Craftsteak

At Craftsteak, Celebrity Chef Tom Colicchio brings his distinctive culinary ideology to the MGM Grand.  Headed by Executive Chef Matt Seeber, this latest Colicchio incarnation pares down the classic American steakhouse to its essence with an ingredient-driven menu that exemplifies the eloquent and satisfying simplicity of farm-fresh flavors.  Designed by notable architectural firm, Bentel and Bentel Architects, the warm and inviting dining room creates a subtly stunning backdrop for displaying Chef Seeber’s seasonal creations.

Craftsteak cultivates an aesthetic that combines Vegas swank with a homey accessibility.  Bentel and Bentel Architects’ design juxtaposes sumptuous materials like leather and bronze with more plain ones like muslin for a dining space that is a visual representation of the  restaurant’s emphasis on the simple yet sophisticated pleasures to be found in pure, unadulterated ingredients.  The large, wood-laden bar with its staggering selection of over 200 bottles of premium scotches, whiskeys, and bourbons greets diners with the invitation to congregate in cozy lounge seating and circular wooden tables.   The dining room itself opens up from the lively close quarters of the lounge with surprising expansiveness.  Deep, recessed booths secluded between mesh curtains line the walls, while more open circular and square wooden tables offer seating in the very heart of the restaurant’s lively and convivial culinary activity.

Nowhere is Craftsteak’s ideology more evident than in the thoughtful and unique organization of its menu.  Designed to encourage sharing, each component of the meal is served in large, family-style portions and is not only separated according to course, but is also categorized by food group and cooking preparation to better facilitate mixing and matching.  It is a menu that promotes conversation and exploration, inviting diners to take a more active role in their dining experience.

Upon seating, we are presented with a selection of seasonal salads that showcase the current offerings of the Santa Monica Farmer’s Market, where Craftsteak obtains all of its produce.  The Avocado Salad juxtaposes the creaminess of the halved and sliced Pinkerton avocado with the crispness of cucumbers and red onions for a refreshing beginning.  The yuzu and Tabasco accents in the dressing brighten the flavors, enhancing the richness of the avocado and the clean, cool cucumber.

The Hamachi Salad pairs seasonal citrus with the smooth, slightly smoky flavors of yellowtail for a truly unique dish.  Sections of blood orange and grapefruit mingle with chunks of pinkish hamachi in a tangle of fennel curlicues on the plate.  The sweet tartness of the citrus and the slight anise notes of the young fennel add a spring-like clarity to the creamy fish for a delicate yet potently flavorful dish.
The Frisee and Bacon Salad and Arugula with Shaved Pecorino both emphasize the sublime pleasures to be found in the freshest, purest ingredients.  The salty, smoky bacon deepens the flavors of the first salad and accentuates the frisee’s inherent ethereal character while the pairing of the pecorino with the arugula in the second salad intensifies the nutty bitterness of the greens.

The Porchetta epitomizes the importance of house made ingredients in the cuisine of Craftsteak.  Made from a roast suckling pig, the pork is rolled with pistachios, fat back bacon, and a variety of spices and then sliced impossibly thin, giving it the appearance of mortadella, and then is drizzled with truffle vinaigrette to enhance its earthiness.  While the flavors of the Porchetta are deep and almost wintry, the thin-sliced presentation manages to infuse the dish with an extraordinary lightness.  The Porchetta showcases the skills of the Craftsteak kitchen, blending a kind of Old World rusticity with culinary elegance.

The Pan Roasted Diver Scallops are a revelation in the expert simplicity of the Craftsteak menu.  The massive scallops are the essence of freshness: dry packed without chemicals and used within three days of being caught, they are free of the chewy fishiness that can plague a lesser quality product.  Their buttery texture and sweetness are amplified by the lemon and fennel broth they’re immersed in.  Although simple in construction, the intensity of the flavors derived from the high quality ingredients make the Scallops a truly memorable meal.

