EMPRESS COURT -- EXOTIC HAVEN FOR FINE DINING

Authentic Chinese cuisine has a luxurious home in the Empress Court restaurant at Caesars Palace, named in USA Today among the top authentic Cantonese restaurants in the United States.

An exotic Epicurean attraction for discriminating clientele, Empress Court boasts a culinary team that specializes in Hong Kong-style Cantonese cuisine. Many are experts in varied Asian fare, including Malay, Thai and Indonesian. Its multilingual staff, now headed by Chef Pui Kee Hui, was first recmited by a Caesars food and beverage team after months of scouting the cosmopolitan city of Hong Kong.

Originally built in 1987, the Empress Court reopened Dec. 22, 1997, in a new Caesars Palace location, atop the Terrazza (Italian) restaurant, overlooking the resort's Garden of the Gods swimming pools and gardens. At the Empress Court entrance is a large, salt-water aquarium, hinting that the restaurant's seafood is superb. The interior decor is a dramatic contemporary Chinese style. The focal point is a central romda with an indigo ceiling crowning a metal mesh lighting fixture above radiating patterns of quarry-rough natural fossil stone flooring. The restaurant's muted color scheme of cream-colored stone floors and ancient plaster walls contrasts with the bold colors of contemporary art by George Ketteral, Randy Beckleheimer and Frank Faulkner, and sculptures by Chris Lee.

An embroidered Chinese silk fragment inspired the carpet design in greys, golds and shades of curry.

Authentic accent furniture, such as chow tables, tea tables and altar tables in ebonized wood or aged silver leaf finishes add warmth to the dining room. Contemporary demi-lune cabinets in bleached maple and polished granite function as service stations.

Empress Court offers seating for 180 guests, including three interior private dining rooms and intimate outdoor terrace seating.

Empress Court was the first restaurant in Nevada to specialize in serving live fish. Giant kitchen fresh water and salt water aquaria house daily shipments that can include live rock cod, dungeness crab and lobster. Specialized cooking techniques required a custom kitchen design that include heating units with a capacity of 16,000 BTUs each. To cool the extremely hot counter surfaces, Caesars devised a system of periodically flooding the counters with water. Exotic dining selections require the use of rare, imported spices and condiments -- many imported from Asia.

The varied menu boasts a la carte selections of abalone, shark's fin and bird's nest, along with entree items such as fresh lobster in savory Chinese broth, jade chicken with Yunnan ham, golden crisp squab, sauteed prawns with walnuts and much more. Vegetarians may enjoy the Empress Court's Buddhist Vegetarian Feast and luscious tofu dishes. Freshly prepared noodles, a Chinese culinary art (which Marco Polo brought to 13th-century Italians) are another Empress Court specialty, carefully cut and cooked to perfection. In addition to its exotic a la carte menu, Empress Court offers selected American Chinese favorites and includes pre-selected, affordably priced, multi-course Emperor's and Empress Feasts.

Furnishings, lighting, the gentle strains of the Chinese dulcimer and exquisite tablewear provide a dramatic background for meticulous presentation and a centuries-old tradition of excellent service.

At Caesars Palace, the Empress Court restaurant is open for dinner only. Jackets are suggested attire for gentlemen. For reservations phone 702/731-7731.