Julian Serrano’s dedication to details evident at Lago — REVIEW
Serrano, the Michelin-starred chef who's known to Las Vegas residents and visitors for Picasso at Bellagio and his eponymous tapas restaurant at Aria, this spring opened Lago, which overlooks the Fountains of Bellagio in the space formerly occupied by Osteria del Circo (and up a level from Picasso, so you end up seeing mostly the tops of the dancing fountains, but I digress).
After so many years at this gig I've become quite familiar with Serrano's dedication, but I was reminded of it simply by the garnish on a before-dinner cocktail, the too-long-overlooked and newly popular Negroni. Usually, I can figure on a sliver of orange peel. The Lago garnish was a caper berry, wrapped in a slice of Spanish chorizo, a perfect complement to the appealingly bitter flavors of the drink.
And things just continued apace from there. Lago's menu lists a few entrees, but most of the offerings are of the small-plates variety, so we chose two apiece — half familiar dishes, half not so much — and happily shared.
Zuppa Pomodoro ($10) was a chilled version that put every childhood tomato soup to shame, nicely acidic and laced with stracciatella, not the familiar egg drops but larger, still delicate, chewy nuggets that provided appealing flavor and texture contrasts.
'Nduja ($10), from the crostini part of the menu, was the rarely encountered pork-sausage spread with velvety texture and just a kick of spice, lathered onto crisp slices of bread.
Spaghetti Chitarra ($16) is something else we don't see a lot of — at least not the "chitarra" part of it. This is a pasta cut that's formed by pressing the dough through a chitarra, a stringed gadget that resembles a guitar. It produces thickish strands of pasta, squared-off and a little raggedy, which gives them an additional quotient of al-dente chewiness and makes them the perfect foil for the exceptionally light fresh-tomato sauce and the abundant tiny, delicate and sweet littleneck clams tossed with them.
The more familiar menu selections included Agnello Scotdito ($20), far more simple but by no means commonplace, two little lamb chops prepared perfectly medium rare, grilled with the classic combination of garlic and rosemary.
Cannelloni ($16) is done often, but rarely as well as this. Though pasta sheets and tubes are frequently used, Tuscan cannelloni are made with crespelle, a sort of savory crepe, which gives them a lovely delicateness. I wondered how the comparatively hearty short ribs in the filling would work with that, but they had been chopped sufficiently finely to work quite nicely, the rolls finished with tomato sauce and a bit of a creamy Parmesan sauce.
And Carpaccio Manzo ($16), a classic iteration that made it easy to grasp the enduring popularity of this dish of paper-thin raw beef.
A dessert of giandujotto ($10) was delivered as a beautifully styled arrangement that involved chocolate and hazelnuts in forms including a chocolate financier, hazelnut gelato and a dome of chocolate-covered hazelnut mousse.
As for the rest of our experience, it was serene. Service was flawless, the restaurant mostly quiet, and at intervals we could gaze outside at those soothing fountains.
Even if we could see only the tops.
— Las Vegas Review-Journal restaurant reviews are done anonymously at Review-Journal expense. Email Heidi Knapp Rinella at Hrinella@reviewjournal.com. Find more of her stories at www.reviewjournal.com and bestoflasvegas.com, and follow @HKRinella on Twitter.
