By Judy Thorburn
Carmine's flagship, original location opened August 14, 1990 at 2450 Broadway on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. And, just like the famed New York family style eatery, the latest edition (occupying the former space of the Planet Hollywood restaurant) has a friendly and inviting atmosphere and offers family style portions of traditional Italian dishes that are meant to feed four to six people, in other words to be shared with family and friends. Reasonably priced, the menu includes generous platters of homestyle antipasto, pasta, decadent seafood or meat entrees, and of course, homemade dessert. Not to be excluded, vegetarians will be happy to know that there are several scrumptious options also on the menu for their liking.
On opening day, I along with several of my media colleagues had the pleasure of trying several of the delicious items on the menu, to the delight of our hungry palate. The dinner, or rather feast, started off with some appetizers: fried zucchini, which is thinly sliced and breaded and served in a heaping mound, and the cold antipasto platter made with olives, tapenade, cheese, meats, and comes with an assortment of breads and a white bean dip. Entrees included meatballs and spaghetti; gluten free pasta pomodoro covered in marinara sauce; slices of broiled porterhouse steak, contadina style with peppers, onions potatoes and sausage; salmon oreganata, all complemented with a choice of fine white or red Italian wine from their wine list that features a strong selection of varieties from Italy and the rest of the world.
Fried Zuccini
Photo courtesy of Carmine's
Spaghetti and Meatballs, Pasta Pomadoro and Slices of broiled porterhouse steak, contadina style with peppers, onions potatoes and sausage
Photo credit: Stephen Thorburn
Salmon Oreganata
Photo credit: Stephen Thorburn
To top off the meal were two sinfully mouthwatering desserts: the “sexiest ever” taramisu, and Carmine's famous Titanic sundae: a towering flourless chocolate tort made with five scoops of ice cream (2 vanilla and 3 chocolate) strawberries, bananas, roasted pineapple, hazelnuts and housemade whip cream.
Titanic sundae and Tiramisu
Photo credit: Stephen Thorburn
The 25,000, two-story restaurant seats 750 people and offers several private dining rooms for family or group celebrations including parties, wedding receptions and rehearsal dinners. There is also a bar area, which serves a full menu as well as a smaller one.
Of course, the newest Carmine's has a reputation to live up and that shouldn't be a problem. With its warm environment, huge and delicious servings, the family style Italian restaurant promises a very “full” and satisfying experience for both locals and visitors alike.
Carmine's inside the Forum Shops at Caesars is open for business Sunday - Thursday, 11:30 a.m. - 11 p.m.; Friday - Saturday, 11:30 a.m. - midnight. Reservations are suggested.
From left to right at the pasta cutting ceremony at the Grand Opening: Michael Ingino, Carmine’s Las Vegas executive chef; Glenn Rolnick, corporate executive chef; Jeffrey Bank, CEO; Neal Corman, corporate executive chef; Ericka Aviles, business marketing manager for the LVCVA host committee and Larry Brown, Clark County Commissioner.
Photo courtesy of Carmine's
Jeffrey Bank, Carmine's CEO
Photo credit: Stephen Thorburn
Photo credit: Stephen Thorburn
Photo credit: Stephen Thorburn
Courtesy of http://www.lasvegasroundtheclock.com