Restaurant News
People often don’t associate barbeque with wine, but at Via Brasil, they take both seriously. This recently opened restaurant features authentic Brazilian barbecue and an extensive wine list that offers selections to please any palette.
Via Brasil, located in Summerlin at 1225 S. Fort Apache Road (just south of its intersection with Charleston) has a wide open dining room with soaring ceilings, a waterfall and tropical decor. The interior represents a blend of chic modern and Brazilian rainforest; an unusual combination that works well in this eatery. Table spacing allows ample room between the tables, allowing some intimacy while dining. A see-through 360 degree glass wine locker stacks a multitude of wine bottles in view of the dining area, and tempts wine lovers to check out the comprehensive wine list. A curved modern bar sits to the side of the dining area, and features a television (without volume so as not to disturb diners) for those taking in libations before dinner.
In true Italian tradition, Marinelli’s places special emphasis on enjoying wine with a meal. They maintain a very comprehensive and fairly priced wine list, and have a very liberal policy of charging no corkage fee for the first bottle of carry-in wine. The list includes a nice variety of wines by the glass for between $6.00-$28.00, including about ten red wines and six whites. As one would expect, they tend to emphasize Italian wines, but their long wine list includes a very nice assortment of wines from all over the globe. The list has several interesting wines priced at under $40.00 per bottle. The Italian list features more than a dozen wines from Piedmont, including a nice selections of Barolos and Barbarescos, and about 40 wines from Tuscany, with several Brunellos and super-Tuscans. It also has a plethora of new world Cabernet Sauvignon and Meritage blends to choose from. The Marinelli house wines are produced by the Consentino winery in the Napa Valley, and include a tasty Cabernet Franc and Sangiovese, both very reasonably priced by the glass or bottle.
Locals and tourists alike should take the time to visit the M Resort. The architects did a masterful job in designing this place. It provides the luxury of the Las Vegas Strip without the often inflated prices found in many of the big name hotels. It also yields some novel and impressive views of the Strip without the hassle associated with trying to negotiate the traffic between Tropicana and Flamingo avenues. The M’s location at 12300 South Las Vegas Boulevard makes for easy access. From downtown, just take the Interstate 15 south, exit at Highway 146 and turn left onto St. Rose. If coming from California, the M lies about 10 miles closer than Tropicana Avenue. While there, don’t miss the chance to have a great Italian dinner at Marinelli’s.
Marinelli’s at the M Resort...
Via Brasil Steakhouse...
So much more than steaks...!!!
The floor-to-ceiling wine locker in the bar area...
The food menu options include two choices: the full on barbecue service, or a trip to the rather amazing salad bar. The barbeque features 18 freshly roasted meats. Servers come to your table with the meat on skewers, and diners may try all 18 if they like. Servers slice the selected meats from a skewer and onto your plate. Should the guest wish to pass on certain meats and take second portions of others, the server will oblige. Some of the meats served include ribeye, pork loin, pork ribs, sausage, lamb chops, chicken, skirt steak, suckling pig, top sirloin, flank steak, tenderloin in bacon and prime rib.
The salad bar with a waterfall in the background...
The barbeque option also allows for a trip to the attractive salad bar, which is much more than just your normal salad bar. In addition to a vast array of fruits and vegetables, the bar includes many seafood items, such as shrimp and sushi, plus several warm dishes such as Brazilian chicken stroganoff. The trip to the “salad bar” can easily serve as a complete meal, so if you opt for the barbeque tread lightly when at the salad bar.
The barbeque option costs $42.95 per person, including the salad bar. The salad bar option without the barbeque costs $25.95.
The wine list has many options, including many selections of red and white wine by the glass selling for between $8.00-12.00. Just a cursory review of the wine list reveals that Via Brasil considers wine an important component of dining. The wine list features a myriad of choices from almost every significant wine region in the world. Of course, they emphasize red wines because those tend to pair better with barbeque. Not surprisingly, the list includes many selections from Argentina and Chile, where they also enjoy wine with outdoor cooking. But they also carry some very notable selections from California, France, Italy and Spain. An on site sommelier works most nights to help patrons with their questions and selections from the wine list. Full bottles begin as reasonably as $30.00. As an additional concession to wine lovers, Via Brasil allows carry-in bottles with a corkage fee of $25.00.
If you seek a novel kind of dining experience with a lovely ambience and lots of great food and wine, give Via Brasil a try. Just bring a healthy appetite, because you will not go home hungry.
Marinelli’s bar area with mood lighting...
Returning to the subject of the traditional, Marinelli’s menu features dishes from the M Resort’s Italian family background. These special plates include rigatoni, orecchiette, lobster risotto, and eggplant parmesan. The menu also has the usual Italian classics such as lasagna, fettuccine, and spaghetti and meatballs. Marinelli’s prices these entrees between $18.00-$24.00. The menu also offers a nice selection of grilled meats and seafood in the $28-$38.00 range. Try the tender osso bucco for a mouth watering dining experience. The seafood and grilled meats typically come with at least one side dish. To complement the meal, the restaurant has a long list of appetizers, soups, and salads.
Situated in the stellar new M Resort, Marinelli’s Italian restaurant offers an interesting blend of the avant-garde and the traditional in preparing and serving Italian food. The traditional comes from family recipes that constitute many of the entrees that appear on the restaurant’s menu. The avant-garde stems from the dramatic chic ambience created for the eatery’s dining room and bar.
As to that ambience, the room has an almost surreal feel to it, resulting from tactful but unique lighting, marble floors, and lots of extra room between tables. As you enter the restaurant, the guests walk past floor to ceiling glass planters. This glass wall of planters not only has a calming effect, but effectively serves as a noise buffer to the casino, located adjacent to the restaurant. As you pass the reception area and enter the bar/restaurant room, guests will see stunning floor to ceiling wine lockers along the perimeter walls of the bar, illuminated by red light. The architects really did a nice job with the lighting and room layout, and you really need to see the room to appreciate it.
The bar is rectangular in shape, and has ample seating for up to 15 people. It makes a great place to wait for friends or take in a cocktail or glass wine before dinner. The bar also has full service so that guests may opt to dine there if they choose. The planners wisely located the bar far enough away so that it does not become a distraction to those patrons in the dining room. The bartenders provide friendly and efficient service.
The dining area proper has high ceilings, plenty of seating with ample room between tables, and in good weather an outdoor terrace for dining with a great view of the M’s lovely pool area, which rests two floors below the restaurant. Roving servers offer a plethora of tasty breads to patrons, and grade parmesan cheese to the diners’ taste after the meal arrives.
Reception area at Marinelli’s...
