But the food is fuoco-ing delicious. We swooned over the signature garganelli, imolese quill pasta with truffle butter, peas, San Daniele prosciutto, and parmigiano. We raved about the branzino, a filet of black sea bass with braised baby artichokes, fennel, shrimp, Taggiasca olives, and roasted red peppers. And the desserts, by pastry chef Elizabeth Katz, floored us. At some point, someone (I still don’t know who) stole my notebook and wrote in it: CARPACCIO GOOD!!! OCTOPUS GOOD!!!

I couldn’t put it better myself. We enjoyed selections from the restaurant’s all-Italian 600-bottle list and at one point, we were served a wee amuse-bouche before dessert, a narrow shot-glass filled with something fruity and sparkly and sorbet-y and impossibly delicious. I have no clue what it was, but I slurped it up enthusiastically (and loudly)!

Perhaps I won’t be invited to dinner at FiAMMA Trattoria at MGM Grand. My loss. That location features a slightly more casual menu and a bold design by architectural design firm Yabu Pushelberg – a palette of warm copper and espresso, expressed in zebrawood, dark maple, antique brown granite, and striking woven bamboo pillars. The walls are covered by a dimensional wooden sculpture by Dennis Lin,­ whose sexy swoops and curves somehow simultaneously evoke a woman’s body, the waves of the Mediterranean sea, and the stark desert of Nevada. A giant fireplace anchors the 7,000 square feet of dining space.

The upshot: New York is, well, New York. If you can make it there…you know the rest. But Las Vegas might just have a little something extra: it is Vegas after all. Known as a world-class dining city, as even this New Yorker can attest, and the entertainment capital of the world, you’re guaranteed to find everything your heart could desire…and then some.