C Simril
-
Posts
77 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Store
Help Articles
Posts posted by C Simril
-
-
That "marinated butterfish with black pepper, citron and tarragon vinaigrette" sounds like why I go to restaurants.And espellete pepper, to bring out your Inner Basque. My memory of trudging through the sand with paper plate full of food and a beverage at last year's Uncork'd at Mandalay Bay resurfaced upon reading of your adventures. Sand is for well slept eyes, not culinary events. In my experience, Korean cuisine knows what to do with beansprouts as well as the French know what to do with sauces. Beef and garlic is another made in Korea marriage. Korean grilled meat places were ubiquitous when I lived in Japan, and probably still are, but the beef you get in Japan, at least in those days, was so much better than is available outside of Japan that it seems like a different animal. Maybe one invented by Monsanto. I have vile memories of eating Breakfast Steaks when my family abandoned vegetarianism after the Cuban Missile Crisis. The one off-strip restaurant I want to go to when I'm next in Vegas is Forte. Bulgarian tapas? Sounds like the plot of a James Bond adventure. All I know of Wolfgang Puck is his frozen pizzas. When my daughter and I would visit my parents in LA in the 90s, their freezer was inevitably full of them. But not for long. Congratulations on eating that beet. If I didn't love beets, my long dead Ukranian grandparents would rise up from the grave to beat me up.
-
Finally, writing about food as good as eating it. Congrats, Mr. Ross. Indeed, they do know what to do with green apples at Le Cirque.
-
When I was in Vegas in Feb, the crab cake I had at RM downstairs was better than I thought possible. Catfish sloppy joe had good sauce but was surprisingly lacking in catfish. My server told me the seafood was the most sustainable in Vegas, but I didn't consider that a good thing- Every place should embrace that ethic. Had a good conversation with Rick about that later- he says he leads by example but doesn't seem to have many followers.
Turbot at Le Cirque was as good as Jose Andres' turbot as part of his massive E meal, but neither as good as the turbot at Picasso. Managed to dine not too expensively at Guy Savoy- ordering half portions last year and just bubbles and bites this year, but it's my favourite Vegas restaurant.
I'm surprised Milos hasn't been mentioned in this thread. Great lunch bargain, and more importantly, exquisite fish (Lavraki, their specialty) and a tomato salad (the secret is their special olive oil- don't wait for the waitress to tell you dip your bread in it!) as far above every other tomato salad I've ever eaten as Moonen's crabcake exceeded all competition.
I read John Curtas's Eating Las Vegas blog daily, but haven't had the best of luck finding the dishes he raves about at the restaurants. The halibut with squash blossom he raved about at Sirio a few days ago looks good, but whether you'll actually be able to eat it there is unknown.
-
I went to the 2011 Uncork'd. All the events were interesting and I enjoyed meeting some of the chefs, but the highlight of the trip for me was dinner at Valentino's, not part of Uncork'd. Thanks to David Ross for recommending it. I hope I can return there during truffle season one of these years, which thankfully is in the fall. May in Vegas is way too hot for me.
-
I first had sous vide cooking at Diva a few years ago and it was excellent. Don't know what they're doing now. I recently dined at Jose Andre's micro modernist temple "e" in Las Vegas. I really don't ever expect to see that sort of cooking here. There isn't an audience for it.
-
I ate at e in the 2nd week of Feb. Enjoyed the spheres, glad I had a real gin and tonic before having the foam version of same drink. Enjoyed the very intense Iberico taco and the pork/squid thing was the best pork I've had in North America (which isn't saying much, compared to the pork one can get in Japan). The endless deserts didn't interest me, which is true of deserts anywhere. I had the mocktail pairings which I enjoyed more than the food, particularly the first drink, a green tea-peach puree Jasmine air. I couldn't believe how good that was. The food never achieved that level, but it was better than Alinea.
-
The langoustine fritter was indeed intensely sauced, but it in no way detracted from the seafood. My neighbour who had applauded when I ordered the fritter, later told me it had too much basil. Not for me. I had a French 75 with it, a good pairing, but the reason I ordered that drink is that I read on egullet that it was the source of the Sage 75 cocktail at the Chandelier Bar. But when I got to the bar, they were out of sage so I'll have to wait to have one in Vegas on my next trip. I'd go back to L'Atelier for the fritters and regret having had only one, instead of trying other more problematic dishes.
-
Just back from 6 days feasting in Vegas. Highlights were lunch at Milos (the tomato salad was better than I would have assumed possible), the truffled Maitaki at Bar Masa, and gelee'd vodka cubes at Le Cirque, the langoustine fritters at L'Atelier (though the other fish I ordered there was far too fishy) and the passion fruit cocktail at Twist. I was saddened to find the King Prawns absent from Mix as well as finding Uncle Vincent's Chicken absent from the Rao lunch menu just as the cheese souffle was absent from nearby Payard. Must go there for dinner the next trip. Had the Bubbles and Bites mini-menu with maximum delights at Guy Savoy. As I walked in, the tall waiter said, "you don't like avacado." That he would remember such trivia from a year ago astonished me as much as Ilona remembering my face and name from such a distance. Small bites at Guy Savoy better than the tapas at E the night before. Don't know if it's the best city to dine in, but I was never more than a short walk from a great meal.
