Dungeness crab cakes on chopped tomatoes to a complex and decadent ahi tuna medallion with seared foie gras, spinach, potato cake and portabello mushrooms in a pinot noir sauce. The tasting menu dishes and their wine pairings aren't written out, and the menu could use more vegetables. But those quibbles vanish once the dessert tray arrives. Go for the blood orange risotto and the root beer float with sassafras ice cream. But that flatbread topping is oversweet and awkward to eat.
Simpler dishes are probably the best way to go.
But in the best Vegas tradition, it's a world-class gimmick that delivers the goods. This city siphons off an amazing amount of the world's great wines, and many of them have wound up here, where they're expertly matched with Charlie Palmer's exquisite New American cuisine. Those restless souls who would plot Las Vegas' next new direction should rendezvous here, over a vintage wine. From the top shelf. The Mirage casino will soon be doing better by chef Allesandro Stratta, whose enormous talents are muted by his present mundane surroundings.