Wolfgang Puck's Trattoria del Lupo

Sunday - Thursday, 5 p.m. - 10 p.m.
Friday - Saturday, 5 p.m. - 11 p.m.

With his Trattoria del Lupo, famed culinary visionary Wolfgang Puck has infused Mandalay Bay with classic Italian gourmet cuisine.

Housed in an attractive and welcoming space – think light pastel Baroque-era inspired walls, warm golden globe hanging lamps and airy patio seating – Lupo unites the finest of imported Italian items with the freshest domestic foods.

Under the in-kitchen helm of Eduardo Perez, executive chef, Lupo presents one of the most enjoyable and pleasing menus on the south end of The Strip.

Dinner at Lupo starts well with appetizers and a perfectly matched glass of wine. Lupo's take on bruschetta trio livens up the grilled bread and topping favorite. The tomato and basil selection is garden fresh, the white bean topping is savory and smooth, and the mortadella version carries just the right amount of this delicate cold cut.

Staying to the meat and cheese part of the appetizer menu, the prosciuttto and burrata is excellent – the cream-infused burrata mozzarella is intensely rich against the traditionally cured pork.

The gamberetti and fagioli unites meaty sautéed prawns with garlic and rosemary-scented white beans. Lupo's use of white beans, or cannellini, really stands out.

An heirloom tomato and fresh mozzarella plate is refreshing with its balsamic tint. And the roasted beet appetizer is delicious with its combination of peppery arugula and sweet citrus sauce, all brought to attention with a snappy slice of Humbolt Fog goat cheese.

And for an interesting and uncommon appetizer, the farro and Tuscan bean soup with ricotta crostini is a delicious lesson in Italian history. Farro is a nutty-flavored ancient grain favored in classical Roman times and brought to life in modern Vegas.

Lupo trades in traditional wood-fired pizzas, a specialty of Puck establishments. But the toppings Lupo offers are far from ordinary. Aside from standards like tomatoes and pepperoni, delve into opportunities like veal meatballs, caramelized onion, basil, fennel sausage, braised baby artichokes, porcini mushrooms, shrimp and pancetta.

In the primi, or pasta menu, Lupo features the highest-quality durum wheat-based imported Italian pastas for dry shapes like capellini, bucatinni and linguine. Also, fresh house-made pastas are featured in shapes like ravioli and papardelle.

The sauce/pasta combination of capellini, garden tomatoes and fresh basil has a bright flavor on the palate, and so too are the delicate but filling ravioli. The linguine with clams is liberally studded with the meaty shellfish in a garlic/chili/parsley flecked sauce.

On the heartier pasta side is a striking lasagna verde Bolognese "ala Nonna," with its light spinach noodles, creamy béchamel sauce and meaty veal Bolognese sauce. In a similar rich vein is the papardelle, with its pasta ribbons tossed in flavorful Bolognese ragú and authentic Parmigiano Reggiono cheese.

For secondi, Lupo offers a number of delightful seafood boards, where a choice of prawns, salmon, stripped bass or Alaskan halibut are grilled over hardwood and plated with tasty sides of sautéed spinach and Tuscan style potatoes with accenting salsa verde, a delicious parsley-based condiment.

Other meat choices range from pan roasted chicken with a romesco sauce to veal Milanese and grilled lamb with radicchio and mint. Prime beef comes as a tenderloin or a New York "alla Diavola," peppery with chili and escarole.

The crowning achievement, however, of Lupo's main dish menu is the amazing osso bucco. Here veal shanks are slow braised for up to 16 hours and served with fluffy ricotta gnocchi and crisp baby broccoli shoots. It's incredible.

A contorni menu of sides is available, and announces Tuscan potatoes, sautéed spinach, grilled radicchio, polenta with parmesan, broccolini and escarole with pine nuts.

From here the menu loops into dessert territory, and it is a fine territory indeed. Of special note are the zeppolini, cute ricotta doughnuts that can be topped with vanilla and caramel dipping sauces. In a colorful and flavorful combination, the cherry ricotta cheesecake has a deep chocolate pistachio crust and is studded with port-glazed cherries. They are both perfect with an espresso.

Lupo is charming in décor, the wine list is well chosen and its food is some of the best Italy – make that Mandalay Bay – has to offer. Grazie, Wolfgang.

-- Review by Greg Thilmont