A trip to Craftsteak would not be complete without sampling its high quality beef.  We are served a Kobe Skirt Steak and a Kobe Rib Eye, each presented modestly in a cast iron dish.   The expert preparation of each steak accentuates their inherent distinctions and beautifully showcases their supreme quality.  The Skirt Steak is robust and smoky while the rich, marbled Rib Eye offers intensely juicy succulence.  It is clear from these two cuts of meat where Craftsteak gets its name: elevating the simple steak to the heights of culinary craft.
An assortment of deceptively simple sides accompanies our steaks: Sugar Snap Peas with shredded ricotta, a medley of Mushrooms, Puree of Yukon Gold Potatoes, and Battered Squash Blossoms.  The staggering size of the bright green sugar snap peas captures the attention first.  Sweet and crunchy, with a hint of richness from the ricotta, these inflated, plump vegetables are a celebration of freshness and act as a convincing argument in favor of holding out for optimum seasonal ripeness.

The roasted Mushrooms are an exploration in the earthy diversity and feature a wide variety including hen of the woods, shiitakes, and shimejis.  They are as rich and smoky as the sugar snap peas are bright and crisp, and are well paired with the hearty flavors of the beef.

The Puree of Potatoes proves impossibly creamy, enriched by a generous helping of butter and olive oil to aid in the velvety texture.  A sprinkling of chives adds a subtle pungency to the starchy, cloud-like texture, reminding taste buds of homey comforts.

In stark contrast to the silken potatoes, the Battered Squash Blossoms crackle with textural crunch.  Large, golden fried squash blossoms are arranged on the plate around a small container of creamy chipotle sauce.  The thick sauce clings to the blossoms, settling into the fried nooks of the batter and balancing the light, slightly floral crispness with its smoky spice.

An array of Craftsteak’s creative desserts rounds out our meal.  Unlike the more straightforward savory dishes that have preceded them, these sweet treats combine unusual and novel ingredients.  The Jasmine Pannacotta, for example, is an enigmatic concoction, pairing crisp Asian pear with almonds, and rose water with the creamy Italian-style custard for a sweetly delicate and mysteriously exotic confection.
Unlike the subtle Pannacotta, the Cinnamon Toffee Monkey Bread with Caramel Ice Cream embodies all of the rich comforts of a home-baked sticky bun.  The miniature bundt cake permeates the air, and the taste buds, with the smoky spice of cinnamon and the nuttiness of toffee.  The Caramel Ice Cream accompanying it adds additional notes of sweet indulgence.

Craftsteak’s take on Rice Pudding, the newest addition to the menu, transforms the standard dessert with South East Asian flavors and an inspired presentation.  In this version, the creamy sweetness of the rice pudding acts as a filling for crisp, golden fried wontons and makes for a delightfully surprising textural juxtaposition.  A brilliant yellow sour pineapple sorbet adds a tropical hint to the dish.

The Liquid Chocolate Cake with Pistachio Ice Cream promises true decadence.  A dark mound of chocolate cake erupts with equally rich chocolate lava when cut with the fork, spilling out around the scoop of ice cream.  The pistachio’s nuttiness cuts through the intense sweetness of the chocolate, contributing a welcome saltiness to the dessert.

As a suitably indulgent palate cleanser, we are offered a rainbow-colored selection of Craftsteak’s Sorbets.  Classic flavors like Strawberry, Chocolate, and Lemon hold their own against more unique and inventive sorbets like Pineapple, Roasted Pineapple, Grape, and Orange Basil.  Light and cool, each is an explosion of flavor, distilling the essence of each ingredient to its purest most concentrated taste.

From its innovative, seasonally-inspired menu to its elegantly unpretentious décor, Craftsteak is driven by a powerful ideology: its goal is to take dinner out of the realm of mere sustenance and to re-establish it as an excuse for gathering together and participating in a collective culinary event.  The resulting dining experience is both nostalgic and ground-breaking, recalling the comforts of a family meal while pushing the epicurean envelope by exposing diners to new flavors and ever-changing ingredients.