Yes, a girl can dream -- and so can the rest of us. Who, even just a few years ago, could have ever imagined that Las Vegas -- Bargain City! -- would host some of the fanciest and most expensive restaurants in the world? Not us, that's for sure.
But celebrity chefs galore, including several from France, along with multi-million-dollar rooms, wine cellars (and towers) with ten thousand bottles and master sommeliers, and fresh food FedExed in daily from all over the world have combined to drive dining prices through the roof. The $30-entrée threshold was crossed long ago. Now the $40 threshold, seen infrequently even in places like New York and San Francisco, has almost become the norm in Las Vegas. In fact, the $50 threshold has been broken. And that's a la carte; no salad or vegetable or potato comes with that $50-plus steak, pheasant, or Kobe hamburger.
The latest rage is the tasting (a.k.a. degustation) menus (see QoD 1/7/07), with on average seven-course meals starting at $65 per person and $115 with wine, and going up to ... well ... you'll see below. Our list from the previous answer ran to 20 Las Vegas eateries with tasting menus that, before you're through, will run you a good week's wage for most of the people who work in the hotel, some of whom are serving you.
Without going into too much detail about the food (we don't eat at these places ourselves, so we're not too up on apple gelée topped with yuzu granite, an amuse asparagus flan, foie gras torchon with white-truffle shavings, pumpkin gnocchi with mimolette cheese, sautéed rabbit liver and kidney, ris de veau with seaweed-infused butter, Ligurian octopus salad, kabocha squash pudding, chamomile marshmallows, pineapple tuille filled with caramel popcorn, and the like), we figure you'll get your fill, so to speak, of reverie material solely from the names of the restaurants and their astronomical prices.
At Joël Rubochon (the Mansion at MGM Grand), there are two degustation menus: the hoi polloi settle for the $215 version, but you should dream about the 16-course dinner for $360. Wine's not included; expect to pay $200 a bottle. All told, plan on $1,250 for two with tax and tip.
Restaurant Guy Savoy (Caesars Palace) offers a 10-course "prestige" tasting menu for $290 and a four-course "express" dinner (dubbed TGV after the French bullet train Train Grande Vitesse) for a mere $190. With prestige, a bottle of wine, tax, and tip, you're looking at about $1,000 for you and your dream date.
Alex (Wynn Las Vegas) has a wine-paired seven-course tasting menu for $350 per person; this is a (relative) good deal, since you don't have to spring for the vino (plus 15% of the price for someone to pop the cork). Under $1,000 for two. You can also opt for the four-course seasonal tasting menu for $175 -- but why bother?
Michael Mina (Bellagio) puts out a five-course deal for $250 per person with wine. At around $600 for two, it's almost within the realm of reality. Go for the seasonal tasting menu with wine at $220 and you'll save $50. (If you don't tell anyone, we won't.)
