Batali + Bastianich = Carnevino

Of all my friends probably the closest one as picky as me to go eat in a restaurant is Chapa, in Vegas after studying Zagat recommendations he suggested to go and have lunch in Carnevino. The place is owned by restaurateur tycoon Mario Batali and wine connoisseur, vineyard and restaurant owner Joe Bastianich. Executive chef Zach Allen is in charge of the magic and Adam Perry Lang is responsible to source and age the meat. 

The place

Nice ambience, quiet for Sin City, modern, and relax. The service was great, the waiter had an amazing knowledge on the wine as you would expect in a Bastianich restaurant. We were a big table so the decision was to share entrées and then go for a main. The starters we ordered were a tagliata di manzo which was some sort of rocket and beef carpaccio, carne cruda (steak tartare), and fried calamari. For main I got the lamb chops, and shared a pappardelle with porcini trifolati. Also had the chance to try Mary's spago with lamb ragu. 

Wine time

The beef carpaccio was nice, with the rocket and parmesan, nice flavours and original presentation, the tartare was excellent, really well executed, and the fried calamari was perfectly battered and with a nice spicy punch. 

Beef carpaccio

Tartare

Calamari

The lamb chops were perfectly seasoned and cooked, great flavours, and the pappardelle was superb, the pasta was al dente, the sauce was spectacular, same for the spago.

Chops

Pappardelle

Spago

Great restaurant, a must if you want to eat well source meat, excellent pasta, and a superb wine list. 

Carnevino

Wine reminds me the Seinfeld episode “The Airport” 

Flight Attendant: We have some delicious Chateaubriande, my personal favourite, or, if you prefer something lighter, a poached Dover sole in a delicate white wine sauce with just a hint of saffron 

Jerry: Oh, saffron! That sounds good 

Flight Attendant: And today we're featuring wines from the Tuscany region 

Jerry and Tia: Tuscany!

Carnevino

T: +1 702 789 4141

Italian Cuisine

Approx Damage: $40pp

Area: The Strip

Las Vegas

Twitter: @CARNEVINO

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Burger Wars Episode XXXVII: Oliver and Perry Lang

A new place I was looking  forward to going was Barbecoa, yes Jamie Oliver and Adam Perry Lang place. Simply a two in one, a butchery and a restaurant, simple cooking techniques, state of the art kitchen including robata grills, tandoor ovens, fire pits, and even a Texan smoker. Also having the butchery bellow the restaurant let them to have the whole animal instead of a selection of cuts making a more complete and exciting menu. 

Snapshot from the Menu

The View

Got to the place with a couple colleagues, one of them from Houston so that’s what I call a tricky fellow to serve BBQ. Contemplate the menu for a couple minutes then decided to go for Pork Scratchings and chipotle sauce, the pit-smoked baby back ribs with coriander and chilli, and finally the Barbecoa burger. 

Ribs

Scratchings

The Burger

The burger comes with Westcombe cheddar, streaky bacon, sweet onions, and chips. 

Close up

The verdict, good smoky flavour, but on the other hand they killed the patty, it was cooked medium to well done, so no juices at all which is unforgivable for me. Fries were good.

The damage, 16 quid for the burger 

The conclusion, the burger is not bad but seriously a BBQ place that doesn’t cook their meats to order. The ribs were superb, really nice done, the pork scratchings quite good, my colleagues’ dishes were good according to them, I don’t understand why they don’t serve the burger medium rare, that can change the whole ball game. I will give them a 7 in my scale. Not sure if coming back, maybe for the ribs. 

Barbecoa reminds me the Seinfeld episode “The Wink”. 

Holly: Jerry, I'm thrilled you like my mutton. I was afraid you only ate salad. 

Jerry: Hey, salad's got nothing on this mutton! 

Elaine: Thanks for mutton!

Barbecoa

T: 020 3005 8555

Barbecue

Area: St Paul's

City of London
Twitter: Barbecoa_london

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