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Posted by on Sep 16, 2013 in Blog, Las Vegas, Restaurant Reviews | 8 comments

Restaurant Review: Echo and Rig (Tivoli Village in Summerlin)

 

echo-and-rig

One of the butcher cabinets at Echo and Rig. All meats are hand-craved on site.

 

Echo and Rig is unlike any other restaurant in Las Vegas.

First, there’s that odd-sounding name, chosen (I was told) because the owners thought it had a nice ring.  In a sense, the nonsensical name embodies the free-spirited and self-confident approach here to the entire dining experience — including food, drink, and service.

It’s best classified as a nouveau steakhouse, yet it also defies conventional description and expectation.  On one hand, it’s a butcher shop, yet also offers an extensive salad and vegetarian menu.  Its bar selection is top-notch (Abita Amber on tap!).  Deserts are homemade.  The staff knows and loves food.  Bargain prices compared to what you’d pay elsewhere.  What more could you ask?

 

Echo and Rig is located near the entrance to Tivoli Village, an upscale (but surprisingly affordable) enclave of excellent restaurants, specialty shops, and other businesses.  The district located across the street from the Sun Coast Casino.  Since its grand opening about 18 months ago, Tivoli Village has been introducing a Tuscany-style flair to Summerlin residents, with considerable success.  If excellence lies in getting the details right, then Tivoli Village has spared no expense in pursuit of creating not just a popular food court, but an entire neighborhood and atmosphere.  Pay a visit and look around at the architecture, the lighting, the ambiance.  This entertainment community is as nice as anything on the Las Vegas Strip, without the crowds of tourists and inflated prices.

By my count, Tivoli Village includes five solid restaurant choices, four of which we’ve tried (multiple times).  Topping the list, Cantina Laredo serves Mexican fare and is fantastic.  Kabuki is Japanese-themed and serves excellent lunch specials.  Poppy Den is one of those celebrity chef joints that I’m not usually fond of — but turned out to be wonderful.  Brio is Northern Italian, and although a national chain, quite serviceable.  The View Wine Bar and Kitchen has a terrific happy hour with live music.  Then, there’s Cafe Leone, the perfect place to enjoy a coffee and pastry.  And now, let’s add a sixth worthy destination to the list — Echo and Rig.

Here’s how things went for us on two separate visits.

Marieta and I stumbled into Echo and Rig by accident.  When approaching another nearby restaurant, we noticed what appeared to be an old-fashioned butcher shop lit up brightly across the path.  Only this was no common meat-market.  Located on the second level above the meat counter and full bar, diners are seated upstairs.  There’s an expansive outside balcony, which has a nice view of the city.  That’s the basic layout of Echo and Rig — a butcher shop, sandwich counter, and bar downstairs.  And a wide-open dining room upstairs, with an exposed kitchen and open balcony with plenty of tables.

 

entrance to echo and rig

Entrance to Echo and Rig, with a butcher shop and counter downstairs and restaurant upstairs

 

echo and rig bar

Bar area downstairs, photo taken from the staircase up to the restaurant

 

echo-and-rig

Upstairs balcony with full dining

 

Earlier, I alluded to the key difference in “good” versus “great” — which is the details.  From the moment you enter Echo and Rig, one realizes this place is different.  While not everything is quite perfect (yet), no detail goes spared.

On our first visit, there was a short wait.  The hostess wrote our names down (with comments) in a book and then came back twice to check on us, informing that the wait wouldn’t be much longer.  That special touch is often missing elsewhere.  In the meantime, we were offered a (complimentary) sausage and salami platter, no doubt encouraging us to go for variety once we sat down and ordered.  During this wait, staff came by to tell us more background about the restaurant and the basic concept.  Naturally, service personnel had no idea I’d later be writing about the experience.  Well, neither did I — until this place turned out to be such a gem.

We were seated upstairs following a 15-minute wait.  The outside balcony was filled on this gorgeous night, so we took seats inside.  Even the seating was highly unusual, with pillows on the chairs.  Dining room lighting is brighter than one might expect inside a steakhouse.  But that’s a good thing since there’s plenty to see.  If there’s one complaint I have, it would be the selection of music, which was way too loud and simply the wrong soundtrack for what otherwise was a magnificent experience.  Jazz, rather than techno, would have been a better choice.

