New York or Las Vegas?
Whose cuisine reigns supreme? A question that begged to be answered. That’s why a group of Las Vegans went to New York to check out the original versions of some of our favorite MGM MIRAGE restaurants. Would Le Cirque’s famous circus tent be draped more festively in New York or in Las Vegas? Does FiAMMA’s crostata with rhubarb and raspberry filling taste as sweet, whichever side of the country you visit? It was a dirty job, eating in the most spectacular restaurants in two of America’s most spectacular cities, but somebody had to do it.

We first worked up an appetite by shopping in some of New York’s most exclusive boutiques. Madison and Fifth Avenue’s Chanel, Gucci, Fendi, Hermes, Harry Winston, and Prada showplaces featured much of the same breathtaking merch as their Via Bellagio equivalents. A team from M lifestyle magazine roamed the avenue, oohing and ahhing and putting a sizeable dent in their paychecks.

The team met up with suave, raven-haired, long-tressed photographer Fernando Escovar (never has a name more perfectly fit a man) for lunch at Carnegie Deli. No delicate ladies’ lunch for this crew. We dug into overstuffed sandwiches as big as our heads, while owner Sanford Levine regaled us with tales of a New York City long gone. We told ourselves that the effort expended by lifting sandwiches the size of small planets helped us burn off their calories…(riiight). Though we can’t recapture the hilarity of Sanford’s storytelling, we can at least get the old-school flavor of his pastrami and corned beef at Carnegie Deli, inside The Mirage, back in Las Vegas.

The following night, we began the fancy-schmancy portion of our dining tour at the most logical place: Le Cirque. The very name is synonymous with a bygone era’s glamour, wealth and celebrity. The Maccioni family runs the New York restaurant, which opened 33 years ago and is now in its third location on Manhattan’s swanky Upper East Side. Its younger Las Vegas sibling resides at Bellagio and is the star of The Strip. Both restaurants were designed by Adam Tihany.