At the SW Steakhouse of the Wynn Las Vegas, a picnic with carpaccio, sparkling bread and marvelous

At SW Steakhouse at Wynn Las Vegas, you can certainly experience the full thing, occupying a table in the hubbuby dining room (in the best way) spanning the lake of dreams, tending to fresh seafood and cuts of beef pampered and truffled this and that.

You could also do what I call picnicking at the bar (especially when there are only one or two of you). The picnic requires less commitment than the main restaurant – it’s perfectly fine to order just an appetizer with a glass of wine. Service is also faster and you never know who you might run into on the next stool.

A recent picnic dinner at the bar included carpaccio ($30), Spanish bubbly ($18), and the restaurant’s wonderful monkey bread (free).

Carpaccio, made from the famous Snake River Farms beef, generously covered a large plate, the beef sprinkled with arugula, sun-dried tomatoes and shaved Parmesan cheese. The dish: salty, hazelnut, peppery, sweet. A sprig of Raventós i Blanc de Nit Rosé sparkling wine from Spain pairs well with the carpaccio.

It’s a “beautiful bubbly that lets the beef sing while the bubbles enhance the pepperiness of the arugula and the natural sweetness of the sun-dried tomatoes,” said Brian Weitzman, executive director of wine at Wynn. (Raventós dates back to the late 15th century and produces some of the best wines in Spain. If you haven’t tried them, do so.)

And now to bread. Ah, me, this bread. “His mother was a bun and his father was a pretzel bread,” as Wynn explains, rightly praising the soft texture, buttery glaze, and “final zap of pretzel salt.” The bread is served warm, and no one would blame you if you wanted to picnic all evening on the bread alone.

For more information, visit wynnlasvegas.com/dining.

Contact Johnathan L. Wright at [email protected]. Follow @ItsJLW on Twitter.