Las Vegas Dining and Entertainment News – December 24

This weekly update covers noteworthy restaurant openings and closings, dining news, culinary events, and entertainment news.

Events

Ocean Prime — December 31

Ocean Prime at the 63CityCenter building (at Harmon and the Las Vegas Strip) will offer two dining experiences on New Year’s Eve.

Experience 1, priced at $300 per person, includes a 5-course dinner menu of Smoking Scallop Crudo with caviar and jalapeno vinaigrette, Toro Carpaccio with beet mousse and yuzu vinaigrette, Lobster Ravioli (3 pieces) with white wine lemon garlic butter and lobster roe, Australian Wagyu Filet (7 oz.) with roasted asparagus and creamy polenta, and Chocolate Torte with dark Valrhona chocolate ganache and Flourless Chocolate Cake with spiced almond and gold leaf dusted chocolate. There are also options for a two-wine pairing for an additional cost ($150 for premium wine pairings or $75 for house wine pairings). 

Experience 2, priced at $300 per person, includes an open menu with $225 of the $300 applied towards food and beverage credit.

Both experiences include party favors, midnight champagne toast, and fireworks viewing from the restaurant’s Strip-side terrace.

Crossroads Kitchen — December 31

Crossroads Kitchen at Resorts World, the first and only fine dining plant-based restaurant on the Las Vegas Strip, will serve a six-course New Year’s Eve menu.

Priced at $115 per person, the menu includes:

• Caviar made with potato rosti, almond crème fraîche, chive, and kelp caviar
• Cauliflower & Leek Soup with truffle dust and crispy leeks
• Choice of Caramelized Onion Tart with yellow tomato egg yolk, frisée, and mushroom pancetta or Beet Carpaccio with feta, pistachios, and aged balsamic
• Caesar Salad with garlic focaccia croutons and Caesar dressing or Winter Citrus and Avocado Salad with endive, dill, toasted fennel, and vinaigrette
• Lion’s Mane Mushroom Steak with potato mille-feuille and Bordelaise or Porcini and Leek Tortellini with parmesan herb butter
• Brownie Sundae with vanilla ice cream, fudge sauce, coconut whip, and brandied cherries; Banana Pudding with caramelized banana and vanilla cream; or Chocolate Torte with house-made Nutella crémeux and chocolate Chantilly.

Basilico Ristorante Italiano — December 31

Basilico Ristorante Italiano will present a multi-course New Year’s Eve dining experience curated by Chef Francesco Di Caudo to bid farewell to 2024 and welcome 2025 with elegance.

The prix fixe menu will include Amuse-Bouche of Shigoku Oyster with white chocolate granita and jalapeño sauce, Crab Croquette with avocado and pickled cucumber, and Spicy Bluefin Tuna Tartare with tomato relish and stracciatella; appetizers of Cured Duck Breast Tartare with hazelnut and bone marrow and cold pasta of Spaghetti with red bell pepper reduction and Golden Ossetra Caviar; first pasta course of Porcini-Quail Tortellini with truffle and lapsang consommé; second pasta course of Lobster Raviolo with leek fondue and coral butter sauce; entrée of Oxtail with scallop, baby kale, and Bordelaise sauce; pre-dessert of Monkey 47 Sorbet with lime and burnt chamomile honey; dessert of Coffee Espuma with hazelnut gelato and chocolate; and Happy 2025, The Good Luck Lentil Stew.

The dinner is priced at $175 per person and will be served from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. with a Champagne toast at 11 p.m. Optional sommelier-crafted wine pairings are $65 or $95 for premium wine.

Pick of the Week: Emmitt’s Vegas

Emmitt’s Vegas, founded by College and NFL Hall of Famer Emmit Smith, is primed to shine like the all-time leading rusher with its stellar steakhouse offerings and location at the frontage of Fashion Show Mall on the Vegas Strip.

The restaurant opened in February 2024 and is approaching its first anniversary. Its location in the former Sugar Factory space in a mall with one of the last free parking lots on the Strip makes it an attractive enticement for locals and tourists alike.

Also attractive is the elegant décor with hardwood flooring, rich dark brown hues, an open kitchen, and a private dining room with memorabilia of Emmitt Smith’s collegiate and NFL career. When the room is not used for private functions, guests can peruse his Florida Gator and Dallas Cowboy jerseys, helmets, shoes, photos, and his Season 3 Dancing with the Stars championship trophy.

