It was a bit surreal seeing legendary restaurateur Sirio Maccioni, beaming in a cream colored blazer and his James Beard Foundation Award medal, relaxing in a chair while just steps away, three-Michelin-starred sushi master Masa Takayama served up beautiful bites of toro caviar and akami nigiri. Granted, these are the exactly the types of encounters that might occur during Vegas Uncork’d, but this time, it was at a buffet.
All the toro caviar you can eat, compliments of Bar Masa.
The Chefs’ Counter: All-Star Feast event was a new addition to this year’s mega food fest, an early evening gastronomic gala on Saturday, May 10. Aria chefs and restaurateurs Maccioni (Sirio), Takayama (Bar Masa), Michael Mina (American Fish), Shawn McClain (Five50 Pizza Bar), Jean-Georges Vongerichten (Jean Georges Steakhouse) and Julian Serrano (Julian Serrano) took over the resort’s sleek, spacious buffet and served their own signature dishes.
Like the previous night’s packed Grand Tasting, the buffet event could get a little congested at times, but the food was fantastic and the event offered yet another chance for festival goers to mingle with the celebrity chefs. When I asked Maccioni if he might consider another foray into buffet-style dining, he just laughed.
The Jean-Georges Steakhouse offerings were satisfying enough to skip the other stations, including a smoked chili glazed-pork loin, grilled beef tenderloin in soy-miso butter, roasted lamb and potato and blue cheese gratin. But it would have been criminal not to indulge in Bar Masa’s delicate, briny bites, as well as Italian decadence from Sirio in the form of short rib cannelloni and lasagna Bolognese. Since Mina’s American Fish restaurant is set to close this summer to make way for a new brasserie concept, the Chefs’ Counter was another chance to experience the chef’s lobster pot pie and San Francisco-style cioppino (of course, you can still visit his namesake restaurant at Bellagio).
The cupcakes looked too good to eat at the Chefs' Counter: All Star Feast event.
Aria’s unsung Asian restaurants Lemongrass and Blossom—no celebrity chefs at those tasty outposts—also brought the goods to the buffet, including Vietnamese pho and Thai tom kha soup, addictive banh mi sandwiches, Hong Kong-style salt-and-pepper fried squid and an extensive dim sum bar. And it wouldn’t have been a buffet dinner without a beautiful selection of desserts, furnished this time by Jean Philippe Patisserie. I’d guess next year will see the return of this truly memorable all-you-can-eat experience.
