Where to find really fresh fish in the desert that is Las Vegas

By Jay Jones

April 27, 2016 8 AM PT

"Fresh" is in, "frozen" is out when it comes to seafood in Las Vegas.

Elion Prodani, general manager at Wynn's Costa di Mare restaurant, wheels out a cart teeming with fresh fish and crustaceans.

There's never a single piece of fish on the trolley that has seen the inside of a freezer, Prodani says, though it has been refrigerated along the way.

And that’s saying a lot since all of it was caught 6,000 miles away in Italy.

Chef Mark LoRusso of Costa di Mare said he believes his langoustines from Italy may be the only ones in the U.S. that are served fresh. He said a frozen variety from New Zealand is much more common. (Barbara Kraft)

Chef Mark LoRusso has his dealer in Milan to thank.

"We kind of give him a wish list of what we want," he told me. "When we send that email, they’ll be here two days later."

Branzino, a sea bass, and orata, a sea bream, are among the most popular fish. They are priced at $16 per 3.5-ounce serving. But it’s the langoustines – a member of the lobster family – that provide not only plenty of flavor, but also a bit of mystery.

“We’re not really told where they get them,” LoRusso says. “There’s always been like a secret because only a few people [in Italy] fish them.”

Diners can opt to dine al fresco in outdoor cabanas beside a dramatically decorated koi pond at Costa di Mare. Heat lamps are provided during the chilly season, and misters keep things cooler in summer. (Barbara Kraft)

Prodani said the restaurant’s langoustine supplier services only 11 restaurants worldwide. As at Costa di Mare, which opened in October, the others serve it fresh too.

At Wynn, a langoustine will add an extra $30 to the $195 per person tasting menu.

"They’re not cheap,” LoRusso says. “But there aren’t many places you can get them."

"I think they’re a little sweeter than a Maine lobster," he continues. "We don’t even season them. We just throw them on the charcoal grill.

Corporate executive chef Michael Vignola opens a package of fish at his Strip House restaurant. He said all of his fish arrives at his Las Vegas restaurant within 16 to 18 hours of being caught in Hawaii. (Noah Feck)

Fresh is a common theme in Vegas restaurants.

"It’s really about showcasing the nuances of this fish," said Michael Vignola, the corporate executive chef for Strip House, an eatery with locations in New York and at Vegas' Planet Hollywood. I don’t want to cover it in a heavy sauce. I don’t want to hide it."

A piece of walu sizzles as it is blackened at Strip House, where the chefs serve the fish without heavy sauces or garnishes, which could disguise the fresh flavors. (Noah Feck)

Vignola’s "dock to dish" menu, which began earlier this spring, features fish that have been out of the water no more than 18 hours by the time they arrive at the restaurant. The fish are line-caught in the waters off Oahu, Hawaii, including ono, opah and parrotfish, which can be new to a diner’s culinary vocabulary.

“It’s a little bit of a leap of faith from the guests’ standpoint,” Vignola observed. “We have to sell them, to show them the sustainability. We’re not going out and overfarming them.”

A dish of walu at Strip House. (Noah Feck)

Vignola’s dealer, the Honolulu Fish Co., also supplies two types of tuna – tombo and yellowfin -- to Herringbone at Aria.

Whole grilled branzino, a type of sea bass, is among the fresh offerings on the menu at Herringbone, a fish restaurant at Aria. (Hakkasan Group)

Smoked mongchong is served raw, or crudo-style, without heavy seasonings that could hide its subtle flavors. (Noah Feck)

“As the chef and a fisherman, and fishing being a passion from a young age, I am always trying to find the best and sustainable fish available from all over,” chef Geno Bernardo said in an email.

“The freshest fish is so important,” he added. “You have to use companies that believe in your vision.”