The star in the kitchen is Executive Chef Antwan Ellis. The 2004 PomMarine Hospitality Institute (Barbados) graduate, who grew up in both England and Barbados, made a name for himself after proving himself adept at turning around restaurants through quite successful stints at Shula’s at the Walt Disney World Dolphin Hotel, Accor in Bermuda, and Todd English’s Bluezoo Restaurant at Walt Disney World Swan. Chef English hooked him up with Emmitt Smith as he was preparing to open his first Las Vegas restaurant when the space was going through buildout in the summer of 2023. Chef Antwan says, “[Emmitt] was one of the coolest celebrities I’ve ever met, and we connected right away.”

Chef Antwan is putting his experience in high-volume steakhouses to good use and is implementing a varied menu with something for everyone. Excellent starters include the Creole Shrimp (one of Emmitt’s favorites) with Cajun spices and a sauce so good Chef Antwan recommends saving it for your steak; Hamachi Carpaccio with jalapeno, crispy garlic, and ponzu; and French Onion Soup with Remy VSOP, Gruyere, and veal broth.

You likely came here for the Prime beef. While there are cuts of Prime wet- and dry-aged ribeye, sirloin, filet mignon, and hanger steak, you owe it to yourself to spend a bit more and indulge in the highly flavorful 14-ounce New York Strip American Wagyu sourced from Rosewood Farms in Ennis, Texas. Add-ons include lobster, garlic shrimp, crab Oscar, blue cheese crust, or peppercorn crust, and nine sauces like truffle butter, Bearnaise, and Hollandaise.

Not into steak? The Miso-Glazed Chilean Seabass served with spinach is so tender and succulent I would describe it as melt-in-your-mouth. The Trottole Pasta is another winner with prominent flavors of truffle butter, shaved truffle, browned butter, and parmesan.

Desserts include Parisian Chocolate Cake and Classic Crème Brulee, but the, ahem, touchdown item is Emmitt’s Butter Cake with vanilla bean ice cream and bourbon-salted caramel sauce made from NFL Hall of Famer Charles Woodson Bourbon Whiskey.    

Speaking of whiskey, what goes better with steak than the brown spirit? There are ample choices, such as WhistlePig PiggyBack Rye, Horse Soldier Small Batch Bourbon, and Angel’s Envy Port Barrel Rye. There is also a distinctive beer list, with local breweries such as Able Baker and Tenaya Creek represented, as well as one of my all-time favorites: Chimay Cinq Cents White Belgian Triple.  

The eatery is elegant while being comfortable and relaxed, with surprisingly reasonable prices considering its prime Las Vegas Strip location. Again, there is free parking.

Emmitt’s is open daily from 4 p.m. to 11 p.m. and for brunch on Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. For more information and to view the complete menu, visit emmittsvegas.com.

Dining News

Slater’s 50/50 Offering The Golden Feast

Slater’s 50/50 is offering The Golden Feast at both its Silverado Ranch and Lake Mead locations to celebrate its Las Vegas Review-Journal GOLD Best of Las Vegas award.

Available through the end of January and priced at $35, the Feast includes The 24K Burger with a half-pound Wagyu beef patty, thick-cut Billionaire’s Bacon, truffle cheese, jalapeno-bacon jam, arugula, and roasted garlic aioli; White Truffle Mac & Cheese with creamy Alfredo sauce, parmesan, baked panko, and white truffle oil; Bacon Mac & Cheese Ball breaded with panko and served with Tapatio ranch for dipping; and Hand-Breaded Fried Pickles.

To view the complete menu, click here.

Wexler’s Deli Offering Savory Hannukah Special

Wexler’s Deli at Proper Eats Food Hall at ARIA, the famous old-school deli that originated in Los Angeles, is celebrating Hanukkah with a spin on one of the holiday’s traditional dishes: The Hanukkah Baller. Served from Dec. 25 to Jan. 2, the special savory dish is priced at $20 and made with three warm potato latkes topped with crème fraîche and thin-sliced lox and garnished with diced onions. For an additional $5, guests can top the dish with caviar to add an extravagant touch to the traditional dish.

Entertainment News

Enchant Christmas at Las Vegas Ballpark

There’s still time to experience Enchant Christmas at Summerlin’s Las Vegas Ballpark, as the attraction runs through December 29. The electrifying wonderland, which has been billed as the “World’s Largest Christmas Light Maze,” is filled with huge immersive light sculptures and amusements, including a 100-foot illuminated center tree with a quarter of a million lights, 100-foot shimmering lights tunnel, light-up dance floor, main stage entertainment, large ice-skating trail, mini golf, visit with Santa, storytime with Mrs. Claus, kids play area, and Christmas Village with several local vendors selling drinks, food, and original crafts.

Ticket prices vary depending on day and time, ranging from $25 to $39.

For more info and to purchase tickets, click here.