The Pasta match: Batali vs. me?

No, just kidding. I can be (overly?) critical at times of Batali's restaurants but I must admit that Batali knows his pasta, especially when it comes to ragu.

While reading Caroline's post about her meal at Enoteca San Marco, I remembered that I too had tasty bucatini all'amatriciana there when we were in Las Vegas a few months back. Despite all the kitsch of the Venetian's decor, I felt like I was in Venice for a few minutes. OK, maybe not, but that dish and the antipasti we had before were totally delicious. Not cheap by the way but good.

The above slideshow also contains a picture of Spaghetti alla Bolognese I had cooked. The recipe is inspired by that of Batali, published in Wine Spectator in 2007. I had substituted white wine for red one and celery for leek...and also slightly adjusted the quantity of meat (but the 1/3 rule of thumb for each type of meat is quite spot-on).

Enoteca San Marco
The Venetian
3355 Las Vegas Boulevard South
Las Vegas, NV
Tel: (1) 702 677 3390