In honor of the restaurant’s one year anniversary, Giada, located inside the otherwise quiet Cromwell hotel, threw one heck of a dinner party. As with past specialty dinners, this one featured wine pairings for each dish. The success of the evening looks to be a preview of things to come as these wine and dine events are expected to be held sporadically throughout the summer.
Giada, of course, is named after Giada De Laurentiis, gigantic Food Network personality. This is her first restaurant and it has yet to disappoint me. It is expensive, but you are paying for high quality food. All the pasta is made in house and you can tell the amount of care that goes into each plate.
This meal started with a sizable antipasti platter. Wood roasted mushrooms were given some crunch by toasted marcona almonds and a counterbalance with thinly sliced ricotta salata, the salty cheese made from the whey of sheep’s milk. Baby sweet peppers also brought a number a flavors to the table as they were stuffed with goat cheese and drizzled with olive tapenade.
The two crostinis served were seared tenderloin with madras curry and a potato chip on top. It was fine, but not as memorable as the pea pesto with prosciutto de Parma covering it.
A duo of pasta courses came in succession after the appetizers. Lemon crema spaghetti with shrimp is the best selling noodle dish at Giada and deservedly so. The pasta was perfectly al dente. The jumbo shrimp was tender and sweet. And the citrus cream is a complete detour from what you’d normally expect of a pasta coating. It is one of the best and most unique pastas I’ve ever tasted.
Rigatoni with vegetable Bolognese was next. The stars here were the assorted mushrooms that made up the bulk of the sauce. Bolognese is usually a meat based sauce but I’d take this version with porcinis, shitakes and criminis over the traditional rendition any day. The addition of mascarpone gave a tangy aftertaste giving the dish another level. And the tube shaped pasta was optimum for catching and retaining the sauce.
Course four was all about meat. I opted for the rack of lamb while my dining partner went with a 7 oz beef tenderloin. The other choice was seared salmon. The mustard and pretzel crust on the lamb gave it some bite while the inside was rare and pink. An interesting puttanesca coulis painted the bottom of the plate. As good as it was, I actually enjoyed the accompaniment even more. The summer panzanella featured toasty, crouton like bread, micro greens and halved baby tomatoes. The acidic dressing was soaked up by the crunchy bread just as you’d want.
It was no surprise that the tenderloin had nice grill marks on the outside while maintaining a medium / medium rare interior. Snap peas, asparagus and blistered tomatoes made for a nice, light complimentary component.
With the main course, two shared side dishes were also served for the table. Smashed potatoes were fried, lemony and cheesy. Sweet corn with spicy sausage had a wonderful interplay of the advertised sweet and spicy.
Dessert had something for everybody. The assorted cookie platter had a giant chocolate chip cookie, two chocolatey-peanutbuttery Italian style cookies and Giada’s lemon ricotta cookies which were featured on one of her television shows. A second serving dish featured a chocolate ganache tart with an almond topping, a decadent dark chocolate bar and two light cheesecakes with fruit toppings. Oh yeah, there was also gelato passed around. Mocha, chocolate and banana to name a few.
Admittedly, I’m not a wine connoisseur but my favorites were the first and the last of the night. A Ruinart was light and an ideal way to open your pallet for what was to come. The sweet rose Veuve Clicquot that closed out the night sent us home sated.
The diners were delighted with an appearance by De Laurentiis who chatted up her guests and gave each one a signed cookbook. It was a nice gesture from an owner that clearly cares about her restaurant.
With food and service of such a high quality, it’s no wonder it takes months to get a reservation.
Giada 3595 S Las Vegas Blvd, Las Vegas, NV 89109
855-442-3271 https://www.caesars.com/cromwell/giada
