Spago's dining room sports a new design, with muted colors and paintings by local artists. Photos by Craig L. Moran. Braised short ribs and artichoke and prosciutto cannelloni have joined the Spago dining room menu.

Even after 14 years on the Las Vegas dining scene, you could call Wolfgang Puck's Spago in the Forum Shops at Caesars a new restaurant, thanks to an overhaul of the dining room menu and a new contemporary design.

"We viewed the beginning of the year as a kind of reinvention," says corporate chef and James Beard Best Chef nominee David Robins.

Designed by the Engstrom Design Group of Northern California, the new dining room is dominated by an abstract painting by acclaimed Las Vegas artist Tim Bavington. The 28-by-8-foot painting was inspired by the John Lennon song "Imagine." There also are artworks by local artist David Ryan and by Eric Engstrom of the design company.

The colors throughout are more subdued than previous Spago interiors, with an emphasis on brown and beige tones.

On the upper level of the restaurant, a new lounge features couches, private tables and a custom-made music system.

Robins and chef de cuisine Eduardo Perez oversee the new menu that is aimed at taking advantage of seasonal products, such as truffles, caviar and lobster.

"The new menu is geared around how Wolfgang wants to use food, the quality of the product and something that jumps out at you. ... We're also adding some vegetarian items," Robins says. "Organic vegetarian is the trend of the future, and we'd rather be a trendsetter."

The cafe menu still includes the popular standbys, such as pancetta-wrapped meatloaf with mashed potatoes, mushroom gravy and onion rings.

The dining room seats 200, the cafe an additional 120, and the bar accommodates 14. The private dining room seats as many as 40 people and the banquet room holds 100.

Cafe hours are from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays and 11 a.m. to midnight Fridays and Saturdays.

Dining room hours are from 5:30 to 10 p.m. daily.

For reservations, call 369-6300.

Starters: Seared diver scallops with pink grapefruit, basil pearls and opal basil-radish salad ($16); house-smoked salmon and sturgeon with lemon-herb blinis, dill creme fraiche and osetra caviar ($25); and yellowfin tuna sashimi and spicy tartare with sticky rice, pickled ginger, sriracha aioli and ponzu sauce ($19).

Soups and salads: Organic root vegetable consomme with duck confit, ricotyta tortellini and black truffle ($10); chef's garden farm fresh greens with Shaft blue cheese, poached seckel pear and aged balsamic vinaigrette ($14); and roasted beet and goat cheese Napoleon with orange, petite greens, toasted hazelnuts and citrus vinaigrette ($17).

Entrees: Handmade chanterelle agnolotti with aged pecorino Toscano and celery leaves ($26); roasted John Dory with preserved lemon risotto, asparagus and peekytoe crab picatta ($31); black truffle-crusted Atlantic salmon with potato puree, black trumpet mushrooms, confit bacon and brussels leaves ($32); steamed Florida red snapper Hong Kong-style with jasmine rice, bok choy, snap peas, ponzu sauce and garlic-chili oil ($29); butter poached Maine lobster with creamy parsnips, savoy cabbage and sauce Americaine ($48); roasted free-range chicken with Yukon gold potatoes, goat cheese, matsutakes and natural jus ($29); slow-braised beef short ribs with artichoke-prosciutto cannelloni, roasted tomato and olive sauce ($42); and pork Wiener schnitzel and warm potato salad, baby mache, caper-butter sauce and lemon ($37).

Also, Spago offers cast-iron seared beef, finished over mesquite charcoal, including USDA prime Nebraska corn-fed 10-ounce filet mignon ($58), and USDA prime Nebraska corn-fed 22-ounce cote de boeuf ($69), both served with fingerling potatoes, cauliflower gratin and black truffle bordelaise.

Extras: A collection of seasonal shellfish, including poached prawns and cocktail sauce (half-dozen, $21); chilled 1-pound lobster with remoulade ($32); 1-pound stone crab claws and garlic-chili drawn butter ($45); and blue crab cakes and orange-fennel marmalade ($21).

Spago also presents organic teas by Art of Tea including a choice of darjeeling, organic jasmine pearls, organic white peach, Welcome, Healers and Chocolate Monkey ($7 each).

Desserts: From pastry chef William Galdamez, banana bread pudding with white chocolate custard, banana bread and walnut ice cream ($8); strawberry Napoleon with crispy puff pastry, vanilla mousseline and macerated strawberries ($9); Lemon, Lemon, Lemon with Meyer lemon cream, lemon sabayon and lemon gelato ($9); creme brulee with caramelized vanilla custard and seasonal organic berries ($10); apple cobbler with golden delicious apples, shortbread cookie and creme fraiche sorbet ($10); chocolate mousse with hazelnut crunch, chocolate powdercoat and organic raspberries ($11); and chocolate souffle with espresso ice cream and creme anglaise ($12).

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. Contact Ken White at 383-0256 or e-mail him at kwhite@ reviewjournal.com.