A World Tour for Your Palate | Anima by EDO, Las Vegas, NV

By Bob Barnes

Las Vegas, NV, October 2022

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• GAYOT’s Rating: 14/20
• Cuisine: Spanish / Italian
• Open: Dinner nightly 5 p.m.-9 p.m.
• Anima by EDO is on GAYOT’s:
– Las Vegas Best New & Hip Restaurants

The small plates restaurant Anima by EDO has its roots in Spanish, Italian and Asian flavors. You should plan on coming hungry and bringing along at least one other person to share in this delightful combination that is providing a trip around the world for your taste buds.

The décor features Edison light cluster chandeliers, tile flooring, a high ceiling and large windows allowing ample natural light. Beautiful artwork depicting sea animals alludes to the abundance of seafood on the menu.

Chef Oscar Amador Edo lends authenticity to the cuisine, as he was raised in Barcelona, 10 minutes away from the Mediterranean, and graduated from the prestigious Hofmann BCN Chef School. His résumé in the U.S. includes cooking at Le Cirque at Bellagio on the Vegas Strip for six months before launching his street catering business and then EDO Tapas & Wine in 2018. Chef’s approach is to add a modern and innovative twist inspired by great cuisines from around the world to classic Spanish recipes using the finest products.

The menu is divided into sections of charcuterie, cold appetizers, hot appetizers, pasta & rice, entrées and dessert. A must-have in the charcuterie section is the Catalan olive oil bread ($6), a simple but delectable combination of fresh tomato, olive oil and sea salt that you can upgrade with homemade goat buttermilk ricotta, cultured butter or Spanish anchovies.

From the cold appetizer section, the Andalusian beets & carrots ($16) taste nothing like the beets my mother used to make us eat out of the can and this avowed carrot hater learned to love the root vegetable, as this version is marinated in cumin and served with Meyer lemon yogurt. The cured tuna sashimi ($18) looks just like a rose flower and is a veritable work of art; it looked so good I didn’t want to disturb it, but doing so resulted in an explosion of flavor with aji amarillo escabeche, Kalamata vinaigrette and seagrape.

Excellent representatives from the hot appetizer selection are the Atlantic octopus ($25) accompanied with olives, capers, potato, Campari tomato and gallega sauce; and eggplant Parmigiana ($18) with basil crisp.

As someone who is not a fan of bone marrow, I have to say the truffle cavatelli ($28) with salchichón (Spanish summer sausage), bone marrow and English peas from the pasta & rice menu made me rethink my dislike, as its addition definitely added a huge amount of richness to the dish.

If you’re still hungry enough for an entrée, there are eight options including braised short ribs ($34) served with Semolina gnocchi, maitake mushroom and black pepper sauce; and turbot ($34) with black butter-ginger hollandaise, capers and wild mushrooms.

Dessert lovers will like the granita ($10)—strawberry shaved ice with popcorn mousse; and cremoso de chocolate ($12)—dark chocolate fudge, olive oil, sea salt atop a crostini.

An extensive cocktail list accompanies the fare, with seasonal spotlights on refreshing options including Flight 201 to Brazil with Whistling Andy Bourbon, avua prata, citrus and Malbec float; and Shrimp with a Lobster Tattoo with Tanqueray Sevilla Orange, Italicus, housemade orgeat, yuzu and lemon. There are also house-made barrel-aged cocktails like the Boulevardier with Elijah Craig Rye, Sfumato and Yzaguirre 1884.

> Bob’s tips;
• Vegans and vegetarians will have a lot to choose from here, with nearly a dozen choices, including the mushroom risotto entrée ($25) with truffle ‘cheese’ and fennel pollen and both vegan and vegetarian tasting menus offering 7-course feasts.
• In addition to the cocktails there are red and white sangria loaded with fruit; unique beers like the Stillwater Insetto Wild Ale and Belgian Delirium Deliria Belgian Ale pale blonde; nearly a dozen Amaros; and an extensive whiskey selection with gems like Isaac Bowman Straight Bourbon Port Barrel Finish, locally-produced Smoke Wagon Distiller’s Cut, Japanese Yamato Single Barrel Small Batch and Macallan 12-year.
• The Gramercy is easy to get to, and is just west of the 215 Russell exit. To get to Anima, after entering the complex circle around to the eastern side of the building where you’ll find a lot with ample parking close to the restaurant.