Familiarity doesn’t necessarily breed contempt, but it sure can douse you with indifference.
When we learned that three of the essential dining experiences at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas would be the well-known Nobu, One Steakhouse (an update of MB Steak) and Todd English’s Olives, it didn’t sound as exhilarating as a casino resort opening with a full slate of fresh restaurant concepts new to the city.
Tuna tartare, fig and prosciutto flatbread, rabbit pappardelle, veal Parmesan and charred eggplant at Todd English’s Olives
But as we’ve sampled Virgin’s food, both new and familiar, levels of excitement are rising, and that’s what you want to see. The latest example is our first trip to Olives, which is less a reboot of the famously successful eatery that opened with Bellagio in 1998 than a new take on the original Boston restaurant that opened in 1989 and set English on his course as a celebrity chef.
Located in a former steakhouse space along the southern end of the resort, it’s a swanky, clubby dining room that seats more than 200, boasts a comfy patio space and live music in the lounge and adds impressive service.
The food at Olives is still rustic Mediterranean with plenty of Italian accents, but this version has a massive woodfired oven adding some spectacular smokiness to many different dishes, including a showpiece 36-day aged New York steak ($85) and a roasted half-chicken ($38) served with sunchokes, preserved lemon and Calabrian chili oil.
Before you even get to shareable entrées like those, you’ll nosh on some lovely house-made focaccia and crispy lavash with two tapenades and creamy basil ricotta. That hearty snack sets the tone for signature flatbreads like portobello and fontina ($18) and fig and prosciutto ($24). Those pizzas were always among the most popular items at Bellagio, but here the favorite starter is a generous beef carpaccio ($24) with gorgonzola polenta and scallion cream. I loved the wood-grilled squid and octopus ($22) with braised chickpeas and bright, baby heirloom tomatoes.
This Olives is bigger than before, designed for a big night out with a big group of friends sharing big plates like classic chicken Milanese ($39)—which I turned into one of the greatest leftover sandwiches of all time the next day—or veal Parm ($58) covered in mozzarella and a rich ragu. You can pass pastas around the table, too, like the mezza rigatoni alla vodka ($27) or pappardelle with rabbit and radicchio ($29). Charred eggplant with miso ($13) is the top-selling side.
Go eat at Olives now for the obvious fall-winter perfection of this menu, and get ready to stake out some patio space in the spring. It’s a must on the new-in-Vegas list.
TODD ENGLISH’S OLIVES Virgin Hotels Las Vegas, 702-693-4070. Sunday & Wednesday-Thursday, 5-10 p.m.; Friday & Saturday, 5-11 p.m.
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