The biggest surprise on the menu is undoubtedly the vast array of appetizers, all reasonably priced between $5 and $11.  I’m a carnivore.  But I didn’t need a steak to be satisfied.  One could order multiple appetizers and be full.  And that’s precisely what we did, on two occasions, leaving completely stuffed both times.  The staff, often so arrogant at overpriced Strip restaurants, conveyed “sampling” is what they encourage — trying as many different menu items as possible.  On the night(s) we visited, everyone around us seemed to be sharing appetizers, steaks, and desserts.  That’s the norm.

To my shock, the standout items were indeed the appetizers, which are truly the freshest ingredients you will find in Las Vegas.  I’ve had thousands of meals in this city, including many five-star dining experiences.  Echo and Rig advertise that all their vegetables are freshly brought in from the farmers’ market, and one can tell a clear difference in quality.  Try a tomato someplace that’s delivered in bulk by a vendor.  Then, try a tomato apparently grown someplace closeby that glistens with its natural juice.  Same with everything in the salads, which were marvelous.  Two favorites were the “Kale” and “Over the Rainbow.”  It’s rare to find something tasty which happens to be good for you.  That’s the appeal of the “Vegetables and Small Plates” section.

READ MORE HERE

Meat choices are highly unusual for a place that advertises itself as a steakhouse.  Rather than the $45 eight-ounce offerings at the power lunch palaces, Echo and Rig prices all of its meats in the $17 to $32 range.  Tri-tip, hangar, flat iron, and more.  Any sauce accompaniment you can imagine is optional.

See LUNCH AND DINNER MENU here.

As for service, during our two visits, we encountered about 5-6 staff personnel.  Each employee had obviously gone through a rigorous training course.  They inform diners about the choice of cuts, preparation, and spare no detail when making their personal recommendations.  Outside of my beloved New Orleans, I have not seen a better-trained staff top to bottom than what I’ve seen in these two visits for a restaurant in this class.

Then, there’s the alcohol.  Whoever created the bar menu obviously loves to drink and knows his stuff.  Porters, ales, and pilsners on tap.  Abita Amber.  Specialty cocktails.  Then, there’s the offering of either flat water or sparkling.  Free of charge.  Imagine that — a restaurant that doesn’t try to upsell you on the water from the moment you walk in the door.  After all, what’s the first thing you’re asked in an upscale restaurant nowadays?  That’s right, your choice of water.

There was no room for dessert, but on our second visit, we ordered one anyway.  We chose a strawberry shortcake loaded with fresh berries.  Again, the details are what matters.  Consider that the shortcake was perfectly and unusually crunchy, the berries tasted as they’d just been picked, the whipped cream was fresh (not spray!), and the ice cream was homemade.  For like six bucks.  Enough to share.

 

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House made charcuterie, with a sampling of meats

 

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Cauliflower with chili and shallots, and four meatballs

 

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Over the Rainbow salad — enough to share

 

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Black spaghetti, with seafood accompaniment

 

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The bill — not bad for an exquisite dinner for two

 

On our second visit, we arrived at 4 pm, which was considerably less crowded.  There was no wait.  We enjoyed balcony dining almost to ourselves.

This time, we enjoyed the Kale salad (best I’ve had — the ground hazelnuts added a special twist), Garlic Mashed Potatoes (why always go healthy?), Grilled Shrimp and Scallop Ceviche (fresh and tasty), Tomato/Watermelon/Cucumber salad (perfect on a hot day), and a Hangar steak.  The meat was perfectly prepared.  However, it wasn’t the best cut.  Next time, I’ll opt for the tri-tip or flat iron.  Sauces were also outstanding and complimentary.  Then, there was that mouth-watering berry shortcake dessert.

After both meals, we purchased a small package of fresh sausages and other meats downstairs.  Both times, the butcher wrapped up and tossed in a few “extras,” including some fresh ground beef in one package and kabob cuts in another.  That was a real nice touch of class.  See if they do anything like that in a big chain restaurant, or at the Aria.

No doubt, Echo and Rig want a loyal clientele.  Based on a great selection of food (90 menu items) that extends way beyond just meats, excellent service and menu knowledge, a highly unusual number of hard-to-find bar items, and an ambiance that is upscale yet remarkably affordable, we will go back.

Hopefully, again and again.

