Striking Gold in Vegas Want to dine like the Donald? Check out the new DJT.

It may be home to some of the best dining in the West, but when you have to navigate through a smoke-filled casino, choking and weaving a path through flashing, clanging slot machines, a measure of gastronomic magic can be lost by the time you see your amuse bouche.

And so the arrival of DJT, the restaurant in the new Trump International Hotel & Tower, is a breath of fresh air in Las Vegas--there’s no casino, and no smoking anywhere in the hotel. The civilized tone is set the moment white-gloved doormen show you in.

The restaurant is done in shades of eggplant and gray, with a glamorous 1930s feel. All 16 tables are prime--cushy circular banquettes that radiate from a central column and curtained booths that circle the room’s periphery. All feel very private, and with service that coddles but doesn’t smother, it’s hard not to feel like a billionaire.

Chef Joseph Isidori, who was personal chef for the Trump family, turns out market-inspired cooking, and the menu prices aren’t as awesome as you might expect for a top-drawer Vegas dining room. The real surprise? The adventurous wine list with down-to-earth prices, put together by sommelier Michael Shearin (fresh from a stint at Restaurant Guy Savoy at Caesars).

Slide into a booth, sip a glass of Pierre Peters Champagne, and dine on roasted California squab with Chinese black beans or king salmon with steelhead roe and grapefruit. Hard to trump that.--

DJT, Trump International Hotel & Tower Las Vegas, 2000 Fashion Show Drive; Las Vegas; (877) 878-6711, www.trump lasvegashotel.com.

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