong Kong-based Mott 32 has been open in Las Vegas for three years. In those three years, I’ve managed to dine here twice previously. They’ve both been very good meals, but dining in a party of two limited my ability to try too much of the menu at once. I was excited to dine here in a party of seven to try a host of items – some old favorites and some new dishes. My dad has also been here a few times and led the ordering focused around a lot of the restaurant’s signature dishes. Speaking of signatures, he called ahead to preorder the whole duck, the barbecue pork, and the short rib to assure we’d be able to sample each of them.

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Carbone (Las Vegas, NV)

Carbone has quickly become one of my favorite Italian restaurants in the country. While this Vegas outpost of Carbone has been around since 2015, my first time visiting the restaurant was in 2020. Now in 2022, this post reflects my third visit here.

Las Vegas was the second location of the restaurant; its flagship in New York opened in 2013 and has since spawned other locations in Miami, Dallas, and Hong Kong. The original NYC location held a Michelin star from 2014 all the way up until the current 2023 guide.

mott32 lobster mapo
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Mott 32 (Las Vegas, NV)

Mott 32, a Chinese concept based in Hong Kong, opened at the Palazzo in 2019. There are a handful of locations across the world serving a refined take on the cuisine. Its most famous dish is probably its Peking duck – aged 48 hours and smoked in apple wood, but there are a number of other signature items like its char siu, a lobster mapo tofu, and a triple-cooked wagyu short rib.

Dessert @ Twist, Las Vegas
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Twist by Pierre Gagnaire (Las Vegas, NV) [2]

I’ve dined at Pierre Gagnaire’s Twist once before and have been meaning to return. Recently, the hotel housing the restaurant (Mandarin Oriental) was sold to the Hilton group and it’s been unclear how long Twist will be be around. I figured it would be a good chance to try the restaurant one more time.

The restaurant offers a number of tasting menus (5, 6, 7 courses), in addition to a la carte options. For this meal, we went with the six-course ($185). Some of the best view of The Strip are included – we were lucky enough to get a window table.

steak @ Carnevino
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Carnevino (Las Vegas, NV) [2]

Carnevino has been a steakhouse favorite in Las Vegas since opening over ten years ago. Along with Bazaar Meat, I’ve regarded these two steakhouses as some of the best I’ve been to. This was my third visit to the restaurant, and second for my parents.

Subsequent to this meal, it was announced that Carnevino (and Batali & Bastianich’s two other restaurants in Las Vegas) would be closing at the end of July. While the restaurant tried to distance itself from Mario Batali, it couldn’t escape the fact that he was one its primary co-creators/co-owners. As such, this ended up likely being my last meal here.

tagliatelle @ Masso
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Masso Osteria (Las Vegas, NV)

Masso Osteria is the latest in a string of restaurants Scott Conant has been opening across the country. Famous for his Food Network appearances and Scarpetta restaurants, Conant opened this restaurant in February of this year at the Red Rock Casino.

The food at Masso Osteria has a lot of Conant’s signature dishes made famous at Scarpetta including his spaghetti, polenta, and tuna crudo. Our party of three ordered the spaghetti along with a few other dishes.

lobster risotto @ Hell's Kitchen Las Vegas
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Hell’s Kitchen (Las Vegas, NV)

Gordon Ramsay’s Hell’s Kitchen is one of Las Vegas’ biggest restaurant openings this year. The celebrity chef already had a strong presence on The Strip and this restaurant is his fifth. The restaurant has been exceedingly popular, notably taking down 12,000 reservations within the first 10 days the reservation books were open. The restaurant space is huge, too, seating almost 300 diners for lunch and dinner.

The restaurant is based on Ramsay’s popular TV show, complete with red and blue kitchens to represent the competing teams on the show. The menu features many of the same dishes that are cooked on the show including the chef’s Beef Wellington. A three-course prix fixe menu ($75) is available for dinner in addition to an a la carte menu. We ordered one prix fixe menu, adding an additional appetizer and Beef Wellington a la carte.

Truffled langoustine ravioli in a foie gras sauce with simmered green cabbage
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Joel Robuchon (Las Vegas, NV) [2]

I’ve been to Joel Robuchon in Las Vegas a number of times over the years, but my last visit was all the way back in 2011. I was in Los Vegas for the weekend thanks to a spontaneous trip, and was able to squeeze in a late Friday night reservation here.

The restaurant still serves an extravagant, marathon degustation tasting menu ($445, 16+ courses) but does offer more abbreviated menus with selections for each course. We went with the third of four tiers available, six courses (plus extras) priced at $198 before supplements.