Michael Mina at Bellagio Launches 10-Course Summer Tasting Menu

Reading the Menu Like a Cook

Ten courses sounds like a lot until you look at the structure, at which point it reads more like eight savories and two desserts, with a few of those courses doing light work. The first three — Caviar Parfait with smoked salmon and crème fraîche, Ahi Tuna Crudo with pluot and umeboshi, and a tomato-and-melon plate with Marcona almonds and sheep‘s milk feta — are all relatively low-labor presentations. That’s not a criticism. Summer produce at peak ripeness doesn‘t need much done to it, and the Ahi Tuna Crudo in particular makes sense: good tuna, good pluot (a plum-apricot hybrid that pulls genuine interest in an acid context), and umeboshi to push salinity without leaning on salt directly. If the sourcing is what they say it is, those first courses should be clean and direct.

The Australian Black Truffle course is where kitchen labor actually shows up. House-made tagliatelle with 24-month aged Parmesan and pistachio streusel is a real dish that requires real skill — fresh pasta at tasting-menu scale is a logistical commitment, and the quality of that pasta will tell you a lot about how seriously the kitchen is running things. Truffle at this time of year means Australian black truffle, which is in season now (July is peak), so this is a calendar decision, not a marketing one, and it’s the right one.

The Apple-Wood Grilled Branzino in Course 5 is interesting for the combination: hazelnut and saffron romesco is a less conventional move than typical Spanish romesco, and the zucchini pistou and black olive gremolata add Mediterranean bitterness to balance what could otherwise be a rich plate. Branzino is a forgiving fish if you treat it carefully and merciless if you don't — it dries out fast, especially on a grill. The wood smoke should help, but execution here matters more than the description on paper.

The Shellfish Course, the Duck, and the Beef Decision

Course 6, the Charcoal Roasted Shellfish, arrives with red miso butter, Brentwood corn fondue, and charred lemon. Brentwood corn from Contra Costa County in California is peak-summer sweet corn — if they‘re actually sourcing it, that’s specific and correct. Red miso butter on shellfish is umami on umami, which works or tips into heavy depending on the balance. This is the kind of course that can read as extravagant on a menu and land awkwardly on the plate if the proportions are off. I‘m hoping the fondue is lighter than the name implies.

Course 7 is Muscovy Duck Breast with foie gras, kabu turnip, pickled green strawberry, and red walnuts. Muscovy is leaner than Moulard, which means less margin for error on the cook — underdone and it’s tough, overdone and it loses what makes it interesting. The pickled green strawberry is a smart acid call. Foie gras pushes this course into serious territory, price-justification-wise; that pairing should be the richest thing on the table.

For Course 8, the menu offers Prime Brandt NY Strip at baseline or an upgrade to Triple Seared Miyazaki Wagyu for an additional $55 — putting the Wagyu option at $305 per person before tax and gratuity. Brandt beef from Grandview, California, is a legitimate rancher with a real reputation, so the baseline strip is not a throwaway. The Mendocino porcini, black cherry, and smoked béarnaise combination is doing much of the same work as a classic French preparation but with California sourcing threaded through it.

On the Miyazaki upgrade: at $55 over an already expensive prix fixe, it‘s worth it only if you’ve had genuine A5 Miyazaki before and want the comparison. If you haven't, the Brandt strip will taste like an excellent steak, which it should be.

The Two Desserts

Course 9 is Golden Lady Mango Shaved Ice with coconut espuma and Santa Barbara finger lime. This is a palate cleanser more than a dessert, and the finger lime — citrus caviar, essentially — is a nice textural moment after nine preceding courses. It should be cold, light, and citrus-forward. Appropriate.

Course 10 is a Valrhona Dark Chocolate Soufflé with Madagascar vanilla crème anglaise and salted caramel ice cream. A soufflé as the final course in a tasting menu is a kitchen statement — they fall, they require timing, they cannot be prepped in advance the way a panna cotta or mousse can. Valrhona is a quality chocolate supplier widely used in serious pastry programs; that‘s a sourcing decision you can verify, not marketing copy. The vanilla crème anglaise and salted caramel pairing is classic, and if the soufflé arrives properly risen and timed, it’s a strong finish.

What $250 Actually Buys You Here

For context: ten courses at Michael Mina at Bellagio, with this level of sourcing — Australian black truffle, Miyazaki Wagyu option, Valrhona chocolate, Brentwood corn, Brandt beef — is priced where comparable tasting menus in serious American cities are priced. Comparable 10-course formats in New York or San Francisco are running $275 to $350 before wine pairings. In that frame, $250 is not outrageous.

What I'd want to know before committing: whether the pasta for Course 4 is actually made in-house daily or batched, whether the branzino is coming off the grill to order or being held, and what the pacing looks like for a 10-course run. Tasting menus live and die on kitchen organization, and the gap between a well-paced 10-course and a sluggish one is the difference between a great evening and a test of endurance.

The room itself at Michael Mina at Bellagio seats guests overlooking the casino floor with a separate private dining feel — it‘s quieter than many Strip restaurants of its caliber, which matters over a two-to-three-hour tasting. The restaurant has been a consistent presence at Bellagio since 1998, a long run in a market that churns hard.

For $250 per person, what’s on paper is a menu built around real seasonal logic, not luxury signaling. The proof is in how the kitchen executes it — specifically on the branzino, the tagliatelle, and that soufflé.