Nove—Italian for “nine”—is at the crest of a new wave of big-hitter Italian restaurants giving Vegas street cred with serious pasta lovers from here to the Via Veneto. And since it’s located high up the Palms’ Fantasy Tower, when dusk comes to Sin City, the glorious Strip views are equaled only by those at Alize, across from you, and possibly Top of the World at the Stratosphere.
The helmsman here is Culinary Institute of America grad and Jersey boy Geno Bernardo, who cooks with the consummate ease of someone who loves his craft and knows his stuff. Unlike Steve Martorano at his eponymous café and Mario Batali at the Venetian, Geno is always here, and does both creative and classic Italian fare. (Martorano’s food tends to be classic; Batali’s the creator.)
From the moment you are greeted at a casino-level podium by young women gorgeous enough to be on a Paris runway, it’s clear your evening here has been carefully planned. I love the elevator ride up to the restaurant, where, upon arrival, you are met by another world-class beauty and led to your table.
And I especially like to sit adjacent to one of the restaurant’s many plasma TV monitors, which flash museum-quality paintings from a program that is called Web Gallery. When the kitchen is between courses, it’s fun to attempt to identify the artwork on the screens.
But it’s not as if you’ll run out of other stimuli. Because there is always a lively bar scene in this oddly crafted stone and glass space, which seems as if it might be a little too large for the number of tables in it. Booths are upholstered in masculine-looking hides that turn out to be high-quality vinyl. Fiber-optic lights, glowing cylinders that look like a computer on an alien spacecraft, illuminate the walk-in wine room.
Perhaps you’d like to start with one of Nove’s delicious Bellinis, made with the Italian sparkler wine Prosecco, white peach puree and, going Harry’s Bar one better, a touch of fresh raspberries. Too girly? Then an Italian Stallion—Ketel One, salami-cured olive juice and pepperoni-and-cheese-stuffed olives, is the ticket. Me, I like ’em both.
The chef is a student of good Italian cooking from coast to coast, and all over Italy, too.
Crudo, Italian sashimi, is a hot trend at the moment, but no one in town does it better than Bernardo, who always keeps sushi-quality amberjack, tuna and yellowtail around, done in a variety of ways, but inevitably splashed with olive oil and heated up with peppers.
In fact, crushed red pepper is a staple here. When you sit, you are greeted by a loaf of hot country white bread, crocks of grated cheese and red pepper and high-grade olive oil with which you can moisten the bread, the better to soak up the cheese and pepper.
I’d be judicious about this. Once the cracker-thin pizzas arrive, such as a white pizza topped with clams, you won’t leave much room for what is to come.
The salumi, or cold cuts, are wonderful: salami from Mario Batali’s father, Armandino, and soppressata from Fra’ Mani, made by the former chef at Chez Panisse. Federal Hill calamari is deftly fried, laced with yellow banana pepper and then splashed with lemon juice. Mamma mia.
I hope you’re still hungry. Pastas are a strong suit here. Nove spaghetti is perfectly al dente, loaded with lobster, shrimp, crab, scallops and calamari, each component squeaky fresh and redolent of the ocean. Sunday Gravy means sausage, meatballs and braciola, a rolled, stuffed flank steak, all allowed to simmer until they disintegrate into a rich tomato sauce. Choose your own noodle to accompany it.
Secondi, or main courses, are gargantuan as well. All steaks are available al Forno style, or cooked in a wood oven, topped with garlic, cheese and ravioli, or with an eight-year-aged aceto Balsamico, which imparts a penetrating sweetness. The best cut would be a 16-ounce bone-in filet mignon, but for pure beefy intensity, you can’t beat the whopper, a 22-ounce porterhouse. Meanwhile, the swordfish, bathed in olives and tomatoes, and a fat tuna steak, seared and served rare with chickpeas, are smart alternatives to the meats.
Crispy garlic potatoes, gnocchi drenched in pesto sauce and black-truffle polenta with cracked pepper and a dusting of pecorino cheese are arresting side dishes. The surprising desserts include a quartet of granitas, shaved ices in flavors such as grapefruit and lemon; do-it-yourself cannoli, which you fill with mascarpone cream squeezed from a pastry tube; and Not Just Coffee, a coffee gelato sundae topped with buttery homemade chocolate toffee.
Nove
Inside the Palms. 942-6800. Dinner only, 5:30-11 p.m. daily, though the kitchen often stays open until midnight. Suggested dishes: crudo, M.P.; Lombardi’s white clam pizza, $14; Nove spaghetti, $42; 16-ounce bone-in filet mignon, $58 ($10 supplement al Forno style.