Wynn Magazine - Las Vegas
Issue link: http://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/660157
90 PhotograPhy by anthony Mair It Is 11 am and I am sIttIng across from Executive chef Enzo Febbraro at one of his tables in allegro, where passersby on a heavily trafficked path toward the casino f loor can see me, through a large window, ostentatiously eating a creamy mou nd of bu r rat a —a mozza rel la cu rd pouch bu rst i ng w it h sa lt y ma sca r pone, cream, and ricotta. a big sign at the door announces that the restaurant won't open unt il 3 pm, but it's not stopping Febbraro's supplicant s from seeking special dis- pensation. the f lash of guilt I almost feel is gone in the next bite. Febbra ro pushes t he cork lid of a pr ized sa lt cont a iner towa rd me. It reads: "Ingredienti: mare, sole, vento." or sea, sun, wind. "Brilliant, isn't it?" he says with a broad smile. It's not surprising that this very simple compound spelled out on the label of a jar would resonate with him. the salt is sprinkled over a plate we are sharing whose ingredients are nearly as elemental as those on the label: tomatoes, burrata, olive oil, basil. and by sharing, I mean I am eating as he cheers me on like an indulgent grandmother. the quality of the ingredients is crucial. the olive oil is tondo d.o.P., a bright green-gold oil made from the famous tonda Iblea olives on the estate of marchesi achille Paterno' di spedalotto in sicily. "It's just a little bit peppery at the very end," he enthuses. the tomatoes are the deeply pigmented red-brown Kumato variety origi- nally bred on spain's costa almería and now sourced from california; he's picked them because they're firm and sweet, with a hint of sourness that gives the creamy burrata just a bit of edge. the salt has been har vested from salt pans since t he Phoenicians established their western colonies in sicily 2,000 years ago, and he Of the essence In Enzo Febbraro's kitchen at Allegro, some of the simplest, most impeccably sourced ingredients come together in the restaurant's greatest showpieces. by Andrea Bennett