Wednesday, January 26, 2005
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

APPETIZERS: ENVY at Renaissance Las Vegas avoids traditional steakhouse look

ENVY Steakhouse at the Renaissance replaces the dark-wood look of most steakhouses with a lighter, airier decor. Photo by Craig L. Moran. ENVY Steakhouse serves prime bone-in rib-eye, clockwise from bottom center; seared diver scallops and wild mushroom mac and cheese; tomato, onion and blue cheese vinaigrette salad; and sesame-crusted tuna with wasabi potato spring rolls. Photo by Craig L. Moran.

Chef Richard Chamberlain of Chamberlain's Steak and Chop House fame in Dallas brings his steakhouse dining concept to the new Renaissance Las Vegas, 3400 Paradise Road.

ENVY Steakhouse, which seats 178 people, avoids the traditional steakhouse look of dark wood and dimly lighted booths in favor of designer Pat Murphy's high, red vaulted ceiling down the center of the dining room; a glassed, walk-in wine cellar with 1,500 bottles; and windows that look out onto Paradise Road.

A chef's table in a private booth sits ringside at the open kitchen.

Before opening his own restaurants, Chamberlain -- who also owns Chamberlain's Fish Market Grill in Dallas and Tarragon in the Elk Mountain Resort in southern Colorado -- spent three years as the executive chef of the Little Nell Hotel in Aspen, Colo., where he was nominated as one of the best chefs in the country by the James Beard Foundation. He also served as executive chef at San Simeon Restaurant and Ratcliff's, both in Dallas; executive sous chef at the Hotel Bel-Air in Los Angeles; and sous chef at the Mansion at Turtle Creek in Dallas.

The steakhouse is open for breakfast from 6 to 10:30 a.m., lunch from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., and dinner from 5:30 to 11 p.m. The bar is open from 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. (733-6533).

The following are items offered by executive chef Eddie Sears and chef de cuisine Bradley Manchester on the dinner menu.

• Starters: Seared Kobe carpaccio ($15); tuna and crabmeat dynamite ($14); salt and pepper calamari ($11); shrimp cocktail ($15); red curry tiger shrimp ($14); Maryland crab cake and apple cider aioli ($14); crabmeat Louis ($16); and cold-water oysters on the half shell (market price).

• Soups and salads: Sweet corn and scallop soup ($11); split pea, Vermont cheddar and prosciutto soup ($9); tomato, onion and blue cheese vinaigrette salad ($8); iceberg lettuce, bacon, tomatoes, red onion and balsamic ranch salad ($8); goat cheese, baby spinach, pine nuts, apples and bacon vinaigrette ($10); and lobster and shrimp salad with bibb lettuce, hearts of palm and sherry vinaigrette ($14).

• Entrees: Steaks: prime bone-in rib-eye ($36); prime New York strip steak ($38); Black Angus fillet ($32); Kobe fillet ($60); Kobe short rib ($34); prime rib roast ($38); and prime rib roast, double cut ($65).

Chops: apple-cured pork chops with cider-braised cabbage ($28); Tuscan veal chop with lemon, garlic, olives, roast tomatoes and capers ($36); and lamb chops with balsamic rosemary glaze ($39).

Seafood: Arctic char with orange truffle glaze and wild rice risotto ($28); sesame tuna mignon and wasabi potatoes ($30); sea bass with wild mushrooms and crabmeat Victoria ($32); seared diver scallops and wild mushroom mac and cheese ($32); Maryland crab cakes bearnaise ($30); Australian lobster tail (market price); and butter poached king crab legs (market price).

• Extras: Seafood Tower with lobster, shrimp, oysters and crab ($22); bourbon creamed corn ($7); Vermont cheddar steak fries ($7); asparagus hollandaise ($9); truffle mashers ($12); and tasting of three caviars (market price).

• Desserts: Valrhona Chocolate Smorz ($11); coconut-pineapple sundae with pine nut brittle ($11); citrus meringue pie ($10); cr¸me fr‰iche cr¸me br˛lée ($12); classic cheesecake with fresh berry compote ($9); and selection of ice creams and sorbets ($9).

Appetizers is a weekly informational column about new developments on the Las Vegas dining scene. Items should not be considered reviews or recommendations and none is a paid advertisement.