New Restaurant of the Year
Naxos Taverna
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A selection of traditional Mediterranean dips at Naxos Taverna
D E S E R T C O M PA N I O N
| 89 | R E S TA U R A N T AWA R D S
This strip of desert we call our home may be worlds away from a Greek island on the Aegean Sea, but luckily for us, chef Mark Andelbradt has chosen to dock Naxos Taverna at Red Rock Resort, giving us an ocean’s bounty of fresh seafood and more. The restaurant, set off a bit from the casino floor, has a cool coastal vibe, with soft blue lighting, exposed beams with greenery, and a counter where you can watch all the chef action. While the interiors are lovely, it’s truly the food that transports you to the Greek isle of your dreams and where Andelbradt was inspired by the simplicity of the cuisine. “It’s your mom’s cooking, it’s your grandmother’s cooking, with ingredients that come locally in their own backyard,” he says. Here, you’ll find that in the presentation of the fish, the freshest catch flown in daily from around the world, simply grilled over charcoal and served with lemon and sea salt or steamed in a salt bake. Undergirding everything is top-quality olive oil, which the chef sources himself from Greece. Even before you get to that showstopping head-on, bone-in whole-fish presentation, Naxos’ menu is built around the conviviality of the Sunday supper. Everything is made to share, from the dips to the outstanding small plates such as the kataifi-wrapped prawns, charred Spanish octopus, and those irresistible zucchini and eggplant chips. The salads — from beet and fennel to the classic Greek — are a showcase on their own, or as an accompaniment to seafood- and meat-forward mains. For us desert denizens parched for the coolness of an ocean breeze, Naxos Taverna is a refreshing addition to our culinary scene. Let’s raise a glass of Greek wine or a tsipouro cocktail to that. — GD