Today in Las Vegas Magazine

Desert Oasis

Very few restaurants in this city offer a respite from the bright lights of the Strip, and if you happen to belong to this camp, then the Springs Café is right up your alley. It might be a surprise, then, to hear that this charming outlet is backed by celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck. Yes, he of the gourmet pizzas and Spago-fame. It will even be more of a surprise to learn that the price-points at this restaurant are actually very, very affordable.

The evening we were there, the place was hopping. We suspect it has to do with the food – fresh, simple, nothing elaborate, letting the quality speak for itself.

Chicken Salad	Pizza

The menu offers basic café fare – salad, sandwiches, pizzas and desserts – and the set-up is just as spartan, albeit in full-designer mode. Diners queue up at the counter to order, and the food is delivered to their tables.

We sampled some of the most popular items on the menu such as the Chinois Chinese chicken salad – mixed greens topped with roasted chicken, crispy wonton strips and sesame cashews, in a light honey-soy dressing.

The BBQ salmon “BLT” was simplicity, perfectly executed. I am not particularly fond of salmon, finding it too “meaty” for seafood, but this version was unique – the thick-cut fish was surprisingly flaky, and the bacon proved a salty contrast to the sweet fish.

Of course, a must-try is the pizza. Cooked a la minute, it comes served piping hot, and in our case, all five cheeses combined to form a bubbling, gooey, creamy mass of salty and sweet; the textures thick, at the same time, almost liquid.

BBQ Salmon "BLT"	Chocolate Mousse

Desserts are also given the same care and attention as any of the other items on the menu. The chocolate mousse – a mound of chocolate served atop a crunchy chocolate cookie, was surprisingly light; not at all cloyingly sweet as is with most chocolate desserts.

Couple all these elements with the café’s ambiance, and it may very well be the perfect spot for some rest and respite from life’s daily toils, minus Strip prices.