Meet Sin City's Newest Star: A Rare White Truffle

The near-two-pounder will be served at Ferraro's Italian Restaurant & Wine Bar.

OUT-SIZED SUPPING: Fish stories are often said to be told where fish are caught. "It was the biggest trout ever" and "that snapper was as long as my arm" are common refrains, but the upshot is the bigger the tale, the more entertaining the result. But there are a few places where fish stories reign supreme, and with good reason: They tend to be true. Las Vegas is a center for the out-sized story, of course, with its giant buildings and giant shows and giant fountains and giant ways to win money (and, well, the reverse). So when something that is "extraordinarily large and rare" rolls into town, we know this is no fish story: The largest and the rarest of anything tend to keep Southern Nevada on their travel itinerary.

AND THAT LARGE AND RARE THING... is a white truffle. Weighing in at "nearly two pounds" -- hefty stuff when you get into the rare truffle sphere -- the lumpy goodie made its debut at Ferraro's Italian Restaurant & Wine Bar on Tuesday, Nov. 12. It winged in from Tuscany -- we're seriously picturing it belted in in a tiny airplane seat -- and was greeted with much foodie fanfare. As it should be: It's being billed as "the largest known truffle of its kind to land in Vegas."

NOW, THE ENJOYING: The knobby fungi will festoon some 150 dishes in all during the restaurant's regular dining service. The dishes? Think Pappardelle Mimmo and other pasta-riffic choices that zing with a little truffle-y oomph. Bet this subterranean-born superstar'll be a lively topic in the days to come around the eatery's table, as will the Tartufi e Nebbiolo -- Una Coppia Perfetta, a special truffles and Nebbiolo celebration on Sunday, Dec. 15. Truly, fall has arrived in Sin City, where even the fish stories turn out to be very, very true.

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