-
Wow. Has Fleur deteriorated that much since May? I see the gnocchi dish I loved is gone. Hope the sangria is still good. Maybe Hubert is moving into other projects. The first dish I had there, the "famous" In The Shower was basically just macaroni over which someone had uttered the words "lobster" a few times. When I complained, my server brought me a far more interesting onion soup- much better than Guy Savoy's famous soup I had later; and then the divine gnocchi. A fabulous shitake foamed piece of hamachi. Some so-so pizza thingies. Some very good small drinks, that fell in quality the larger they grew. Soft chairs and a very comfortable space to hang out between more serious culinary activities.
-
My copy of Eating Las Vegas 2012 arrived yesterday. Both entertaining and informative. The book has reinforced my interest in dining at Le Cirque and lunching at Milos, as well as made me consider Michael Mina's cuisine as something to investigate. The veto section allows the reader to explore where the 3 authors are coming from in terms of food preferences to a greater and more entertaining degree than the chosen restaurants. I sure wouldn't want to argue with any of them.
-
Fleur's gnocchi is my favourite Vegas lunch item, but I have yet to lunch at Milos, Julian Serrano and RM Seafood. That will change soon. My servers Mariso and Faryal at Fleur took service to a level I had assumed existed only in a Pixar flick.
-
Hawksworth earned his fame for culinary adventure and reliable quality at West for years. Getting a new place with his name on it gives his the right to charge West prices for minor league pasta with a few fragments of morel? I think the city of Vancouver should be incensed.
On the other paw, Ensemble makes me proud to live in Vancouver, proud to have been born in the same distant province as the chef, and amazed my taste buds could be so delighted in this otherwise minor league culinary town. If they can find someone who can make a decent drink, they would be Michelinorino. Anyone else eating well in Vancouver this year? It's hard to discover from this site.
-
If you're at the Venetian, Valentino for Italian is a given. I did not know service could be that good. Bouchon is hit and miss for me. Mon Ami Gabbi is more reliable for the same things and the chef actually seems to care. The gnocchi at Fleur is as good a lunch dish as I could imagine, and I've eaten a lot of gnocchi in Vegas, but none as good as Hubert Keller's. As for dinner, you can eat as well in Vegas for less, no, I mean on a different price reality, than you can in Paris at the restaurants of the same chefs. From my experience.
-
I saw it at the VIFF here on Wednesday. Found it amazingly boring. It would have worked better as a magazine article. Almost nothing visually interesting happens until the last STILL photographs of the food. I have dined at the American equivalent of El Bulli (Alinea in Chicago) and several of the restaurants of Adria's student Jose Andres so the subject matter was not new to me. But not once during this long movie did I ever see anything that I really wanted to eat. For the price of a ticket ($15) and bus fare ($5) I could have some great food in Vancouver instead of this text book disguised as a movie.
-
David, best view of the strip from the Mandarin? Not compared to Mix at sunset. The passion fruit cocktail I had at Twist was a better drink than my cocktails at Mix, but the city is aswim in good drinks. Had some interesting drinks at Fleur as well; certainly the best of many sangrias I had in Vegas.
-
Viva Las Vegan was quite enjoyable. It started with an opening speech by Steve Wynn about how he became a Vegan. Steve had just gotten married the previous week (I don't know why. According to his biography, he's no more interested in monogamy than JFK was) but he stuck around to tell the story of his then girlfriend's French friend and her 72-year old Indian boyfriend, described as looking 72. Then Steve didn't see him for a year, and when they met again, the man had lost 35 pounds and 20 years. He gave Steve a DVD extolling Veganism, the benefits of which Steve could clearly see. Now it was his turn to convert us, though I suspect many of the guests were already Vegetarian. Equally as important as Steve's health, his employees' soaring health care costs was a reason he extolled to get them off meat too. A number of his chefs (chefs and recipes still up on the Uncork'd site; hint: get a food processor!) came up and demonstrated their dishes and we were given recipes for a number of them- unfortunately not the dishes I wanted the recipes for: Chef Kim Canteenwalla's Society Cafe Vegan Tomato Tasting: Roast Tomato Bisque and Heirloom Tomato Cashew Cheese Salad. I would have asked the chef, but he was busy being interviewed by a tall blond woman in a purple dress who seemed more famous than the chefs. Maybe she has a TV show. I would have also loved to get the recipe for Alex Stratta's Crispy Gardein Milanese with Arugula, fennel and marinated tomatoes. If Kim's dish was the best in the room and one of the best things I ate at Uncork'd, Alex's dish finally gave me an idea what to do with Gardein Chick'n. Alex demonstrated an eggless pasta on stage and gave out the recipe for a Roasted Corn Agnolotti with Oyster Mushrooms which wasn't nearly as good as the Chick'n. The "Crab" cakes from another chef also used Gardein and didn't taste like crab at all. Waiting to get in, we were treated to boozy or mocktail versions of white sangria and other drinks. I found the sangria a bit bland by itself but went very well with the vegan fare. I left the event very inspired- a rare sensation at Uncork'd.
