The influx of haute-cuisine, high-profile restaurants in Vegas means there are ever so many places now where you may feel like you have to take out a bank loan in order to eat there--and you may wonder why you ought to. Always feeling free to spend your money, we suggest you should perhaps blow it all at Le Cirque. However, if the service is poor, as some reports indicate, be sure to let the management know. After all, it IS your money.

The surprisingly small dining room (you may be virtually rubbing elbows with your neighbor, so keep inflammatory secrets out of the conversation) is decorated with murals of quaint bygone circus themes and a ceiling draped with gay fabric meant to evoke the Big Top. The busy decor does add to a cramped feeling.

The subtlety of flavors demonstrates that this is truly sophisticated cuisine, rather than a place with just pretensions toward the same. The menu changes seasonally, but here's what had us in raptures on a recent visit: appetizers of sea scallops layered with black truffle, wrapped in puff pastry, and a creamy foie gras du Tochon, marinated in sauterne and topped with more black truffle; and main courses like properly aged filet topped with exquisite foie gras, and a vaguely Moroccan roasted honey-spiced glazed duck with figs (the caramelized onion on the side didn't quite work, but the figs most assuredly did). Desserts tickle your fancy as they cavort on the plate.