Michael Hiller on Where to Eat at New $8 Billion CityCenter Vegas, in Sunday’s Dallas Morning News

<p>For a story in Sunday’s Dallas Morning News, I recently spent a few days at MGM’s new CityCenter project in Las Vegas, the most ambitious–and expensive–private project in Vegas’ history. What does 8 billion dollars buy you? Lots of glitz, glamor, and serious eats.

Currently, there’s no link to an online version of the story, so you’ll need to pick up a hard copy. (UDPATE: Here’s a link to the story online.)

But what’s most buzzworthy? Here are my top picks of the six I wrote about in the News (with excerpts from the News’s story):

At seafood guru Michael Mina’s fifth LV resto, American Fish, Mina showcases sustainably harvested seafood from all over the nation and serves it in a space that feels more like a camping lodge than a $30-a-plate top-draw restaurant.

“Mina’s cooking touches all the right buttons. He poaches turbot in ocean water then flavors it like a fisherman’s soup, adding a squeeze of citrus, a chiffonade of basil, and a saffron-tomato broth enlivened with star anise. He grills rib-eye steaks over a wood-burning grill, and bakes Mediterranean branzino in a thick crust of sea salt to preserve its moist texture.”

At Julian Serrano, the eponymous venue of Spanish superchef (who won acclaim and awards at Picasso in the Bellagio Hotel and Casino), Serrano brings Spain to the masses.

“His new namesake restaurant has an easy, flowing vitality to it … a menu punctuated with sangrias, spicy crab gazpacho, sweet piquillo peppers stuffed with fresh goat cheese and mushrooms, and Paella Valenciana made from imported ingredients so extraordinary you can almost taste Serrano’s passion.”

The famous sushi master Masayoshi Takayama, whose Masa and Bar Masa in Manhattan’s Time Warner Center are regarded as the best sushi restaurants in the nation, brings his considerable talent and exquisite seafood to CityCenter. His Vegas outposts of Masa and Bar Masa are extraordinary. But be prepared to drop some bucks: a tasting menu will set you back $500.

Three-star Michelin chef Pierre Gagnaire makes his U.S. debut with Twist in the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. Gagnaire was one of the first to embrace fusion cuisine. At Twist, it’s classic French–with a twist: instead of molecular experiments, Gagnaire

“brilliantly pairs flavors and textures in unexpected ways, as with venison loin teamed with tart red cabbage-black currant jam and a dollop of grand-veneur (a classic game sauce) ice cream. Each dish has the presence and individuality of a work of art, composed and restrained yet somehow grand.”

If you’re into food, CityCenter gives you a new reason to visit Vegas.