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POSTRIO
One of the best!POSTRIO
at the Venetian, in St. Mark's Square. 702-796-1110.
Definitely one of the best, if not the best, restaurants of its kind on the strip. You have your choice here - fine dining alfresco in the cafe area in St. Mark's Square (it's not really alfresco, it's a big room with a sky painted on the ceiling and a canal at one end) or finer dining 'inside' in the red-saturated atmosphere of the main dining room. The selections are different in the two dining areas, with a different menu daily, but both present the same superior food and dining experience. Try as you might, it's hard to find fault with anything at a Wolfgang Puck restaurant, and Postrio lives up to that expectation.

The dining room decor is one of low lights and deep reds. Ingenious art glass pieces hang from the walls and the ceiling and rise from the built-in woodwork. You'll note that there's no salt or pepper on the table. You won't need it. Of course if you must eat bland food, you're in the wrong place. The waiters know the details of the dishes and are enthusiastic and personable.

My impression is that each dish is based on three or four strong, distinct flavors. Look at, for example, the crisp calamari with spicy tomato sauce and balsamic glaze; the greens with gorgonzola and pine nuts; mesquite grilled rib eye steak with parmesan potatoes and portobello mushrooms; the mesquite rib eye with parmesan potatoes and portobello mushrooms; the salmon "picatta" with mushroom salad and lemon-caper sauce. We started out with a salad of baby beets with maytag blue cheese, walnuts, and citrus vinaigrette, and the roasted pumpkin soup with curried gulf shrimp. Salad dressing is a dead giveaway as to the quality of a restaurant, and here the salad dressing was just right - not bland, not too tart. The seasoning of the pumpkin soup likewise showed skill in preparing a dish that a lesser kitchen staff would blow.

Our entree was the salmon en papillote with caramelized fennel and shallot-herb butter. Caramelized fennel is not as exciting as it sounds, but the fish cooked in the parchment with the various veggies was moist and flavorful. We had also a risotto with wild mushrooms, richly flavored and excellent for a dish that can be awful if not done right, and which again demonstrated that condiments such as salt and pepper were just not needed on the table.

Expect a dessert assortment of equally imaginative dishes, for instance the carmelized banana cream pie with rum walnut compote, or the warm chocolate tart with crumbled toffee ice cream, all served with a different freeform flag of chocolate rising from the center.

The bar is extensive on all fronts. The cheap wine is $8 a glass and is very nice. For two dinners we spent about $110. You can get by for less in the cafe, where the menu also includes pizzas that sound as intriguing as the other entrees. If you want to indulge yourself, I recommend this restaurant. If you really want to butter someone up, that goes double.
One rather unfortunate thing, the manager, Matt, does not return telephone calls. Way too busy I think.
see their website

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