Hotel occupancy rates are up also, meaning that fewer of the rooms are sitting empty, even with the addition of several thousand at Aria Las Vegas and the rest of the CityCenter properties.

Here's where the bad news comes for you: The more people there are the more hotels will charge for their rooms, so the average daily rate has increased by 3% over last year at just under $100 (this is city-wide, not just The Strip). Rooms are still cheaper than they have been in a long time but things are creeping up slowly.

But more people doesn't necessarily mean more money for Vegas in the long run. Tourists are spending less on just about everything especially gambling. Both the money wagered and the money kept by the casinos is down, although by less then they have been over the last year or so.

All of this is to say that there are signs that the worst of the economic crisis may be behind Las Vegas but it could be years before the city returns to the tourism and revenue numbers it enjoyed before.

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Anderson has been at the castle doing his stand-up shtick for a couple of years but his show will be ending as of August 1st. There had been talk of moving him to another location either in the hotel or elsewhere, but apparently none of that worked out and Mr. Anderson will be ending his run instead.

Meanwhile, tough economic times are being blamed for the ESPN Zone shut down. The restaurant opened in 2001 and served up hearty food and drink amongst sports memorabilia and lots of big screen TVs. The Vegas outlet is one of five that are closing including those in New York, Chicago, Washington DC, and Baltimore. The Los Angeles and Anaheim branches will remain open.

There is no word yet on what will replace either the show or the restaurant.

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The hotels have added a $20 per night mandatory resort fee as of last week for all new bookings (previously made reservations will not have to pay it). The fee covers high-speed Internet, local phone calls, and use of the gym.

At this point only Harrah's properties like Caesars, Paris, and Bally's and a few of the MGM Mirage hotels (Bellagio for instance) are not charging the fees.

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So it was with great anticipation that Serrano's eponymous eatery opened at Aria Las Vegas, offering the hope of a more accessible menu that could appeal to a broader range of diners. That hope has more than been fulfilled.

The restaurant is mostly open to the busy Aria lobby and nearby casino so the noise level is an issue at many of the tables. If that's a concern to you, request a seat in the quieter main dining room, which offers a bit of shelter from the din.

The central conceit here is Spanish fare, focusing heavily on the small-plate tapas style cuisine but with several other full-meal options available. One of the latter, and one you should absolutely consider having, is the paella, a Spanish rice dish that comes in portions big enough for two and packed with meats, seafood, and/or vegetables. We sampled the valenciana with chicken and chorizo and almost literally scraped the pan it was served in completely clean. Bursting with flavor without being too spicy, it was absolute delight of texture and taste.

But since the bulk of the menu consists of the tapas, let's talk about those for awhile. The seafood section has the most options including some really interesting combinations - shrimp, white fish, and octopus with clinatro and lime juice; shrimp with yellow and red peppers; ahi tuna with seaweed and pepper sauce; sea bass with a tomato confit; and salmon with truffle and a portabello mushroom are just a few samples.

A vegetarian section offers everything from brava potatoes in a spicy tomato alioli sauce to roasted eggplant with red pepper and tomato. You can even get a toasted bread and tomato sauce or simple marinated olives.

Meat and poultry choices include chicken of various design (traditional or marinated garlic), flat iron steak, chorizo, lamb, tenderloin, dates stuffed with spicy pepper and wrapped in bacon, and more.

Pay special attention to the "New" tapas section, which takes the traditional idea of things on skewers and send it to a new dimension with things like ahi tuna with avocado and mango, lobster and pineapple, and breakfast on a stick with fried potatoes, eggs, and chorizo.

There are also cheese and meat platters, salads and soups, and full plates of things like chicken, monkfish with ham, lobster, pork loins, and lamb chops to mention a few.

We sampled a wide variety of the tapas and declared all of them winners, as impossible to choose a best of as it would be to pick a favorite child, but two of them were the most memorable. The pineapple that came with the lobster is called "molecular," and instead of a chunk of the fruit it is almost like a jellied version of it that tasted like the sweetest pineapple you've ever tasted. The combination was perfect. Also the bacon wrapped dates because, well, everything is better if its wrapped in bacon.

A full dessert menu offers a variety of tempting tastes including traditional flan, chocolate cake, Spanish creme brulee, and more.

At first glance the prices seem almost crazy low until you remember that this is a tapas restaurant and you are getting, at best, a few bites of each thing. The range is $8-17 with most in the $12-14 neighborhood and since it will take at least three per person to constitute a full meal you're looking at a $40 minimum per person before beverages, dessert, tax, and tip. So yeah, expensive but not more than you'll pay for the average ala carte steak at a Strip restaurant and certainly much more interesting. Paellas are $40-50 but can serve two people easily, standard meals are $24-45, and desserts all $8.

So yes, Serrano's cuisine is definitely more accessible to a wider audience, but you're still going to have to be willing to pay dearly for it.

Julian Serrano
Aria Las Vegas
3730 Las Vegas Blvd. S.
Las Vegas, NV 89109
877-230-2742
website
Hours:

Sage at Aria Las Vegas seems to be designed for people that are.

Chef Shawn McLain has been pulling in the plaudits and amassing awards at an astonishing rate for his innovative American cuisine at three Chicago restaurants, Spring, Custom House, and Green Zebra. Sage is his first Vegas endeavor and is already getting the kind of critical acclaim that most restaurants can only dream of.

So again, I state, maybe it's just me.

The first issue I had was trying to find a connective thread in the menu. It is described as "New American laced with Mediterranean subtexts." What I saw was a limited list of offerings that were virtually impossible to categorize or define. I'm not suggesting that every restaurant has to be as obvious as "Mexican" or "Italian" or "Hard Rock Cafe" but fine dining should provide a roadmap of sorts - a pathway to get from start to finish in a satisfying and, hopefully, simple manner. The menu at Sage just didn't provide one and so I spent a lot of time staring at, trying to decide where to go first, next, and last.

Starters run the gamut from oysters in a pepper and tobasco sorbet to an heirloom beet salad with duck prosciutto with stops at Hawaiian blue prawns, Maine lobster, roasted sweetbreads, and octopus salad along the way. The foie gras custard brulee with black mission figs and salted brioche is an in-demand specialty of the house but we went with the creamy green garlic soup with dungeness crab and horseradish. Although the garlic was strong the entire dish came across as muted somehow, a word that kept coming to mind as we delved into the main courses.

The roasted scallops with wild mushrooms is served in a salted caramel reduction, all of which was fine and obviously fresh, but none of it jumped off the plate and demanded attention. Ditto the Kobe flat iron with truffled burrata cheese in a red wine reduction. The meat was tender and the reduction offered a welcome bit of energy, but as a package it failed to create a lasting impression.

Other options included braised veal cheeks, ale-braised short ribs, roasted pork loin, and roasted John Dory with shaved Iberico ham. Again, I have to stress the notion that it all came across as diverse but without any kind of encompassing notion that made it make sense. At least not to me.

Prices are on the high side with starters in $12-25 range and main courses $32-50, but note that unlike many upscale eateries the entrees come with sides. That's both good and bad. Good in that you don't have to pay extra, bad in that you are going to eat what the chef has chosen to accompany the course whether you like it or not.

The dining room is gorgeous - all moody dark woods and deep gold and purple accents. And the service was impeccable, so certainly no faults there.

Fine dining is an acquired taste, to be sure, and perhaps to true Foodies Sage is a taste worth indulging in. But there are better options for the casual diner looking to venture into gourmet territory.

Or maybe it was just me.

Sage
Aria Las Vegas
3730 Las Vegas Blvd. S.
Las Vegas, NV 89109
877-230-2742
website
Hours: