Water Grill opens at The Forum Shops; Trustworthy Brewing’s here

Water Grill will open Wednesday at The Forum Shops at Caesars, in the space formerly occupied by Spago. Water Grill — from the same company that operates King’s Fish House at The District at Green Valley Ranch in Henderson — has had restaurants in Southern California for more than 30 years, with locations in downtown Los Angeles, Santa Monica, San Diego and Costa Mesa, as well as in Dallas, Texas. It specializes in fresh seafood with menus updated twice daily, and usually carries 16 varieties of oysters. During a pre-opening dinner Monday night, the menu featured wild-caught seafood, including live Santa Barbara spot prawns, littleneck clams, jumbo white shrimp, Dungeness crab, hard-shell lobster, Spanish octopus and Ross Sea Chilean sea bass.

The restaurant’s interior, designed to evoke an “old, sea-worn wooden ship,” has accents such as a display of antique fishing rods, suspended oyster shells and oyster-shell gabion walls, and live seafood (lobster, Dungeness crab and King crab on Monday) in tanks near the kitchen. The patio, overlooking The Forum Shops, has been expanded. ▶ reviewjournal.com/watergrill

Pastry partnership split

File it under too good to be true. The only-in-Las-Vegas concept of a Michelin-level pastry chef peddling his sweets next door to a marijuana dispensary has proven short-lived, as Jean-Marie Aboine is severing ties to the recently opened The Cafe adjacent to The Apothecary Shop on West Flamingo Road. A visit to The Cafe this weekend found Aboine’s remaining pre-packaged goodies discounted to move, and a call to management confirmed he’s exiting the business. We’re told the cafe will handle its all-ages, non-intoxicating pastries in-house, and take the menu in “a kind of wellness and munchy direction.”

Paella on the go

Quick and casual aren’t two words usually associated with paella. But that’s the concept of Valencian Gold, a new spot at 7960 S. Rainbow Blvd. by Spanish-trained chefs Paras Shah and Jeffrey Weiss. Guests start with a base of chicken, seafood or vegetarian rice, or a non-rice grain substitute, and then pile on the proteins, dips, sauces and other toppings, for a fast meal priced just under $10.

Brewpub opens at Palazzo

The taps are finally flowing at Trustworthy Brewing Company, the brewpub on Palazzo’s second floor. The California import combines a brewery, tasting bar, barbecue restaurant and game room that can seat over 500, just upstairs from the main casino floor. In addition to the five core beers made on site (rice pilsner, blonde lager, hoppy amber, IPA and oatmeal stout), Trustworthy offers 10 varieties shipped from its Burbank location, as well as various cask, sour and barrel-aged selections.

Go Italian for brunch

Lavo at Palazzo has re-configured its weekend brunch into an endless Italian buffet. For $50, guests can feast on chef Ralph Scamardella’s food to their hearts’ content, with offerings such as fettucine with lobster and truffle served from a wheel of Parmigiano, eggs made to order and breakfast mac and cheese. Optional upgrades allow you to add premium dishes such as a rack of lamb or New York strip, or enjoy bottomless cocktails, sangria and rose. Brunch is offered from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.

New menu delayed

If you were planning a trip to The Golden Tiki to try Sheridan Su’s recently unveiled food menu, you may want to wait a while longer. Equipment issues in the kitchen are being blamed for the Flock & Fowl and Fat Choy chef scaling back his offerings, at least until they work out the problems. Su is consulting with the bar on the menu.

Sightings

Former NFL player and “The Bachelor” star Colton Underwood and his bachelorette, Cassie Randolph, with family at Sake Rok at The Park.

The Review-Journal is owned by the family of Las Vegas Sands Chairman and CEO Sheldon Adelson. Las Vegas Sands operates Palazzo.

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