text: My sister asked me to find a good place to have preChristmas dinner with our Mom in Las Vegas and I actually found Scarpetta by searching for top rated restaurants near the strip with foie gras Seriously I need my foie grasnnWith the recent foie gras ban in California keeping me from one of my favorite delicacies I definitely wanted to have it if I was crossing state lines Scarpetta stuck out to me because it was not a French restaurant but an Italian one which is my Moms favorite and a great way for everyone to be happynnScarpetta was perfect Situated in the new and beautiful Cosmopolitan hotel it has an amazing view of the Bellagio and definitely has that upscale we are dining somewhere really fancy vibe The server was really enthusiastic about the dishes and described them each eloquently I read one persons review that found this annoying but I thought it was great and helped with recommendations for what to ordernnStarternnPOLENTA with Mushrooms Oh My God To DIE FOR Seriously Wow Best dish of the night and that is saying a lot because everything was greatnnMainsnnDuck and Foie Gras Ravioli Obviously what I ordered and obviously I loved it I was also pleasantly surprised by the portion size Usually when you order ravioli you get like and are left being hungry but not in this case It was a generous portion I would have loved there to be more foie gras but that is just being greedynnFennel Spiced Black Cod My mom ordered this and it was probably the least interesting thing that we had but still deliciousnnBlack Tonarelli My sister ordered this and it was also amazing al dente just as it should be It took about minutes to come out after the rest of the dishes and they kept apologizing profusely for it and then sent out TWO free desserts to make up for itnnFREE DessertsnnMascarpone Cheesecake lighter than your average cheesecake which made me like it morennAmaedi Chocolate Cake like a lava cake but better the perfect texture consistency with hot melted chocolate inside served with almond ice creamnnThis was one of the best Italian meals I have ever had outside of Italy and I have tried all of those overrated high end Italian restaurants in Los Angeles I was expecting much less thinking this was a bit of a tourist trap that I was buying into for the evening It ended up being so much more I was so pleasantly surprised and happy with the experience Also no BS portion sizes these are hearty portions and you will leave fullnnDefinitely one of my top if not the top Italian restaurants outside Italy I just may need to go visit the Scarpetta in LA