Central Michel Richard A DC powerhouse brings its vittles to Vegas

DC and Vegas have a few commonalities, though with Vegas you actually have to show up yourself before all of your money can be gambled away. For a DC fave betting Vegas needs more love from the capital: Central Michel Richard.

With room for 80 on the Parisian cafe-themed patio and 220 more in their terrazzo-floored, burgundy & green-hued dining room, CMP's plating American cuisine with a French accent, a fact their decor embraces by splashing images of seasonal ingredients across a 10ft screen, dangling dishes from the ceiling, and stacking 'em to create an over-sized sculpture in which they're about to topple. Signature starters range from goat cheese Caesars to crab cakes w/ leek tartare, and because seafood just isn't fattening enough, towers here actually come piled with an "arsenal" of cured meats, which usually beats a Chelsea of cured meats, depending on whether Didier Drogba is on the pitch. A large rotisserie can be seen slowly roasting 40 chickens at a time, but bigger appetites can also be combated with 72hr short ribs that arrive sitting over pappardelle and drizzled in Syrah sauce; buckets of fried chicken; and burgers, which run from a house signature piled with bacon and potato tuile, to a lobster job favored for its "surprise crunch", also how to describe the reaction from Phish fans when Fishman comes out NOT wearing a dress. Whoooooaaahhhh dude!

CMP's 24/7, 75ft onyx bar spills from the restaurant into the Caesars main lobby, and although the final list's still being crafted, don't be surprised to find DC carryovers like mint & cucumber gimlets, and rhubarb sours made with Chairman's Reserve, which none of the ones in DC seem to have about emptying your 401k.