-
I haven't had much luck eating game, with the exception of pheasant. I was planning to order the Chef's Extravaganza at Valentino which looks amazingly cheap for the amount of food. Of course they could all be tapas-size plates. Most of the food I'll be eating will be French, as was the case during my Feb. trip so a big hit of Italian should be a treat and I hear Valentino is quite good. Is there Valentino discussion on Egullet? I couldn't find it. Also just tried to access a bunch of websites about Valentino but my computer refused to open any of them, except the Opentable site which at least let me get into the Valentino website and menus.
I'll certainly post about the interactive lunch. I went to Wynn for his vegan lunch menu in Feb and had some very good stuffed inari skins. Up until my Feb Vegas trip, the best food I've ever eaten was vegan: an heirloom tomato dish and a morel dish at Charlie Trotters in Chicago. I actually saw Steve Wynn walking down an aisle in his hotel and I would have asked him if he ever ate those dishes at Trotters, but he looked to be in a bad mood, and I figured it was better he was angry at something else instead of me.
-
On Thursday, Locavore's Delight with Bradley Ogden and After Hours at Tom Colicchio's Craftsteak. Friday, Chef Showdown Luncheon at 11:30 and The Grand Tasting at &:30. Saturday Eating Las Vegas in the morning, Viva Las Vegan at noon, Toques off to Paul Bocuse at 7 and then Better By the Bay with Alain Ducasse at 830. I also have reservations for both Twist (early dinner) and Mix on Wed and Valentinos on Sunday evening. Also want to go back to Fleur and have another of their great liquid nitrogen coffees, probably Sunday afternoon.
-
I just signed up for 8 events. The Vegas food I had 2 months ago was better than I considered possible. Having the actual chefs cook, instead of their minions, may or may not open a new ceiling. Worth checking out.
-
How was your meal there? I've just returned from Vegas and was quite disappointed with Jaleo, though I was only in the cheap seats. Getting showered with splintered glass from a plate dropped near me was actually not the worst thing that happened to me there (that would be the date/bacon atrocity). Even China Poblano only really made it with the scallops and key limes. One out of six dishes in 2 restaurants being reccommendible is not a good average for a celebrity chef. It isn't much of an average for a dog.
-
At least someone from Alex called to tell me of their closing, thus cancelling my reservation. I made a reservation for Picasso that night instead.
-
Thanks for the advice. I just called them and was told they don't do lunch, unlike what they say on their website. At least I got into China Poblano for lunch. If I'm not too full from the restaurants I'll be dining at in the evening, I might stroll by Jaleo and see if they'll let me in for a late tapa. I'd love to sample the pleasures of the new E micro-restaurant which sounds like a new iteration of Minibar but I would have a better chance of winning a lottery than getting in there. Maybe some lucky diner will post a review of it here.
-
I just discovered that Jose Andres has opened a few restaurants in Vegas. I ate at Jaleo in DC when I was there in 05 and found their Tapas to be the best I'd had outside of Spain, at least in 05. The 60 Minutes piece on Andres said you have a better chance of sitting next to Jack Nicholson at a Lakers game than of getting in Andres' The Bazaar in LA. The same seems to be happening at his Vegas places. Today I tried to make a lunch reservation (12:00) at Jaleo and was told by Open Table that nothing was available within 2 1/2 hours of then. When I tried for a 2:30 reservation, Open Table said there were no reservations available for 2 monthes of my chosen date (Feb). I did get a reservation at China Poblano but I'm more interested in Andres' tapas. The website says walk-ins welcome. Has anyone on egullet walked into Jaleo and gotten in?
-
I'm planning to spend 5 days in Las Vegas restaurants next Feb. Mix, Twist, Savoy, Alex and Robuchon. I'd like to suggest some things that interest me in case you've had a bad experience with that dish, or any other. I just noticed just now that Mix has a new menu. It will be my first meal in Vegas, and hopefully not my worst.
My interest in this quest began with an article in my local paper about Robuchon, about 4 years ago. My restaurant-loving 90 something parents had just moved to Vancouver and wanted to sample its best restaurants. They remembered fondly eating in Paris, and in their honour, I want to visit:
Robuchon: La Lagustines, Les Champignons, Le Bar.
I have no interest in dessert. A finely paired glass of wine with the langoustines and a different one with le bar would be all I would be interested in as far as alcohol.
Has anyone here eaten those dishes?
Dining in Las Vegas: Part 2
in Southwest & Western States: Dining
Posted
I dined at Robuchon last Feb when I was staying at the Imperial Palace. I was told a gold cadillac labelled MGM Grand would pick me up, but it didn't appear. The attendant asked who I was waiting for and I said the Robuchon vehicle. He directed me to a black SUV, no labelling whatsoever. Felt like I was in a spy movie. Food was good, although the atmosphere was more Versailles than one would expect in Vegas in this era. I kept expecting Marie Antoinette to come out and offer me some cake.