Mastrioni's Lands an A from HKR; The Maple Tree; More

Heidi Knapp Rinella says that if she had been blindfolded on her ride to Mastrioni’s, “I doubt I'd have guessed that this was a strip-center restaurant in a Summerlin suburban neighborhood.”

HKR lauds the decor, the service and even forgives the waiter for not revealing the prices of specials as he reads his laundry list.

All of which is laudable, but all the lipstick in the world wouldn't matter if the food amounted to a big fat pig. That's definitely not the case here, though. Mastrioni's — from veteran local chef/restaurateur Pete Mastrioni — excels right across the board.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal food critic loves the halibut and veal, and even ordered the beef carpaccio appetizer, a special that night.

“Readers complain to me, frequently, that Summerlin doesn't have enough good independent restaurants. I'm thinking they haven't discovered Mastrioni's.”

She gives the restaurant A’s across the board.

HKR also visited The Maple Tree, the renamed restaurant that just filmed with Restaurant: Impossible, to see if the changes there were worth the trouble. She orders the same dishes she had back in November to find everything improved, except the wording on the menu. “And they were so, so much better — thinner and silken, more in the vein of flannel cakes, and with the subtle but easily identifiable tang of buttermilk. The fritter, which came from the kitchen late (but we prefer that to improperly cooked) was crusty on the exterior, fluffy inside, with lots of chunks of apple.” She gave The Maple Tree an overall A-. [LVRJ]

Al Mancini over at CityLife takes a look at the Kenyan fare at Wine 5 Cafe. “But even on the most traditional offerings, I found the flavors generally unremarkable. It’s not that the dishes I sampled weren’t good. They simply weren’t the exotic treats I’d been so anxiously anticipating.” [CL]

Jim Begley at Las Vegas Weekly says, “The link lineup is a Murderer’s Row sourced exclusively for the restaurant,” of the sausages at Berliner. He visits the new German restaurant along with Café Berlin, “where a larger variety of dishes can be found.” The only faults he finds? Neither has a liquor license yet. [LVW]

THE BLOGS: Immaculate Infatuation wants to clarify the perception of Lotus of Siam. “Unfortunately, some New Yorkers have the wrong idea about Lotus Of Siam because the one that opened in NYC (now temporarily closed and called The Lotus) was terrible, even before the Las Vegas owners pulled out.” Writer Andrew Steinthal says, “There are probably over 250 dishes on this absurdly huge menu, and whether you close your eyes and point or just let your server bring out whatever the chef suggests, you’re going to be very happy.” [Immaculate Infatuation]
Mastrioni’s [Photo: Official website]