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Fiamma Trattoria at the MGM Grand

By: The Lady of The Night Out

Why should you eat at Fiamma?

These days, there are enough star chefs in LVNV to create our own culinary galaxy. But like the red planet, Mars, that is currently shining brighter than the other stars in the Milky Way, a new chef has transplanted his toque who stands out in the cooking crowd. That chef i Michael White, chosen by Esquire Magazine as its Chef of the Year in November 2002. (That means he’s still the King!) He has been working for 30 days straight to fire up the kitchen at Fiamma, the new restaurant at the MGM Grand. Fiamma, which means flame in Italian, is the second log on this fire: the original Fiamma Osteria is a wildly popular haunt in New York City’s Soho neighborhood. Our own Gen X reporter, Austin Rosenthal, happens to live there and will be calling in from the Big Apple to tell us about the original eatery.

Who should eat at Fiamma?

Anyone savoring authentic Italian ingredients. Chef Michael lived, worked, and married in Italy, where he developed a first-name relationship with intriguing local ingredients. He imports them for his culinary creations here, stuff like olives from Liguria, bottarga from Sardindia, and lentils from Castellucio.
Italian wine connoisseurs. While wines for all over the world appear on the wine card, the list lovingly favors the great wines of Italy: sparkling Asti Spumante, Valpolicellas, Barolos, and the classic Chiantis. If you’re willing to ante up for my favorite and rather rare Italian wine, Brunello del Montalcino, it’s here. And the list is easy to navigate. The wines are grouped by region, then arranged by grape variety.
Anyone new to the world of wine. Dining at Fiamma could include a do-it-yourself wine class because the educational wine list could double as a textbook for Enology 101. For example, it lists each grape variety and describes its flavor. .
The fress to impress crowd. Both the food and the décor are eye-popping. Chef Michael prepares classic dishes, then adds one new detail which rockets the dish to a new level. You can only do this if you understand the original roots. For example, Chef Michael makes his Bolognese or meat sauce with finely ground prosciutto and sausage instead of the typical ground beef and veal. And he serves the sauce over rigatoni – the drain pipe-shaped pasta. No noodle swirling necessary – a more elegant eating option that better fits the tony surroundings. Fiamma calls this dish bucatini.

Oh, did I mention all the pasta is hand-rolled?.

Music mavens. This restaurant actually has a director of music who prepares special collections every 30 days. If you ate dinner at Fiamma every night, you’d never hear the same tunes twice. The music director, who is based in New York, checks out tunes from 24 of the Big Apple’s hottest DJs to include in his monthly mixes, so the music is a delicious cross of jazz and techno. Please, please, please: make some CDs!.
Anyone into hip interior design. Yabu Pushelberg may not be a household name in LVNV, but in the upper reaches of architectural and interior design, it is the hottest firm in America. What do you expect when principals Glen Pushelberg and George Yabu call the interior palette “warm copper with espresso?” You’ve got to see this place! It is design for the 22nd century..
Romantics. Yabu Pushelberg made this sprawling 7,000 square foot restaurant intimate and inviting. I’ll bet this place beats Aureole and Olives for the “pull out the ring and get down on your knee” routine. The lighting is dark and cozy, but bright lights way over head beam down on the table, so you see the rainbow of colors on your plate without a pocket flashlight..
Folks on a budget. The prices are remarkable reasonable for a restaurant of this caliber. Sure, you can get a cheaper steak than $34. But the pastas at $16 or $18 are the same price as some local dives without any of the cachet of this cool environment..
Voyeurs. Fiamma has its own version of a front porch, just like Wolfgang Puck’s Trattoria del Luppo. (The owners call it their “café.”) Most folks going to the Big Shows at the Grand Garden Arena have to pass by for inspection. It ties with The Palm as the best people-watching watching restaurant perch in LVNV..
Punsters. Owner Stephen Hanson named his restaurant company B. R. Guest. Ha! Ha! That’s as good as Richard Melman’s Lettuce Entertain You Group, which owns Mon Ami Gabi at the Paris..
Movie mavens. This being the MGM, Fiamma has a 45-person screening room where Chef Michael serves more than popcorn.

Who shouldn’t eat at Fiamma?

Families. While the food is certainly kid-friendly, the atmosphere is too uptown for bringing along the rug rats. .
Fans of American Italian cuisine. If you love the food at the Olive Garden, Chef Mark’s subtle changes to the favorites may be too over-the-top for you.

Ok, so what’s the food like? The Big O award goes to the Caesar salad, which Chef Michael added to the menu for LVNV diners. The dressing is a paste of pureed roasted garlic which captures the lovely garlic sting while banishing the bitter aftertaste. The cube-like croutons are made from ciabatta bread. Thin sheets of Parmigian cheese covered the greens. The sharp tang of the cheese was the perfect counterpoint for the crisp, cold hearts of Romaine.

Raw tuna being the fish of the hour, Chef Michael serves up a carpaccio of big eye tuna. The fresh pink flesh covers the entire plate; it looks like a painted on pancake. The tuna is dotted with capers and Ligurian black olives, pizza-style. Then come the swirls of fresh fennel – they look like white chocolate on a fancy dessert. These accents provide a concert of flavors for the cool, silky tuna.

