John Mariani the restaurant reviewer suggested that I should eat at Picasso's when I am at the Bellagio. Does anyone have any comments?


Ron Kramer

Has no one eaten at this restaurant?

Ron, I haven't eaten there yet. I hope you get some response. I always like to hear reviews on the new restaurants.

Ron, since the restaurant has only been open for a short time, it's possible that it hasn't been visited by anyone on this bb yet. I hope you get some feedback.

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John
Moderator-Dining Forum
john@talkvegas.com

Ron, I'm not a big fan of the views of John Mariani, so that puts me in a bad position. Plus I have never eaten there, so it makes it worse.

I have been to Bellagio, eaten several great meals there, and have looked over the menu at Picasso many times. I don't know if you have been there or not, so I'll tell you my impression.

Picasso is located downstairs, lakefront, and is adjacent to Prime. The gaurds won't even let you downstairs (via escalator), until the 2 restaurants open. Prime was very elegant, big on presentation, and the food was very good, but nowhere near the best in Vegas. I peeked into Picasso and saw that it too was elegant and I'd bet a paycheck that they are very big on presentation.

The menu at Picasso is interesting. There are only one or two choices for any given day. Your choices are full course meal deals (excluding beverages), and run just about $100. If you have beverages, including water, the price goes up.

Making reservations in advance means that you are willing to take whatever is offered. If the two choices are duck or sea bass, and you want pork, you are out of luck. All the side orders, deserts, appetizers, salads, etc. are predetermined. You either have it their way or go hungry.

I can't speak for quality. Since the chefs are only cooking two meals at the most, is that a good thing since they are more focused? Or is it a bad thing because they can get complacent? I suspect it is a good thing and that would make it a better choice than Prime.

Lastly, there are several $100 meals in Vegas. Picasso is the only one I know of that charges for a full meal. The others would be a $12 appetizer, $13 salad, $35 entree, $8 side order, another side order at 12, $15 dessert, and that pretty much eats a $100 bill. At least at these places, you have the opportunity to shave the price, select the food that you want to pay for, or decline an option.

It is my GUESS that Picasso would not be the best $100 meal for my tastes. I suspect it would be a very good and enjoyable meal. I strongly suspect that my next fine meal in Vegas will either come from Palm steakhouse, or one of the new places in the Venetian.

For a great meal in Bellagio, I like Sams American.

So NO, I don't know much about Picasso, but you asked for any comments.<g>

JMT,
Well I guesss Vegas is a good place place for a crap shoot? Actually the lady I will be with eat very little and this may be an expensive waste. Do you suggest that Sam's American is what I should go after? What made it great? Is Olives in contention, although being from the boston area I can do that local? I am looking for elegance that night and maybe then Prime would be a choice of which there seems to be toooo many choices. :-)

Ron

[This message has been edited by Ron Kramer (edited August 12, 1999).]

Ron, One more thing, in case you didn't know. The more expensive restaurants in Bellagio have a dress code. The restrticitons on these codes varied from time to time, and depending on who you asked. Picasso would be at the top of the list on the most restrictive codes. So if you plan on dinning there, plan to dress up to the absolute max.

I'm not really the guy to talk to for elegance.<g> Sams is somewhat casual and fun, decorated in a modern Flintstone's era. I think the main chef at Sams is what makes it gret. Olives looks like a coffee shop, so it is far from elegant.

All I could suggest on elegance is to read some of the other topics in this forum, particularly best meals in Vegas, or start a new topic called Elegant Vegas Meals, and see what kind of feedback you get.

If you go to Prime, try the shrimp cocktail. 3 or 4 big, whole, butterflied shrimp are grilled to perfection and come with 3 dipping sauces. They put it on a huge plate with lots of greens and flowers for presentation. A big waste of plate and greens, and a reason to charge more IMO. The shrimp are great. There is also a seafood (appetizer/meal?) at Prime that comes with some big shrimp, a couple or few crab legs, maybe some oysters and some other seafood. It's not cheap either but it looks good. The presentation for it is a huge punch bowl filled with ice and the seafood is arranged on top. I think the presentation is a gimmick to ge other people to order it, but the food "looks" good.

Ron, I think Joe gave you some excellent feedback. I'll add my raves for Sam's. We've eaten there three times and it's been great each time. The appetizers are wonderful....fantastic chicken wings...a great 3-level thing that includes the wings and two other items. A wonderful Brazilian-style barbecue is available.....as Joe said, fun "Flintstones/Bedrock gourmet room" kinda atmosphere. And if you like peanut brittle, there is a bucket of the stuff at the hostess podium. =)


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Bill in Santa Monica, CA