Even if you’re not a gourmand, you’ve likely heard of Le Cirque in New York City. The fancy, French fine-dining institution was older than me (opened in 1974), and it was one of the hottest restaurants in the city. While it’s closed, you can still try Le Cirque in Las Vegas. In fact, Sin City serves it best, so we had to review Le Cirque Las Vegas.
Over in Las Vegas, Le Cirque Las Vegas at Bellagio somehow managed to trump the original (a rare situation!).
Not only has it been a solid restaurant with a steady Michelin star (LCNYC didn’t even receive a star) for years, it was also awarded AAA Five-Diamond.
Unfortunately, Vegas was banging out so many insanely good restaurants the past few years (Momofuku! Eggslut! Morimoto! Beauty & Essex!) that Le Cirque was slipping through the cracks.
But then hot new (and very young) executive chef Wilfried Bergerhausen steered the restaurant into a new direction without compromising the integrity of the menu. He recently in the past few years earned the restaurant a Forbes Five Star rank, and everyone’s talking again.
I had the privilege of dining here, and Le Cirque is incredibly special, which is why I had to do a mini Le Cirque Las Vegas review. It’s fine-dining at its best (miraculously, without feeling stuffy, much thanks to the circus-themed decor by designer Adam Tihany), with suited waiters and staff at your beck and call.
I reunited with an old friend George Sotelo, who has had incredible success with his men’s swimsuit line, Thorsun, and we did the seven-course tasting menu.
As I mentioned in an Instagram post, the plating was storytelling. The food was art. And the meal was insane. I could spend hours writing about the menu, how Le Cirque has made a strong comeback and is now all the rage, but I’ll let these visuals transport you for now. Le Cirque was definitely one of my best dining experiences in years.
Jimmy Im has traveled to 113 countries, stayed at over 600 hotels and clocked millions of air miles. He currently lives in New York City.