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Nero’s Tuscan Steakhouse at Caesars presents an updated menu.

By Lori Hoffman

Add Comment | Comments: 0 | Posted Nov. 19, 2011

ATLANTIC CITY — Nero’s Tuscan Steakhouse at Caesars, featuring fine dining with a beautiful view of the ocean and Boardwalk, unveiled some of its new menu items at a recent press event. The classic steakhouse/seafood entrees have been enhanced with an Italian twist, including a new antipasti bar, Italian entrees and pastas and a revamped wine list, under the direction of Caesars Executive Chef Keith Mitchell.

The evening began with a quartet of appetizer tastings, a duck springroll with Gorgonzola cheese, butternut squash arancini, Nero’s twist on clams casino and Florida stone crab cocktail. The springroll was tasty but overpowered by the Gorgonzola; the duck was lost. Much better was the arancini a beautiful fried ball of rice with Caviocavallo cheese, pancetta and the sweet butternut component. Butternut squash was a theme throughout the night, illustrating the restaurant’s promise to use fresh seasonal ingredients.

Once we were seated, the first course arrived, a wonderful, creamy Polenta under glass made with stone ground white polenta, sweet corn-porcini mushroom ragout and 25-year-old aged Balsamic vinegar. Instead of the usual stirring technique, the polenta was steamed for five hours, giving it a creamy custard-like consistency. It was magnificent.

Next up was house-cured pancetta (another favorite ingredient of the evening) wrapped around Cape May scallops. The delicious scallops were plated with a butternut squash-black trumpet mushroom salad and a warm maple-Vin Santo vinaigrette that brought out more of the sweetness of the scallops.

The “salad” course was a ball of Burrata (Buffalo mozzerella) stuffed with sheep’s milk ricotta. The cheese was bland by itself by when paired with the spicy tomato jam, Parma prosciutto, arugula and a saba vinaigrette was a lovely course.

Nero’s surf and turf entrée was strips of rare New York strip with a creamy pomes fondant, baby carrots, and crispy cippolini onions on the turf side. The steak was perfectly cooked and seasoned. This was accompanied by basil marinated gulf shrimp with a Fra Diavolo vinaigrette.

The dessert was an all-star selection, a chocolate crostata. The pastry was oozing with Verona chocolate topped with a mound of salted carmel gelato, with a poached pear on the side. This dessert is one of the reasons the term decadent was invented.

Nero’s new menu items are an outstanding addition to superb Atlantic City dining scene.