There are some restaurants that you have to visit again and again - maybe because you liked your meal so much you can't live without eating it again, maybe it's because you wish you were able to try another item off the menu, or maybe, like Mezzo, it's because the people there take such pride in their business that customers feel like welcome guests.Since our first visit to Mezzo Bistro Italiano on our anniversary in July,
we have been dreaming of our next visit. We don't eat out as much as we used to, so when we go out nowadays, it has to be to somewhere special. And that "somewhere special" is definitely Mezzo Bistro Italiano.
Tonight, we were able to bring along my parents & my brother. My mother is half Roman half Sicilian, so our family knows Italian food. Will my mom like the food? She's not exactly a "foodie" but she knows Italian.
This time, Matt took Chef Marc's advice & called to make the reservation a day ahead - specifically mentioning that his wife is a vegan. Chef got right on it! And today, around 2pm, Matt received a call from Chef listing the ingredients of the Pasta Primavera "vegan special" they were going to make for me tonight. This is personal attention to the utmost degree: a specially prepared off-menu dish AND a phone call to confirm? Wow.
Upon arrival, again I was treated to a warm greeting and told that I was going to enjoy the Pasta Primavera: homemade orecchiette, cauliflower, red, yellow & green roasted peppers, green beans, spinach and carrots with olive oil & garlic, black pepper, sea salt and basil. I WISH I had taken a picture of this beautiful creation because it truly looked like a piece of art. So colorful. And the vegetables perfectly cooked, not mushy steamed pieces of grey matter. The garlic was not overpowering, and there was plenty of oil for dipping the fresh bread.
Everyone in our party tonight enjoyed their meal. To read the full menu, go to the Mezzo Bistro Italiano homepage and download the pdf file. My father & brother both had the Tuscan Pork Tenderloin, my mother had the Tuscan Country Dish (with wild boar ragu), Matt had Chicken Piccata. Obviously, no one else in my family is vegan... but Andrew, is what you would call a "semi-vegetarian". Or maybe lacto-pollo-vegetarian would be the more proper term since he eats dairy & chicken. I asked our waiter what there was for kids and he listed off quite a few choices including spaghetti & marinara sauce, chicken fingers, and intriguingly he said "we make a fantastic macaroni & cheese to order." Andrew perked right up: "I'll have that!!" He loved it! It was probably more of an Alfredo sauce, though I obviously didn't try it. Andrew couldn't get enough of it! He ate about half of it, the rest is in a box in our refrigerator.
As for the rest of us... we stopped stuffing our faces at about the point we would have begun licking the plates. We do have some standards of behavior.
Again, an amazing meal from one of the best kept secrets in Vegas. Thank you Chef, for another great night out. And thank you for placing my first babbling review on your website!!
Grazi.
MEZZO BISTRO ITALIANO:
Mezzo Bistro Italiano
4275 N. Rancho Rd.
Las Vegas NV
702.944.8880
Las Vegas Review Journal
