3 Restaurants to Try This Weekend in Las Vegas — February 7

Crudo from Gjelina. | Ashley Randall Photography Your handy guide on where to eat It’s the most pressing question of the weekend: “Where should I eat?” Here, Eater editors issue tried and true recommendations for places to check out this weekend. For the weeknight bar-hopper: Beauty & Essex Janna Karel Beauty & Essex Wonder Wheel. Reservations may be hard to come by at Beauty & Essex — but the bar generally has ample open seating. And that’s where I found myself on a cheeky Wednesday night out at the Cosmopolitan. The Vegas outpost of this New York bar feels cool, luxe, and glamorous, but without the ear-splitting soundtrack that can plague restaurants of that genre. The menu is mostly appetizers, which is just right for picking over small bites with friends. This visit called for grilled cheese and tomato soup dumplings. Six soup spoons are filled with creamy tomato soup and joyously crispy bites of cheesy dumplings at the center. The Green With Envy cocktail is herbaceous and a touch spicy with jalapeno and cilantro — even considering I ordered it without alcohol for the last week of Dry January. But it was the Wonder Wheel that had no fewer than a dozen other customers stopping at my table to ask about the macarons, small iced cakes, fruity candy squares, and bite-sized pastries that filled the eight gondolas on the Ferris wheel set at my table. Festooned with string lights and a wheel that revolves when pushed, the wheel is ideal for anyone who says they “just want a bite” of dessert. 3708 Las Vegas Boulevard South, the Cosmopolitan. — Janna Karel, Eater Vegas Editor For the aspiring wino: Wineaux Janna Karel Wineaux hamachi and caviar. Wine bars have yet to hit Las Vegas en masse, but fortunately, the wine bars we do have here are excellent — well-stocked, curated by knowledgeable somms, and good for a glass in or a bottle to go. Wineaux, one of the city’s newer bars, adds guided wine tastings and a surprising food menu to the mix. While the wine tastings explore three bottles — usually unified by a shared location of origin, I prefer to order a glass at a time. My most recent visit called for a glass of sauvignon blanc for pairing with an appetizer of hamachi and caviar. Served atop a bowl of ice to keep it chill, a bowl of hamachi crudo is combined with salty caviar, creamy avocado, a smear of onion creme fraiche, and fragrant lime zest — all ideal for spreading on narrow crusts of focaccia. And that glass of wine I ordered was good enough for me to purchase a bottle on the way out the door. 6887 Helen Toland Street #110, Uncommons. — Janna Karel, Eater Vegas Editor For the California-cool: Gjelina Trip Davis Dining room at Gjelina in Las Vegas inside the Venetian. Though the Venetian has been on a bit of a tear with the restaurant expansions (including Bazaar Meat, Cote, and All’Antico Vinaio, all en route), 16-year-old Venice restaurant Gjelina wasn’t on my bingo card of new additions to the massive Strip resort. Located on Abbot Kinney in LA’s Venice neighborhood, the longtime farmers’ market-driven menu seemed like an odd fit, but the timeless menu actually works. Vaguely Mediterranean and Italian influences like the salumi board, marinated olives, and chicken liver pate have become ubiquitous across hip American menus in the past generation. Gjelina Vegas’s expansive vegetables might not have the proximity to their farms here in Nevada, but the sheer variety, including sunchokes, celeriac, delicata squash, and root vegetables, stays true to the LA original. Crispy duck confit with braised cabbage and apple remains a revelation, while blistered thin-crust pizzas are more than serviceable. The highly minimal interior could use a bit more adornment which does reflect its austere Venice sibling, but overall, Gjelina in Vegas is a solid addition. 3355 S Las Vegas Blvd, Venetian Resort. — Matthew Kang, lead editor, Eater Southern California/Southwest