In continuing with our lazy theme for the day, after we cleaned up from the pool, we took the short walk to MGM Grand for dinner, not even bothering to venture outside. Josh suggested going to Fiamma, an Italian restaurant that he’s been to several times since he’s been out here and one of his favorites. He knew that after my disappointment with Fleur de Lys, I would want something good to cheer me up. Fortunately, Fiamma did not disappoint.
As soon as we walked into the restaurant, we passed the sommelier who remembered Josh from a previous visit. After we were seated and were looking through the menus, the sommelier came right over to our table and asked if we needed any recommendations. We told him what kind of wine we like (red, bold, spicy), what our budget was, and he immediately set off in search of something appropriate.
In the meantime, we placed our dinner order with our friendly waitress, and broke into the loaf of bread a runner had set on our table. It was a large round loaf with a soft crust and a dense and chewy interior. It didn’t have much flavor, but the accompanying scoop of butter turned out to be sweet truffle butter, which paired well with the bread.
Soft chewy bread with sweet truffle butter
A short while later, the sommelier came back with a bottle of Italian syrah, something that you don’t usually come across, that the restaurant’s wine director had picked up on a recent trip to Italy (or so he said). The wine wasn’t even listed yet in the menu, so it was cool to be able to have a firsthand taste of a new and unusual offering. Though he said the wine was priced higher than our stated budget, he offered it to us at a discount, and that seemed very nice and reasonable of him. He decanted the wine and poured us all a taste, himself included, and the wine really was superb. It wasn’t very spicy but had a smooth and deep flavor. We enjoyed it immensely, and it showed that it pays off to take recommendations from a sommelier. He wasn’t too pushy, stayed within our budget, and made us feel like we were special. We never would have ordered a syrah, especially one from Italy, and we would have missed out on this really delicious wine.
A really great Italian syrah
Our first courses arrived, and I almost laughed at the seemingly obscene amount of truffles that covered my appetizer, a beef carpaccio with parmesan and arugula. I don’t know if they use canned truffles or add in deep black mushrooms that taste similar to truffles, but there actually wasn’t an overwhelming truffle flavor, which I was worried about. There was just enough earthiness to add an extra savory aspect to the dish, but the flavors of the beef and the parmesan still shined through. This was one of the best versions of beef carpaccio that I’ve ever tasted.
Beef carpaccio with arugula, parmesan, and truffles
Josh started with a simple caprese salad appetizer, with mozzarella, tomato and basil. The mozzarella was appropriately soft and creamy, with a mild flavor. Interestingly, they deep fried the basil, which added an unexpected crunch to the dish. I love deep fried leaves of anything, as they shatter in your mouth and coat your tongue with powdery intensity. This was a very well executed dish.
Caprese salad
For my main course, I opted for spaghetti with kobe beef meatballs. I was craving a red sauce, and comfort food, so this seemed like the best option. I know grinding kobe beef is kind of a waste but they gave the meatballs a delicate and luxurious texture; the meatballs almost melted in my mouth. They were a bit heavy handed with the seasoning though, but it worked well overall when I ate it together with the tomato sauce and the noodles. The spaghetti was obviously made fresh, as it had that dense springiness to it that you can’t get with dried pasta. You also can’t really get fresh pasta al dente, so it’s kind of a tradeoff. Either way, I enjoyed this dish a lot.
Spaghetti with kobe beef meatballs
Josh had the lobster and gnocchi with black truffle crema. I noticed that a lot of the dishes on the menu had truffle in it, but I’m one of those people who think that truffles are never really a bad thing. I thought the gnocchi in the dish was too mushy, as it had no discernable bite to it, but Josh liked it. There were also decent sized chunks of lobster, and the mushrooms and leeks in the dish helped round everything out.
Lobster and gnocchi with black truffle crema
We passed on dessert, as both of us were pretty full and neither of us have an overwhelming sweet tooth. Josh had a cup of coffee instead, and I finished nursing my glass of the syrah. The waitress presented us with small salted caramels in a dark chocolate shell with the check. Sweet, salty and bitter, this was a lovely cap on a really delicious meal.
Salted caramel and dark chocolate
I left Fiamma full, happy, and completely satisfied. The service was friendly and attentive, the food was carefully presented, and everything tasted wonderful. Granted, we ordered simple things like caprese and spaghetti and meatballs, but it’s surprising how many other restaurants can manage to screw those up. I would definitely come back to Fiamma if I were in Vegas again, and I highly recommend it for anyone who is looking for an upscale Italian restaurant to go to while they’re here.
At the MGM Grand
Las Vegas, NV