Fanciful cakes abound in local Jewish bakery

By Max Jacobson

Wednesday, April 15, 2009 | 5:32 p.m.

Greetings, Vegas epicures.

Freed's Bakery, which started back in the Stone Age (1959), has long been, and remains, the premier Jewish bakery in the city. Their Trop location is legendary, but since Labor Day 2007, they have been serving their famous rugelach, chocolate chip Danishes, Black and White cookies, and strawberry shortcakes at a 2,800 sq. ft. location in Richmar Plaza, 9555 S. Eastern Ave.

When you enter, you'll probably see a team of women processing orders for an array of wedding and specialty cakes. Cakes can be constructed to massive heights, covered with butterflies and flowers of fondant sugar, and sell for up to $3,200. Their cakes have been featured on TV shows such as Rachel Ray and Roker on the Road.

Recently, I toured the place by Max Jacobson Freed (how weird is that?). Max, the affable young store manager, allowed me to sample rugelach, cream cheese dough baked with different fruit and nut fillings, a Chocolate Fat Tire, a ringed coffee cake, and kichel, a puffy, sugar crusted Eastern European pastry. Wow! Call 456-7762 for store hours.

Meanwhile, at RM Seafood, temporarily closed upstairs, but always rocking one level below, where chef Rick Moonen serves his sustainable seafood specialties and maintains an amazing raw bar, amazing things are happening.

Chef Adam Sobel has joined the restaurant and is collaborating with Moonen on a new menu called Lounge Bites. Their upstairs lounge has stayed open, and in here, while sipping creative cocktails, you'll have some of this country's best bar chow.

For instance, you might start with Spanish Iberico ham, served with tomato jam, crispy bread and garnishes. The bagel and lox is deconstructed and rethought with Arctic char, a cousin to the salmon, inside rounds of pumpernickel smeared with sauce Gribiche. Steak tartare, which Moonen promised would be the best I'd ever had, really was, thanks to the flavors of Sriracha sauce and other secret ingredients.

Baked clams, a Sobel concoction, are advertised "Chef Adam Style", and what you get is a clam fritter, four in fact, on a spoon, with a raw clam alongside it. There is also sushi from Moonen's sustainable sushi bar, artisan cheeses, and several ultra-creative desserts.

The restaurant, inside Mandalay Bay, can be reached at 632-9300.

Max Jacobson is the principal food columnist in the Las Vegas Weekly, and a Food and Wine Journalist for Vegas Magazine. He can be reached at 702-990-2454 or [email protected].