Raising the stakes is nothing new in Las Vegas, but in recent years, the city in the desert has gone all in when it comes to fine dining. Once upon a time, high rollers had to be satisfied with gargantuan portions and buffets that were long on quantity and short on quality. Now gourmet dining is a given, with casino resorts competing to attract star chefs the same way they once chased star entertainers.
"Once upon a time, high rollers had to be satisfied with gargantuan portions and buffets that were long on quantity and short on quality. Now gourmet dining is a given "
In his 2005 bid to raise the bar, Steve Wynn not only built a 50-story bronze tower that cost an estimated $2.7 billion, he put together a veritable dream team of chefs that included Mark LoRusso, Paul Bartolotta, Richard Chen and the world-famous Daniel Boulud.

Master Chef Boulud made his Vegas debut with the Daniel Boulud Brasserie, his first ever brasserie concept restaurant. The restaurant's design, by Jeffrey Beers, features a handsome bar complemented by a garden room, an ornate Oval Room and a view across a lake to a pine-covered hillside. "The restaurant is reminiscent of beautiful places you've seen, but is like no place you ve ever been," said Chef Boulud when the brasserie opened. Referring to its casual, yet luxurious ambiance, he said: "It is, after all, a brasserie, but a new world brasserie, with all the bustling energy and easy going conviviality that the word brasserie' implies."

With his signature flair, Boulud created a menu of modern brasserie fare, which he describes as "French comfort food," as well as a sampling of re-interpreted classics. To ensure the authenticity of such savory specialties as rillettes and homemade patés, Bould hired a charcutier from France .

The brasserie's Gallic soul is reflected in such dishes as Soupe L Oignon Gratinée, Moules Frites, Steak au Poivre, and Crispy Duck Confit. The chef's Lyonnaise roots are reflected in the trays of charcuterie heaped with saucisson and black truffles. Perhaps the most famous or infamous item on the menu is the original DB Burger, a nine-ounce beauty stuffed with braised short ribs, foie gras and black truffle served on a Parmesan bun. When the Burger debuted in Boulud's New York restaurant, DB Moderne, at just under $30, foodies chuckled at the sheer boldness of the price. Now the cholesterol feast is $32, both in Vegas and New York but keep in mind that it does come with French Fries.

Dessert is not an afterthought at the brasserie. The pastry chef serves up such palate-pleasers as a Tasting of Pots de Cr me Mousseux in Orange-Vanilla, Chocolate-Rosemary and Espresso-Cinnamon flavors and a Cheesecake " Philadelphia " with a Duo of Marmalades.

At the Venetian Resort Hotel Casino, culinary star Thomas Keller, serves up authentic French bistro fare at his restaurant, Bouchon, located in the hotel's Venezia Tower . Designed by Adam D. Tihany, Bouchon features a mosaic floor a dramatic pewter bar, antique light fixtures and an expansive hand-painted mural by French artist Paulin Paris.
br> Keller once cooked under Daniel Boulud (who once cooked under several French "greats," including the legendary Roger Verge). Named " America 's Best Chef" by Time magazine in 2001, he is renowned for his inventiveness and his culinary skills and has garnered accolades and awards, including a number of Michelin stars. He describes his food as "serious," but adds, "we also want people to have a good time with it."

On opening a bistro, Chef Keller once said: "You spend all day, 12, 14 hours a day, cooking refined food, you want to go eat something that's simple." And so the Bouchon menu consists of classic bistro fare, including steak frites, roasted chicken, quiche, brandade, boudin noir, pot de cr me and profiteroles. Dishes like these reflect the chef's personal tastes. "My favorite meal," he once said, "is just the perfect Bibb lettuce salad, a great roasted chicken, and a lemon tart." (All these dishes can be found in his Bouchon cookbook.) For the Vegas crowd, which likes a little razzle-dazzle with its food, the bistro menu also includes the Grand Plateau, a showy fruits de mer presentation of lobster, oysters, shrimp, mussels, clams and seasonal crab.

,Late last year, Keller opened Bouchon Bakery in the Venetian hotel. Here, the star attraction may well be the eponymous bouchon, a super-rich brownie-like confection (see recipe).

When diners want to feast on pristine seafood in the middle of the desert, they head for the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, where celebrated American seafood chef Rick Moonen has built a menu from the treasures of the sea. His rm seafood is a multi-venue Vegas extravaganaza featuring seafood from the world over at both the 350-seater bar café and the 85-seat fine dining restaurant room.

Both were designed by San Francisco-based architect Cass Calder Smith. Sleek lines and brushed metal are warmed by burnished wood and cream-colored leather throughout both restaurants, with muted nautical elements balanced by high ceilings that lend the overall space an expansive, airy quality.

The r bar café offers regional coastal favorites and a bountiful raw bar in a bustling market atmosphere. The menu includes a "one if by sea" option, whereby diners select their fish, choose a preparation and then pick a sauce. The raw bar serves varieties of oysters plucked from several oceans, freshly shucked or in three different shooters, as well as shellfish and wild and farmed fish. Rounding out the menu are bold pasta dishes, Moonen's take on chowder, cast-iron mac-and-cheese, small and large plates and shellfish samplers like "The Kitchen Sink," with lobsters, Dungeness crab, mussels, oysters, shrimp and clams.

Upstairs, at restaurant rm, signature dishes include butter-poached lobster with corn chowder, corn pudding and white truffle foam; Ocean Rose Farms abalone with uni butter and American sturgeon caviar; and Dorade Royal with golden raisin caponata, garlic puree and white balsamic. A six-course chef's tasting menu features toro tuna, Alaskan king crab, diver scallops, wild king salmon and other delicacies. As Chef Moonen says, "rm seafood is hedonism without guilt." It is flown in seven days a week, and all the fish are either caught or farmed in a way that isn't harmful to the ecology or to other creatures.

A native New Yorker, Moonen graduated first in his class from the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in Hyde Park, New York, apprenticed at L'Hostellerie Bressane in Hillsdale, New York and went on to work at such legendary restaurants as La Cote Basque, Le Cirque and Le Relais. As Executive chef and partner at Oceana, and later at Molyvos, he earned multiple stars from the The New York Times and honed the skills to create exceptional dishes from the sea, which Moonen describes as "our last wild frontier."

"People are coming to Las Vegas for more than just gaming," says Moonen, "They're planning their evenings around dining now."

Which explains why a city built on gaming has become a dining destination.