The crispy calamari is served on a regal black napkin to sop up any errant grease. The coating is as crackly thin as a potato chip. At the bottom of the calamari pile is a surprise, just like in a Cracker Jack box: there are three perfectly fried zucchini sticks. These goodies come with two dipping sauces: a lemon aioli, a frothy, citrusy concoction; and my favorite, a puree of roasted red peppers served salsa-style. Don’t be fooled by the velvety puree – it still retained its lovely bee sting quality.

Artists in the crowd must order the fresh mozzarella. A cloud of white cheese sits on a pedestal of an almost ripe green tomato – how clever! The mozzarella is surrounded by a wild potpourri of tomatoes – including sweet and juicy cherry tomatoes the size of marbles. The dressing is a basil oil infusion that you mix with a dollop of balsamic vinegar, Rorschach-style. The presentation is very Japanese – the plate looks as good as it tastes.

You’ve got to try the pastas. If you like fettuccini Alfredo, sample the garganelli. Chads of San Daniele proscuitto and al dente fresh green peas cavort in a rich truffle butter sauce. The sauce is so rich you feel like Steve Wynn. The pasta is home-made corkscrews. Fantastic!

If you like mushrooms, order the mushroom risotto. Chef Michael melds a mélange of mushrooms into a hunter’s ragu. Mine included crimini, Portobello and porcini, all held together with a wine glaze. He wanted to make sure vegans did not mistake this for a vegetarian dish – he uses a veal and chicken stock.

Dessert in the desert: Fiamma has its own pastry chef, Elizabeth Katz. A native New Yorker and CIA graduate, she worked with Daniel Boulud before joining the Soho Fiamma team.

I didn’t recognize the tiramisu. It’s a three-story tower dusted with cocoa; I thought it was a chocolate dessert. A froth of whipped mascarpone oozed from the bottom. This version was subtle and sensuous; it doesn’t hit you over the head with the rum, like other local versions. Be sure to sample the mass of Hydra-like chocolate curls on top.

The tartaletta, a dark chocolate wonder, was a chocolate tart encased in a crunchy hazelnut crust. The best part: a mini-milkshake called a straceatella frappe. Chocolate sauce holds down the fort at the bottom of the miniature glass. Straceatella gelato and soda water are whipped together at the top. Just mix it up for a most unusual liquid pleasure.

Speaking of gelato, it’s all made in-house, natch. Don’t miss the pistachio. It gives your jaw a workout with all those nuts.

Favorite waiter: Brian. He knows his stuff. He came from Bertolini at the Forum Shops.

History: Owner Stephen Hanson has created 11 of New York’s stylish dining spots, including Blue Water Grill and Ruby Foo’s Dim Sum and Sushi Palace. He got his first taste of the restaurant business in the 1970s. He was a maitre d’ at the original TGI Friday’s while earning a business degree for NYU.

Chef Michael is chef-partner of Fiamma. He got his start at 19 working at Chicago’s Spiaggia, the only four star Italian restaurant in the U.S. at the time. At 21 he moved to Italy and worked at major Italian cucina.

Where is it? At the MGM Grand. It’s one of the first restaurants coming from the casino onto the Studio Walk restaurant row. 3799 Las Vegas Boulevard South. Phone: 702.891.7600.

Website: http://www.brguest.com

By: The Culinary Curmudgeon Lady of the Night Out

Fiamma is the perfect place for those of us who already own AARP cards to act cool. This restaurant makes it easy to be hip! For example, Fiamma’s killer sound system plays old school music that folks who really went to the old school can enjoy. Thank you for not subjecting me to Missy Elliott!

And the way cool architects created a dusky, romantic atmosphere that looks like the future… or at least, a set from the Jetsons. But they must be old enough to need reading glasses because they thoughtfully beamed down strands of unobtrusive white light so I could easily read the menu. How thoughtful! I’m sure this also boosts tab size because now everyone can see all the tempting offerings.

I love this wine list. Unlike Aureole’s wireless wine book, this baby is printed on paper. All you have to know about wine is how to turn the pages! The lessons are simple without being sophomoric. It’s the perfect place to prep for the next time Jeopardy comes to LVNV. If Alex Trebec asks you what wines require nero d’avola grapes, you’ll know the answer tout suite (pronounced toot sweet.)

Ditto for the menu. Fiamma is one of the toniest fress-to- impress places in LVNV. But the menu is as straightforward as the one at Five and Diner. Even though it is a magnet for the city’s savviest diners, you don’t have to know a rigatoni from a ravioli to feel at home at Fiamma. Everyone who appreciates fine food will feel comfortable the minute they sit down.

After the patio at The Palm, which overlooks the throngs at Caesars Forum Shops, there is NO better place to watch people than at Fiamma. Unless the humans come from the wedding chapel, everyone going to the Garden has to pass you. I suggest perusing the RJ and making your dinner reservations based on the performer. Like cowboy hats? Watch the Alan Jackson crowd. Prefer to peer at the pugilists? We’ve got the big De la Hoya fight coming up. If you’re into bird watching, Jimmy Buffett’s parrot heads will be flying through.

Oh, I guess I should talk about the food. Everything is magnifico. What do you expect from the reigning Chef of the Year?

Aired 05 September 2003

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