READ:  Another story from Echo and Rig

 

butcher at echo and rig

In front of the butcher at Echo and Rig, where all the meats are prepared

8 Comments

    • NOLAN REPLIES:

      John Curtas is one of the ass-kissing critics far more interested in being “somebody” and shaking hands with important people rather than actually eating and drinking what he writes about. He demands a “show” and doesn’t seem to have any actual concept of taste. In his “review” he completely ignores factors like price (easy to do when someone else is always footing the bill) and the subtle details that make this private first-time start up different from Curtas’ usual hangouts at the trendy Cosmo. I do concede that E&R will need some improvement. After all, it’s only been open a few weeks. But Curtas pretty much lost me when he alludes to “White people’s food” on at least two occasions in his review. What in the fuck is “White people’s food?” Hey Curtas — go back to the Aria with your waifs in black dresses and sip on your Cosmos. We want to eat good food. Not stare at is as art. More than likely, no one recognized Curtas during his visit, so he slams the place.

      — Nolan

      • John is the one critic in this city who appears to be an ass kisser, but in reality he is a back stabber. He is well known for ripping into his friends with the vitriolic yet humorous prose that is his calling card. I agree he is VERY interested in being a “Somebody”, but the truth is this guy knows food (with the exception of Italian I must admit). He and his fellow critic Max Jacobson come from two different sides of the tracks and often argue but the fact remains that both of these guys know food and wine better than most chefs in this city. For that reason, even though I often disagree he has become my favorite writer in this city. He is always a blast to drink/eat with, but thats to be expected, it goes with the territory (yes… I know you both, and you two are surprisingly similar – I bet you would get along great if you someday met but you would certainly disagree about food if for no other reason than John can appreciate a flavored butter!).

        My take on his “demand for a show” is that he knows where a show has been promised by the kitchen, and when one does not appear. He also knows when a “show” is not necessary. My take on this from the outside looking in is that Echo & Rig appears to have promised a show as a world-class joint, but instead it is delivering solid yet affordable product without the world-class component. Thats what I got out of his review… its also what I got from reviews from one other critic in town. It appears they were expecting something that was groundbreaking from the PR twists that were sent to them, but instead got more of the same…. I’ll keep an open mind when I give it a try soon… but I tend to agree that the PR spin needs to match the product, and in this case it may not have happened.

        John paid his own way in the dinner review, as he usually does with all new venues. If he comes back more than once he is often comped because thats what happens in this town because the critics are not anonymous like they are in NYC or LA. His comped meal was lunch, which was probably significantly cheaper than the $300 clams he paid for dinner. Blame the comping on the owners, not him. At the bottom of the review it says “lunch for three was comped and dinner for four (the next night) came to $300, including tip and two bottles of wine.”. I agree that Curtas tends to ignore price in his reviews, he is mostly focused on quality of execution, service, and menu concept and tends to shit all over corporate-contrived concepts (but then again so do I in some situations so that doesn’t bother me, give me a pioneer restaurateur with a stellar vision and staff to match anyday!).

        The Olive Garden review was a joke, it was a take on a review from octogenarian Marilyn Hagerty who has since become the darling of great chefs who bend over backwards to have her review their places and compare it Olive Garden because its really cute! For reference see http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-57394469-1/earnest-north-dakota-olive-garden-review-goes-viral/

        The Batista’s review was a take on how refreshing it is for a kitchen to understand what it is, and how they understand and actually agree with bad reviews. Batistas knows exactly what it is, there is no pretension, and thats what Curtas was embracing… its a place that makes solid “Eye-Talian” American food the way it was done 40 years ago… not a thing has changed for the better or worse because Batistas model works. Even though I’d hate the food, I gotta admire a biz like this that “gets it” and knows what it is without trying to pretend they are something that they are not.

        PS: I think some of his razor sharp wit was lost in translation… the “white peoples food” comment was a dis on the lack of creativity in the Summerland area, and to be honest it was quite funny because he is included in that description. You two share a similar razor-sharp expressive tone, I thought you would like his review even if you didn’t agree – guess I was wrong 🙁 Miss ya buddy, lets eat! I’ll be back from Europe in early Oct.

        • NOLAN REPLIES:

          Wonderfully thought-provoking rebuttle, SM. We shall continue this discussion one-on-one upon your return.

          — ND

          • Rebuttled with love. See you soon!

  1. i have not eaten at “echo rig” but i must say that curtas’ vitriolic usage of alliteration is simply delightful!
    “conceived through conceit and contrivance to connive itself through carefully controlled corporate construction.”
    lol!

  2. I feel like if you’re going to post online, your pics should be better quality and I can’t believe you only tipped $13! Yikes.

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  1. My Second Best WSOP Dinner of the Year - Nolan Dalla - […] balcony, which overlooks a large courtyard.  I have written a highly-favorable review of ECHO AND RIG HERE, when it…

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