Herbs & Rye
Clover Club – Gin, Lemon, Raspberry Syrup, Egg White
The Farmer Flatbread – Double Thick Bacon, Spinach, Cracked Egg, Crème Fraiche
Truffled Mac n’ Cheese
Pork and Figs – Gorgonzola, Garlic Mash, Fig Glaze
Sweet Potato Tots with Marshmallow and Honey Crust
Old Granddad Bread Pudding with Vanilla Ice Cream
Heavily praised for an extensive era-specific list of craft cocktails with a menu full of sustainable organic meats and plates far more interesting than the average bar or lounge Herbs & Rye had long been a place of interest and with recent reports suggesting the kitchen to be firing on all cylinders I finally decided to stop by, a Saturday feast for one in the dimly-lit dining area my reward for eschewing alternative plans on Las Vegas Boulevard South. Designed in a style somewhere between “Old time Vegas” and stripped-down speakeasy with a less-than-ideal location on West Sahara it was with eyes still adjusting from the 6pm sun that I entered the small tavern and greeted at a small podium by the woman later to be my waitress I was quickly led to my choice of tables, a menu soon in hand presenting tough decisions with a resultant four item order divided into two courses accompanied by one of nearly a dozen gin based cocktails I’d have liked to try were my liver’s capacity on par with that of my gut. Obviously a space prone to becoming lively as the night wears on but only perhaps half-full during the course of my meal it was after perhaps a ten minute wait that my cocktail arrived and featuring a lovely balance of fruit juxtaposing juniper notes beneath a cloudy of foam the Clover Club was a hit, the flavor profile particularly refreshing when matched to a rich opening duo of tender macaroni unfortunately overwhelmed with truffle oil and a crisp, lightly charred flatbread that fared far better with briny bacon finding its foil in the tang of crème fraiche. At this point debating an Aviation versus the Bee’s Knees it was a bit to my surprise that my second round arrived immediately on the heels of my first and forgetting the second cocktail as it was likely to arrive far too late to be enjoyed with the food I instead dug straight in, the 12oz bone-in piece of pork seared perfectly and coated with bleu over hand-smashed potatoes amidst a jus of pork and poached figs, the later laying split alongside the protein and still intensely sweet…though certainly not as much so as a bowl of tender tots bathed in a pool of honey beneath snowcaps of toasted marshmallow that ranks amongst the best “sides” I’ve had this year. At this point sated but happy to go another round it was to an oral explanation of the restaurant’s desserts that I was finally treated and although large sharing portions of sugared doughnuts and a skillet cookie were hard to resist it was instead in the day’s special that I partook, the piping hot chunk of booze-soaked baguette crowned by a ball of vanilla ice cream proving very ‘special’ indeed with butter and cinnamon bubbling at its base as if the kitchen had known I was coming and prepared it just for me.
THREEE AND A HALF STARS: Slightly more expensive than your average pub-grub and non-casino cocktail lounge but at the same time executing both on par or better than several spots on The Strip Herbs & Rye fills a unique niche in the local dining scene, a place where one would be just as well served in a three course meal with the family as they would be to settle in for a few drinks with friends.
RECOMMENDED: Pork and Figs, Sweet Potato Tots (with $3 Honey and Marshmallow Supplement), Bread Pudding (a daily special.)
AVOID: Truffled Mac n’ Cheese.
TIP: With hand butchered grain-fed organic steaks served at half-price during happy hour along with a couple of interesting appetizers and pastas suffice it to say that one could happily start a night-out at Herbs & Rye before heading to the strip and save a substantial amount of cash, the only necessity being a cab-in-waiting or a willing designated driver as the extensive cocktail list is likely to tempt most to drink more than one.
WHAT THE STARS MEAN: 5 World Class, 4 Excellent, 3 Good, 2 Fair, 1 Poor
http://www.herbsandrye.com/
