Scarpetta

On our first night in Vegas, my wife said that she was in the mood for Italian.  Before going on my trip, I had researched various Italian restaurants and Scarpetta seemed to be getting a lot of buzz from bloggers and diners alike.  Scarpetta is Scott Conant's (celebrity chef and Chopped judge) flagship restaurant and we were quite anxious to try this upscale Italian restaurant at The Cosmopolitan.

From our table, we had a cool view of the Bellagio fountains

Bread Basket

We were lucky enough to get a table with a view of the Bellagio fountains.  The beautiful view was one of the best I have ever had while dining in Vegas.  Our waiter also brought out a bread basket that included an excellent variety of breads with some flavorful spreads.  For our first dish we started with the Braised Short Ribs, which sat atop a mixture of farro risotto and diced vegetables.  This flavor of the dish was outstanding and raised our expectations for the restaurant even more.  Without question, this was the best dish I have had so far in 2015. 

Braised Short Ribs

For our entrees, we ordered the highly praised Spaghetti and the Fennel Dusted Black Cod.  The spaghetti was very simple, but the noodles had a perfect texture and the sauce was divine.  The cod dish sat atop concentrated tomatoes and roasted fennel.  While the cod was very good, the roasted fennel might have been my favorite part of the dish.

Spaghetti

Fennel Dusted Black Cod

Since everything we had sampled so far was very good, we couldn't leave without sampling a dessert.  We ordered the Amedei Chocolate Cake that came with toasted almond gelato and salted caramel sauce.  This dessert was the perfect ending to a perfect meal.  The flavors of chocolate, almond, and caramel blended perfectly into an amazing dessert.

Amedei Chocolate Cake with toasted almond gelato and salted caramel sauce

In addition to the excellent food, the service was outstanding.  While enjoying our meal, we were able to see the Bellagio fountains fountains erupt twice.  This meal was certainly worth the short walk from The Palazzo to The Cosmopolitan and I will definitely add this restaurant to my list of Vegas favorites.  

Scarpetta
http://www.cosmopolitanlasvegas.com/taste/restaurant-collection/scarpetta.aspx
Livin the Good Life Rating=5