Las Vegas Mixtape v11: Mind Massage, Musical Sparks, and Pasta Paradise

Track #3: Fiorella @Durango Casino & Resort

Thanks to James Beard award-winning chef Marc Vetri, the Italian soul of Philadelphia is alive and well in Vegas. He now has three restaurants here: the glamorous Vetri Cucina on the 56th floor of the Palms; the high-end-but-still-casual Osteria Fiorella at Red Rock Resort; and his latest, Fiorella, a separate restaurant in the Eat Your Heart food hall at the Durango Casino & Resort.

Walking into Fiorella—a “replica” of his thriving Philly pasta bar specializing in daily hand-made pasta—it’s easy to be charmed by the gold-colored chandeliers and an old-school tiled floor.

The fluffy house-made focaccia bread (ordered separately) and ample “Little Gem Salad” (with boquerones and croutons) set us up nicely for two pasta dishes: the garganelli (short, ridged tubes of fresh egg pasta) with basil-almond pesto and Parmigiano, and the tagliolini with lemon and poppy seed that’s topped with prosciutto.

Inventively imagined and executed creations like these dishes raise the culinary bar.