Mother load

GETAWAYS • Las Vegas

In a chaotic shimmer of baroque blue, the much-hyped Fontainebleau Las Vegas finally opened in late December. The second location of the Miami hotel brand is attempting to deliver luxuries on the same plane as hip Strip hotels like Aria and The Cosmopolitan. For example: plush, luxe rooms that start at 488 square feet and marble bathrooms with massive tubs. Or the on-site Lapis Spa, a two-story, 55,000-square-foot Piero Lissoni-designed space, with soaking pools, cold plunges, treatment rooms, and a “snow shower”.

It’s also competing in the dining department, in a de rigeur Vegas way: By importing other cities’ big names. Here, it’s Evan Funke’s Hollywood spot Mother Wolf. Funke’s initial solo venture, Felix Trattoria in Venice, is still packed every night, as is his three-story namesake, Funke, in Beverly Hills. But it was the gilded Mother Wolf that placed him in a new echelon. The Vegas branch lives up to the standard and more importantly, and at least for now, is the easiest table of any of Funke’s restaurants.

Once you’re in, start with the rigatoni, an incredibly simple, four-ingredient thing of beauty — luminous, pink, salty, viscous. Delicate fior di zucca, stuffed fried zucchini blossoms, come with tissue-paper breading and a spoonful of ricotta-and-Parmigiano filling inside. In a city built on excess, in a room flush with it — pane, gambas, agnolotti, a vast selection of amaro, regal wallpaper and over-the-top decor throughout — they stand out for their discreet pleasures. –Caitlin White 

→ Mother Wolf (Las Vegas) • 2777 S Las Vegas Blvd. • Sun.-Thurs. 5-1030p, Fri.-Sat. 5-11p • Reserve.