Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/884376
84 / the tasting panel / october 2017 LAS VEGAS SIN CITY'S STEAKHOUSES ARE A HAVEN FOR CARNIVORES by Richard Carleton Hacker Meat Me in Del Frisco's 32-ounce ribeye Wagyu toma- hawk is its most popular steak. A real show- stopper, it is still sizzling and cooking when served. Delmonico Steakhouse's Executive Chef Ronnie Rainwater is an artist with steak. "We tend to keep things very simple around here, source the best ingredients, and treat them right," he says. PHOTO COURTESY OF EMERIL'S RESTAURANTS PHOTO: EMERIL'S RESTAURANTS W hen people used to talk about "getting their chops" in Las Vegas, it was easy to assume they were refer- ring to their expertise at the gaming tables. Nowadays though, it's just as likely they're referencing the grilled lamb porterhouse chops at Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill in Caesars Palace. Sin City's culinary scene has long surpassed its games of chance as a lure, and the proliferation of exceptional steakhouses on and off the neon Strip is especially noteworthy. Perhaps "unusual" is a better description of Libertine Social at Mandalay Bay. The image of a winged, antlered rabbit greets customers as they enter this joint venture from James Beard Award-winning Chef Shawn McClain and celebrated mixologist Tony Abou-Ganim. In addition to two cocktail lounges, the gastropub features a mesquite-grilled S.R.F. Wagyu skirt steak, a 20-ounce bone-in ribeye, and a mon- Las Vegas