Email
PrintBuckaroo Chuck: Vegas Dining Then and Now
From a (literal) watering hole that once quenched Kit Carson's thirst to a sexy and sultry Fernando Botero Angulo-inspired steakhouse, Las Vegas wining and dining have come a long way.
•THE EVOLUTION OF LAS VEGAS DINING
•In The Beginning, There Was The Buffet
Named by early Spanish explorers after the green meadows, or vegas, that unexpectedly flourished above the area's natural aquifers, Las Vegas emerged as a convenient stopover for those heading north and west along the Old Spanish Trail (known even longer as the Paiute Trail) en route from Texas. But it took John Charles Frémont - of later Fremont Street fame - to put Sin City on the map.
In 1843 Frémont, along with a guide he had met by happenstance known as Kit Carson, led a group of scientists and scouts for the U.S. Corps of Topographical Engineers on an expedition to map the Oregon Trail between the Rockies and the Pacific Ocean. Nearly one year later on their return trek, the battered party stopped in a lush green basin - now Las Vegas - to recuperate before embarking on a 50- to 60-mile waterless trek across the arid desert, which was ominously littered, as Frémont later noted, with the scattered skeletons of dead horses.
It would be nearly a century before Vegas would become known as another kind of oasis. When gambling was re-legalized in 1931, Las Vegas was still a rough-and-tumble cowboy town that had built a reputation catering to railroad workers and miners. But in 1941, Thomas Hull opened the first casino resort - El Rancho Vegas - on what would become the Las Vegas Strip, and the theme-park Las Vegas that we have come to know, and mostly love, was born.
The casino paid tribute to the West it emerged from, with a Texas-size windmill rising above the modest (by today's standards) stucco-and-stone building. Before the now-omnipresent all-you-can-eat Las Vegas buffet, El Rancho Vegas introduced the all-night chuck wagon, which kept gamblers at the tables with a spread of cold cuts and snacks long after the kitchen was closed. It later became known as the Buckaroo Buffet and changed the standard of casino dining forever, allowing cowpokes to fill their bellies for one dollar a head.
El Rancho remained a Vegas showplace through the 1950s. In fact, trumpeter Harry James and pinup Betty Grable were still on stage performing a show just before the place burned to the ground in 1960. Howard Hughes later bought the land, but the casino was never rebuilt. The Buckaroo Buffet has since been replaced by lavish spreads those original cowpokes could never have imagined (or afforded), but glimmers of the old Vegas can still be found amid the new not-to-be-missed glamour.
•Then Came The Classic Steakhouse
It can be tough to find an oldie-but-goodie steakhouse in a town that prides itself on newer, bigger, flashier, but Bob Taylor's Original Ranch House is a classic. Founded in 1955, Bob Taylor's is located in a real 1950s ranch house that originally was set on a tract of 50 acres. Now surrounded by an orderly herd of suburban stucco tract houses, this steakhouse is a world away from the Strip. Park in the gravel lot and head up the wooded walk to the entrance, where you can smell the signature smoked prime rib cooking. If you've been working up an appetite at the National Finals Rodeo, you can try the Diamond Jim Brady (a gargantuan 32-ounce New York strip) with a side of Ranch House potatoes (shredded taters topped with mushrooms and four kinds of cheese). No sharing is allowed for the Diamond Jim, but dessert's on the house if you clean your plate.
•BOB TAYLOR'S ORIGINAL RANCH HOUSE & SUPPER CLUB - 6250 Rio Vista St., 702.645.1399, www.bobtaylorsranchhouse.com.
•Followed By A Local Fave
If you're looking to eat how the locals do, head to a locals' casino. You might be skeptical about straying off of the glitzy Strip to find the Texas Station in North Las Vegas, but Austins Steakhouse has developed a reputation for one of the best - and better-priced - steaks in town. The hand-selected and -cut steaks are wet aged and cured in a Cajun marinade using a 30-day process that leaves the meat flavorful and tender. The steaks are then seared and grilled over a bed of 800 degree mesquite charcoal for some extra smoke and char. Fans can't stop talking about the 24-ounce pan-seared rib-eye, which is rubbed in garlic, cilantro, and cajun marinade and then served with a butter sauce. Portions are Texas-sized but more reasonably priced than a steak on the Strip.
•AUSTINS STEAKHOUSE - Texas Station, 2101 Texas Star Lane, 702.631.1033, www.texasstation.com/dining/austins/.
•And Don't Forget Mexico
Before Las Vegas was a city, the area was controlled by Mexico until the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed in 1848, effectively ending the Mexican-American War. Revisit Las Vegas' Mexican roots by heading to one of the two Do"a María Tamales locations for some queso fundido con chorizo, a platter of tamales, and a pitcher of mango margaritas. Or get a dozen to go to munch on before or after the NFR action: pork with a mild red sauce, chicken with a spicy green sauce, cheese with green chiles - or try the pineapple-and-raisin tamales for a sweet ending to your action-packed day.
•DOÑA MARIA TAMALES - 910 Las Vegas Blvd. S., 702.382.6538; 3250 N. Tenaya Way, 702.656.1600, www.donamariatamales.com.
•In The End, It Was Very, Very Good
When entrepreneur Steve Wynn opened the opulent Italian-inspired Bellagio hotel and casino in 1998, Las Vegas was poised for a sea change as hotel, restaurant, and other nongaming revenue on the Strip first began to outpace gambling income. Leading the trend, Wynn successfully brought in a slew of big-name chefs like Jean-Georges Vongerichten with Prime Steakhouse, Sirio Maccioni with Le Cirque, and Michael Mina with his eponymous restaurant.
After selling Bellagio and opening Wynn Las Vegas in 2005, Wynn has gambled again with Encore, a $2.3 billion 2,034-room hotel tower adjacent to the existing Wynn Las Vegas. Once again putting his money on the chefs themselves, he has refused to back away from the luxury end of the market despite Vegas' hard-hit recession, opening five additional gourmet restaurants on-site.
At the Encore's Botero, the steaks are about as expensive as you'll find in New York or Chicago - but you won't find this kind of glam at The Palm or Morton's. Botero is named after the Colombian artist Fernando Botero Angulo, who has devoted his life to painting and sculpting voluptuously corpulent female nudes, one of which is the centerpiece for the shadowy, sexy pillared dining room. Chef Mark LoRusso serves great ingredients straight up, including "Shrimp and Chips" with a mango-jalape"o sauce, terrific hamachi tuna tartare with chili vinaigrette, and a thick chateaubriand for two, along with luscious sides of truffled macaroni and cheese and roasted bone marrow with onion jam.
John Charles Frémont wouldn't recognize the place. But this time round, he and Kit might just stay awhile.
- Kathy Wise
•BOTERO - Encore Wynn Las Vegas, 3131 Las Vegas Blvd. S., 702.770.5310, www.encorelasvegas.com.
