Vegas Magazine - Niche Media - There is a place beyond the crowds, beyond the ropes, where dreams are realized and success is celebrated. You are invited.
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ON THE TOWN LET'S MEET Where: Kabuto, 5040 W. Spring Mountain Road, Ste. 4, 702-6761044; kabutolv.com What: Edomae sushi and sashimi Where: Sweets Raku, 5040 W. Spring Mountain Road, Ste. 3, 702-290-7181 What: Dessert and wine LEFT: Tokyo Style Chef Scott Conant finds surprising similarities between Italian and Japanese cuisine. TOP RIGHT: A tuna sashimi trio at Kabuto. BOTTOM RIGHT: Kabuto chef Gen Mizoguchi serves only traditional sushi and sashimi, with nary a California roll in sight. SCOTT CONANT HEADS TO KABUTO AND SWEETS RAKU TO DISCUSS HIS NEW COOKBOOK, HIS TRAVELS, AND WHY SIMPLE FOOD CAN BE THE BEST OF ALL. BY ANDY WANG PHOTOGRAPHY BY ERIK KABIK A s purveyor of North America's most revered spaghetti al pomodoro, with nearly 10,000 servings of the perfect $24 pasta dish sold every month at Scarpetta, his flagship New York City restaurant, Scott Conant is a busy empire-builder. He's got a Scarpetta at Cosmopolitan (and his first wine bar, D.O.C.G.), as well as Scarpettas at the Montage Beverly Hills, the Fontainebleau Miami Beach, and Thompson Toronto. Somehow the Zegna-favoring chef also finds time to be the best-dressed judge on Chopped and visit his vacation home in Turkey with his family, before checking out potential new restaurant locations all over the world. But despite all the stamps on his passport, Conant says he's found some of the best sushi anywhere right here in Vegas. It's at a tiny restaurant called Kabuto, in the improbably remarkable Spring Mountain Road strip mall that houses allover-the-map Asian eateries including Aburiya Raku, Monta Ramen, Big Wong, Trattoria Nakamura-Ya, and the shiny new dessert spot Sweets Raku. 92 What makes Kabuto a must-visit? What I love about it most is that it's so authentic in the traditional Tokyo style of sushi: the reverence, the quality of food, the Japanese fish. You travel all over. This really ranks up there as a top sushi spot? A hundred percent. For many reasons, not just because of the quality of the fish, but the level of service and things like the wood, the ambience. It's small, it's quaint, but it's really about the fish, the service, great rice, all those things just done very well. I'm always amazed at the reverence of the Japanese. You've been to Tokyo's famous Tsukiji fish market. Oh, yeah! I went with Reika Yo [of New York's EN Japanese Brasserie]. We did this private tour because she and her family have restaurants in Tokyo. It was just amazing, and I feel like the best part of Italian food has such a similarity to Japanese food, just because of the respect for the product. But continued on page 94 VEGASMAGAZINE.COM 092-094_V_ST_OTT_Dec13.indd 92 11/19/13 10:09 AM