The Divine Dish

Dinner at D.O.C.G, Cosmopolitan Las Vegas

Posted on Aug 11, 2013 under Archives, Las Vegas | No Comment

Located in the hip Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas, Scott Conant’s D.O.C.G. is a casual rustic alternative to the chef’s other restaurant and next door neighbor Scarpetta.

The marble tables, exposed wood beams, hardwood floors and brick walls provide a cozy comforting ambiance. D.O.C.G. stands for the Denominazione di Origine Controliata e Garantita, the highest wine classification in Italy. It also denotes the restaurant’s dedication to offering plenty of exceptional wines. Scarpetta and D.O.C.G. share a 3,000 bottle wine cellar with over 500 selections.

The food is just as varied and satisfying as the wine and a lot less expensive then dining at Scarpetta. The only problem we had was choosing between the many pizzas, pastas, salads, antipastas, grilled items and main courses.

Restaurant manager Noe Alarcon was our charming host and knew the wine list inside and out.  He started us off with two drinks, a Roman Goddess with St. Germain, Hendricks, lemon and mint and a Pragola with muddled strawberries, Citron and mint. Both delicious.  Next came a very long series of excellent dishes.  Here is what Sheila and I sampled:

The grilled filone came out first.   A duck egg surrounded by fonduta cheese sauce that when broken and mixed results in an exceptionally creamy and rich place to deep huge perfectly grilled pieces of bread.  A great way to start the meal.

The arancini with calabiran chile aioli was soft and warm inside with a crunchy outside coating.

The lardo wrapped prawns provided a lovely combination of buttery prawn wrapped around salty bacon over rosemary lentils.  Lovely.

Every pasta is hand made daily. All are outstanding, especially the pici, a short thick pasta with braised duck sauce and black truffles.  We were fortunate enough to have the chef prepare three pastas for us.  All outstanding.

Cavetelli was served with a sausage and porcini mushroom sauce.  Warm and satisfying.

The Scialatielli also delicious with lobster and shrimp.

Pizzas are cooked in a large wood fired oven. Diners can choose from traditional, a lovely simple Margherita with fresh mozzarella and basil to the extravagant, the D.O.C.G. pizza with fonduta, egg and truffle.  Chef sent out the Margherita for us which had a nice thin crunchy crust.

There are also plenty of items from the grill including steaks, veal and pork chops and lamb as well as traditional main courses such as roast chicken and braised short ribs. The chef sent us out a nice trio of samples – the salmon with eggplant fregola, the braised short rib with parmigiano mash and vegetables, and the diver scallop with corn, pancetta and fresno chiles.  Yum.

Desserts are also delicious, especially the caramel budino, a sweet and salty concoction with caramel, vanilla cream, toffee and whipped cream.  We also got to try the decadent chocolate tiramisu.  Both great.

D.O.C.G. is a perfect casual alternative to Scarpetta for dinner with a casual ambiance and rustic exceptional Italian fare.  Reservations highly recommended, located at The Cosmopolitan, 3rd Floor, 3708 S Las Vegas Blvd, Las Vegas, NV 89109, (702) 698-7920.