At Sartiano’s Italian Steakhouse, opening Wednesday in Wynn Las Vegas, the 10-ounce New York strip steak from Snake River Farms is at once essence and exemplar, a culinary Platonic ideal of the dish and the expression of that ideal on the plate: expertly butchered, tender but never flabby, richly flavored without too much fat, the seasoning so adroit its seems almost an inherent quality of the meat itself, not an external enhancement.
If Sartiano’s did nothing else but this strip steak, it would be accounted a sizzling success. Thankfully, there is more.
Scott Sartiano, the New York City hospitality headman, opened the original Sartiano’s in the SoHo neighborhood of Manhattan in June 2023; a scene was born. At Wynn, the restaurant unfurls above the greens of the golf club, next door to a branch of Zero Bond, the private members club that Sartiano is also bringing from New York to the Strip.
In Vegas as in New York, legendary chef Alfred Portale — a New American cooking pioneer, of Gotham Bar & Grill fame, thrice a James Beard Award winner — is culinary director of the restaurant. Portale gushed about what sets the new Sartiano’s apart.
“How many restaurants in Vegas can boast that they overlook the Sphere and the 18th hole of a world-class golf course?” he asked. “The light is wonderful. The fact that it’s in the Wynn also makes it special. In Vegas, there’s a sense of freedom.”
Expanded beef program in Vegas
The menu is Vegas is substantially the same as in Manhattan, Portale said. One difference, though: “While we do have a fairly robust steak program in New York, it’s been expanded here,” with beef sourced from several U.S. family ranches, including a brawny 40-ounce, dry-aged bistecca Fiorentina from Double R Ranch in Washington state, and a 6-ounce filet mignon from Akaushi Reserve, a Texas outfit that showcases wagyu from Akaushi Japanese red cattle.
“It’s a different breed from the Japanese black cattle. It’s said to be the emperor’s breed of cattle because, in imperial times, it was bred for the emperor and his family,” said Michael Rubinstein, the executive chef who helms the kitchen day to day at the new Sartiano’s.
“Oftentimes with wagyu beef, you end up with richness and fattiness but not a lot of flavor. This has beefy depth to it, along with the traditional marbling.”
That 10-ounce New York from Snake River Farms? “We trim that incredibly cleanly because it’s so marbled,” Rubinstein said. “The trim goes into steak tartare.”
Porterhouse aged in tallow
A primal short loin of the highest grade and limited availability also comes courtesy of Snake River Farms. The beef fat from the trim is rendered down, then the loin is massaged with porcini powder and sea salt, coated with the rendered fat and aged for two weeks. Next, the in-house butcher (wet and dry aging are also done in-house) cuts the loin into steaks, including a porterhouse, while leaving intact the coverlet of beef fat.
The steaks are coated in herbs and spices and placed in a hot oven, the coating infusing the meat with flavor, the fat melting and basting the meat.
“We’re calling it tallow-aged porterhouse,” Rubinstein said. “It’s cut tableside.”
‘Perfect bite’; complex dressing
Adjutant dishes across the menu at Sartiano’s reflect this layering of technique and flavor.
Creamed kale puts a spin on that steakhouse classic, creamed spinach, while delivering Italian flair. The dish brings together blanched and chopped kale, roasted garlic, shallots, Pecorino-Romano, a binding béchamel and a scattering of crisp guanciale atop.
Gently crisp miniature cannoli shells are stuffed with whipped mascarpone, briny pops of Osetra caviar and a flurry of emerald chives.
“It took some time to develop the right proportion of mascarpone,” Portale said. “It’s just the perfect little bite. We served them at Revelry (f00d and drink festival). We went through 3 kilos of Osetra caviar.”
A dressing of astonishing complexity — sweet and savory, with a bright jab of acid — graces bluefin tuna tartare with crisp rice (for some texture). The dressing combines two recipes, one involving a reduction of mirin, kombu, bonito, charred onion and garlic that is strained, then cooled. The other recipe blends fish stock, garlic, ginger, celery and Fresno chiles, also strained and cooled. The dressing is seasoned with fresh lemon juice, rice vinegar and tamari.
“It straddles that line between Italian cuisine and Japanese cuisine quite nimbly,” Rubinstein said of the dressing.
Tableside pastas with truffles
Pastas take pride of place on the menu. Look for butternut squash tortellini with saba and amaretti, and for Maine lobster bucatini caressed by Calabrian chili butter, a Sartiano’s signature.
Roasted wild mushroom and black truffle ravioli is another marquee pasta. The lasagna is sautéed in a bit of olive oil to give it some body and a light crust. Fettuccine Alfredo alla Romana, prepared tableside for two with Parmigiano and creamy burro di bufala butter, feels very Vegas. One version features the earthy whoosh of black truffles.
“When white truffle season comes around again, we’ll be featuring a white truffle pasta done tableside,” Portale said.
Cocktails rooted in Italian culture
Mariena Mercer Boarini, chief mixologist for Wynn Resorts and a James Beard Award semifinalist this year, is crafting the cocktail program for Sartiano’s. That program, she said, “is rooted in Italian culture — celebrating food, drink, conversation and connection. The cocktails are a distinct element to the restaurant, designed to be invigorating, refined and captivating.”
“I wanted to focus on classics — martinis, Negronis, spritzes and old-fashioneds — but interpreted through ingredients with Italian influences, as well as references to literature, film and history …”
On pour, that looks like a Rare Breed, what Mercer Boarini describes as a “spicy and dirty” martini fashioned from American Harvest Organic Vodka, spiced Mediterranean olive brine, pepperoncini, roasted red pepper and truffle salt. The cocktail is served, with Mercer Boarini’s trademark sprezzatura, on a tray with black truffle perlage (sphericized truffle juice), candied lemon zests and a piri piri chile-stuffed olive.
Another splash of Boarini brio: a vibrant Dolce Vita, Sartiano’s version of a Negroni Bianco, with Seventy One Gin, The Botanist Gin, Luxardo Bitter Bianco, bergamot and pink grapefruit cordial, and Catalonian Blanco Vermouth.
Cooking with one of his idols
Sartiano’s Italian Steakhouse (@sartianosatwynn) is debuting with dinner service only. Lunch and brunch service (with pizzas, perhaps) will launch later. The restaurant seats about 140 across the main dining room, bar, lounge, private dining room and terrace. For Rubinstein, in a way, the opening represents coming full circle.
“It’s incredible getting to work with chef Alfred,” he said. “I’ve had his Gotham cookbook since culinary school — I wore it out. It was set in my head when I was very, very young that this is what I want to be doing. Getting to do this project at this hotel is unbelievably exciting.”
The other morning, on the terrace at Sartiano’s, spring was primed for arrival. Just beyond, a service road curved alongside the restaurant to the north. It’s the site of what will be a valet entrance to Sartiano’s, the only restaurant at Wynn to have such direct access from the exterior.
Easy come, easy go, perfect strip steak.
Contact Johnathan L. Wright at jwright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @JLWTaste on Instagram.
Dining and Cooking