Nove Italiano

Located high atop the Palms Fantasy Tower and just below the Playboy Club and Moon Nightclub, Nove Italiano is the gateway to an unforgettable Las Vegas experience.

The evening begins with a trip by express elevator up 600 feet to the 51st floor. Upstairs, Nove Italiano guests are greeted by an elegant, multi-terraced restaurant surrounded by glass windows with spectacular views of the Las Vegas Strip.

The restaurant's extravagant décor – think old world meets the modern world – is composed of gilded furniture upholstered in crocodile skin and purple leather, walnut bars and tables, dramatic LED Swarovski crystal chandeliers and Travertine marble floors. Throughout the restaurant, gilded Rococo-style frames surround plasma television screens displaying high-tech electronic images of famous Italian artwork. Nove Italiano's Garden Room is surrounded by 12-foot-high topiaries rimmed in the form of voluptuous women.

The restaurant's plush interior is just the appetizer in an evening of unique dining.

“With our great view comes a total environment: a strikingly unique design, an incredible energy level, and, above all, superb food,” promises restaurateur Michael Morton.

At Nove Italiano, pastas are handmade and served in simple sauces. The dining room features a chef preparing decadent seafood pasta, a Nove Italiano signature dish. The menu offers a wide range of crudos (meaning “raw,” these are Italy’s answers to ceviche or sashimi, often cured with sea salt, citrus or infused oils), a classic Caesar salad prepared tableside, and innovative “susci” that includes Arborio rice rolls and cannelloni stuffed with seasoned tuna. Thin-crusted pizzas (including a signature lobster pizza) are offered, as are a variety of steaks, such as a traditional bistecca fiorentina carved tableside.

The restaurant’s wine list was created by Sommelier Christian Margesson and focuses on premier Italian brands revered around the world -- Barolo, Barbaresco, Chianti Classico, Brunello di Montalcino -- and showcases collections of acclaimed Super-Tuscans. Celebrated producers such as Gaja, Antinori and Fontodi are featured, as are less familiar small producers from Veneto to Sicily.

-- Staff Report