Michael Carrigan
Lakeside Desert Chef
Chef Michael Carrigan’s physical resemblance to his fellow Las Vegas native resident, Andre Agassi, is startling. After spending a few hours chatting with him over lunch on the patio of the Mira Lago Restaurant, at the Reflection Bay Golf & Beach Club outside Las Vegas, it was apparent that he is also driven by the same ambition for his kitchen and career that it takes to make it in professional sports.
In fact, Chef Michael’s ambitious recipe contributions also reveal this chef’s need to achieve beyond the call at every opportunity. For this feature, he was asked to contribute one special recipe using fresh seasonal ingredients, so of course Chef Michael serves up five recipes that create two dishes with a short ingredient list that is repeated in differing cooking styles throughout the recipes. His need to always exceed expectations will no doubt carry this talented executive chef of Mira Lago to serve aces from his own court one day. This month’s featured recipes work together to create a masterful plate of supporting flavors, yet the prep stages are easy and achievable by anyone.
The Mira Lago Restaurant sits in the middle of the Lake Las Vegas Resort complex, lakeside at Reflection Bay Golf & Beach Club. This private development of several hillside neighborhoods surrounds a lake made by the harnessing of a tributary stream that flows into nearby Lake Mead. The resort is a self-contained residential community that includes several high-end hotels, casinos and a shopping center as well as golf and boating, some seventeen miles east of Las Vegas in Henderson, Nevada.
The Mediterranean themed architecture that is carried throughout the housing developments, shopping area, clubhouse facilities and restaurant encourages the slower pace of an Italian countryside lifestyle. While it is only a short drive from the glitz of the Strip, where Michael had directed the opening of Carvings at the Mirage Hotel before coming to Mira Lago, it is light years away in style. The Mira Lago has a private club atmosphere that is supported perfectly by Chef Michael’s comfortably casual, yet always white tablecloth dining experience. Whether surrounded by the high window elegance of the main room or enjoying patio dining fanned by desert breezes cooled by the mile long lake it overlooks, the patron is urged to linger awhile.
The Chef is also very proud of the business side of his kitchen. Since taking over at the Mira Lago Restaurant three years ago, the venue has become the most fiscally successful property of the Lake Las Vegas Resort holdings. One of Chef Michael’s specialties, which has developed into a lucrative portion of the restaurant’s bottom line under the chef’s direction, is the orchestration of large banquet events.
“The distance between here and Las Vegas is a two-edged sword,” the chef explained. “It does make the round trip a bit challenging for the patron who is staying downtown. However, that same distance guarantees us the more appreciative diner, who is tired of the fast food gourmet plating of the Strip, as well as a growing local clientele. Our patrons appreciate slow-cooked foods served with an eye on excellence rather than table time. Here, I enjoy cooking for diners who enjoy being served and I guess the feeling is mutual as evidenced by the fiscal success of the Mira Lago.”
The flavor combination of Chef Michael’s halibut dish, bathed in a delicate apple-brandy cream nage and garnished with a very unique pancetta (Italian bacon) chip presentation, is simple to prepare yet deceivingly complex in taste. The chef says the type of fish is optional, but the best odds in the house are to stick with his preference. Michael has focused on fish dishes since taking over at the Mira Lago.
The challenge to use a seasonally fresh produce item was completed with a lesson to all about the power of the lowly parsnip, used three separate ways. The chef purées the root with a few common ingredients in a flan, plus pancetta, to enhance the root’s flavor without overshadowing it.
The Spaghetti Squash Salad side dish can be presented on the same plate as the Halibut and Pancetta Flan [see plating #1] or the recipe could also work as a side dish to complement other main entrées. If serving separately, the chef suggests adding roasted parsnip battonettes as a tasty garnish to finish off the plate with flair [see plating #2].
There is no doubt that, in this era of celebrity chefs and television food channels, restaurant patrons are influenced in their dining choice by the individual in the kitchen and come to experience the menu of that person as they would any other performance artist. Remember the name, Michael Carrigan, as you will no doubt be reading more about this talented chef as his career unfolds. For those planning a trip to Las Vegas, a very good bet would be to make the short trek out to Henderson to experience this chef’s culinary flair before the crowds of Sin City discover him. In fact, to put a new spin on a now infamous phrase, what happens near Vegas will not stay a secret in Vegas for much longer!
