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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so many dinners... so little time Quel fromage a perfectionist chef masters the art of cheesemaking. Local celebs love the Cobb salad. continued from page 80 If Prime seating for prime eating on VG's famous patio the wines alone weren't reason enough to return, Silverman's food certainly is. He knew he would need a quality product if he were to lure the Summerlin crowd to his doors. "As it was taking shape, I could see it was going to be something special," he says, "and I needed a menu that would fit the dramatic décor" (by noted interior designer Peter Deusing). Most of all, he wanted a cheese and charcuterie selection where diners could mix and match their own selections: "I'd been to too many places where they just brought you whatever they wanted you to have." In this way, Silverman turned out to be something of a pioneer in the cold cuts education of Las Vegas. Six years ago, they were almost unheard of around here, but these days, artisanal cured meats are practically as common as crème brûlée in our bet- ter restaurants. Then, of course, there is the grill. "No gas," Silverman says, "nothing but mesquite, apple, and cherry wood, both for our pizzas and the grilling of meats and fish. It adds a level of difficulty to the cooking, but I just love the depth of flavor it brings to the food." It's hard to argue with him when you bite into a toothsome flatbread adorned with caramelized onions, Gorgonzola, and basil pesto, or his seared halibut with couscous, a dish so popular that, he says, "we'd get a dozen complaints a day if it were taken off the menu." Pawn Stars' Rick Harrison, a regular, is enamored of the braised lamb tagine, while Oscar Goodman "would have a fit if he couldn't get the lamb ribs." Along with the throngs of decked- out ladies, these foodies know just where to go for the best pumpkin gnocchi, crispy calamari, or Cobb salad in town. Nowhere in Vegas do hand-made food and great wine match so well with the beautiful people consuming them. Michael Corrigan's wager on good taste has paid off for all. 10100 W. Charleston Blvd., 702-214-5590; vglasvegas.com V The first time executive chef Matthew Silverman tried to make mozzarella, he threw the whole batch out. The next 14 batches fared no better. "Mozz is really, really hard to get right," he says. "If the acidity is too high, it oozes everywhere. Too low, and it's hard as a rock." By the time he perfected his technique, he had, in his words, "found some goats," and he was off and curdling. Silverman is now the rarest of cooks—one who is also a cheesemaker, molding and aging eight different varieties right in his busy kitchen. Fresh cow's milk Camembert and Stilton-style cheeses creamily round out his boutique fromagerie. From the constant swooning, you can tell Silverman is getting it just right. Chef-made and guest-selected cheese platters receive rave reviews. 32: table of content What's in a name? plenty. Just ask oscar. Stefanie Graf and husband Andre Agassi are fans of Vintner Grill. There are two ways to reserve Table 32 at Vintner Grill: Have your last name be Goodman or take your chances when you show up. Only our ex-mayor and his wife are allowed the privilege of booking ahead for one of the four-tops surrounding the $10,000 white bottle sculpture in the center of the room. All others are seated on a first-come, first-served basis. "Otherwise," says GM Peter Varela, "people would be fighting over them all the time." Why? Because in a restaurant full of fashionable people and great sight lines, this island is the best perch in the house to watch the peacock parade come and go. 82 vegasmagazine.com photography by peter varela (outside tables); beverly poppe (salad, silverman, table 32, cheese plate); ethan miller/getty images (graf) Chef Silverman wows Summerlin.