Columnist Muriel Stevens: A comforting experience at the Venetian’s Pinot Brasserie

Friday, May 21, 1999 | 9:54 a.m.

A welcome addition to our burgeoning dining scene is Joachim Spichal's Pinot Brasserie at the Venetian.

Dubbed a Franco-California bistro-style restaurant, it is the quintessential French brasserie and more. Except for the oyster bar in the cafe (due to be completed any minute) everything in the kitchen and dining room was in place when I dined there earlier this week.

Spichal reached for and achieved the comfort and style of an authentic French brasserie -- complete with a rotisserie and a oyster bar tended by rubber-booted, aproned servers who wear the traditional blue cap.

There were three of us at the dinner table so we were able to taste many dishes. We are all veterans of brasseries, having dined in any number during trips to France. Brasserie dishes are the comfort foods of France, simple, basic and good. In the hands of skilled chefs, such as Spichal and Pinot Brasserie Executive Chef Brian Bennington (formerly at Spichal's California flagship, Patina), they are special.

Before moving to Las Vegas Bennington embarked on a gastronomic tour of France along with another of Spichal's proteges, Executive Chef/Partner Octavio Becerra (twice nominated as "Rising Star Chef of the Year" by the James Beard Foundation). Becerra is Executive Chef at Pinot Bistro in Los Angeles.

Spichal and Becerra will continue to be presences at Pinot Brasserie.

The dinner menu includes appetizers, salads and a classic French onion soup gratinee -- a crusty cheese topping ($7.50-market price); main courses ($17.95-market price); family style dishes, $20.50-$28, sized for two or more -- prices are per person; and a plat du jour (plate of the day) for each day of the week ($19.95-market price).

Seafood is of premium quality. A selection of seasonal oysters, little neck clams, black mussels, Dungeness crab, lobster, shrimp cocktail, periwinkles, sea snails and scallop tartare is offered a la carte -- $4.25-market price.

Shellfish platters ($47-$119) are sized for two or four diners. The Pinot Prestige that we had was stupendous. A huge metal bowl filled with Maine lobster, Dungeness crab, assorted oysters, clams, steamed mussels, periwinkles, sea snails and a serving of scallop tartare -- all on ice -- was placed atop a metal stand. It was easy to access and wonderful to look at. With the addition of salad, dessert and a bottle of wine, it would have been a splendid meal, but we were on a mission to taste as many dishes as possible.

A battery of flatware came with the seafood: picks were for the tiny periwinkles, a cracker for the lobster and crab shells and a seafood fork. We dug in with gusto. All of the seafood was briny fresh. Only the sea snails were chewy, but they were flavorful.

We next shared a warm lobster salad with braised endive -- the endive was outstanding and the lobster, barely warm, was so tender, yet crisp. An unctuous slice of foie gras accompanied with a chutney made of dried apricots, raisins and cranberries, shallots and port wine was an ideal counterpoint to the richness of the foie gras; plus a salad with greens, sun dried and roasted yellow, and red cherry tomatoes and crisp, fresh asparagus.

Our gastronomic tour of Pinot Brasserie continued with the plat du jour: rotisseried Atlantic salmon studded with bacon and served with grilled leeks and warm lentils vinaigrette; sauteed dorade (Pacific snapper) with spinach and an earthy ragout (stew) of wild mushrooms; and a seared sea scallop.

Since this was a tasting dinner (except for the shellfish platter), the portions were sized just right.

Oven-roasted lamb loin, properly pink, was served atop grilled vegetables and a creamy fennel polenta. The faint anise flavor of the fennel was just perfect. Farm-raised rabbit was accompanied with a crouton topped with duck rillettes. Rillettes is made from a variety of meats (usually pork) or poultry that are slowly cooked in seasoned fat. When tender, the meat, or in this case duck, is pounded into a coarse paste. The flavor is terrific. The sauces that accompanied each fish and meat dish were all natural reductions without any thickeners. The flavors were intense and beautiful.

One portion of the French artisan goat cheeses, served at the ideal temperature to fully appreciate the distinctive flavor, was enough to give each of us a taste.

We debated dessert. Should we? Should we not? Of course we did. What kind of researchers would we be without trying Pastry Chef Cindy Kruse's creations?

From the flavorful fresh fruit sorbets to the wicked milk chocolate mousse (the dessert special of the day), the desserts were irresistible. We also sampled the warm rhubarb-strawberry clafouti, a cobbler-like dessert topped with marzipan sorbet and Cindy's excellent white chocolate cake with fresh berries.

A late harvest Sauvignon blanc dessert wine, chosen for us by Master Sommelier Luis De Santos (formerly of Gatsby's) was ideal with the cheese and dessert.

Our evening was enhanced by the caring service from David Stern. He answered my questions, made wonderful suggestions and was always there when needed.

Dining room hours are 5-11 p.m., nightly. For reservations, call 735-8888.

Pinot Brasserie Cafe is open for lunch and dinner, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. The cafe has its own menu. Appetizers ($5.95-$10) include a soup of yesterday (it's always better the next day) as well as the onion soup and a variety of dishes that could be a light meal. The main courses ($11-market price) are typical brasserie dishes -- rotisserie chicken, braised ham hocks, mussels and frites (French fries), braised short ribs, a grilled hanger steak, a fish of the day and more.

The shellfish platters and the selection of oysters and other "ocean jewels" are also offered.

Pinot Brasserie is an excellent brasserie offering wonderful, homespun, yet sophisticated fare at a variety of prices. It's a winner.

More Venetian

Getting to the restaurant via Koval Lane was a cinch. Valet parking was available with no hassle. Getting out was a different story. We made our way back to valet parking and waited for an attendant to get our car. No one was in sight to take our ticket, so we walked back inside and learned that the parker should have told us that car pickup is in another location. Why isn't there a sign stating where valet pickup is? Good question, no answer.

Here's how to reach it. Go back to the valet parking area, but do not go outside. Look carefully for a small sign (over a door) that says: "valet pickup." Open the door and there it is. It's not a very attractive pickup area for such a grand hotel, but you will get your car. Exit slowly if you want to go back via Koval. We missed it and ended up on the Strip.

We were in such a mellow mood after our Pinot Brasserie meal we didn't even mind.

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