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Las Vegas import Lavo opens in the former Au Bar space, across the street from its sister megarestaurant Tao. There’s a buzzy nightclub downstairs, but it’s debatable how much dancing one might do after consuming a 16 oz. Kobe meatball, eighteen-inch lobster-scampi pizza, and Oreo zeppoles for dessert. Before Brooklyn native Ralph Scamardella became corporate chef of the Tao group, he worked at Le Cygne, the Polo, and Vanessa’s, but it’s his stint at Carmine’s, pioneer of Italian-American family-style excess, that’s reflected here most. Chef John DeLoach will reproduce Scamardella’s Vegas menu, making tweaks over time. — Rob Patronite and Robin Raisfeld