David Ross

Tuesday, May 4- Mandarin Bar, Mandarin Oriental Hotel- Book Signing for Tony Abou-Ganim, “The Modern Mixologist, Contemporary Classic Cocktails.” The Mandarin Oriental Hotel is located within the MGM’s new signature “City Center” complex that includes the Aria Hotel and Casino, Vdara Hotel, Harmon Hotel and Condos, Veer Tower Condos and the Crystals shopping mall. The Mandarin luxury brand of 5-star hotels is known throughout the world from Jarkata to Barcelona and now Las Vegas. The Mandarin Bar is located on a corner of the 23rd floor of the hotel. The bar fronts a glass wall of bottles of liquors, cordials and liquers. On either side are floor to ceiling glass walls, giving customers sweeping views of the Strip—a stunning setting to sip one of Tony’s classic “Cable Car” cocktails. (unfortunately, the photos from my dismal little camera didn't survive). Some of you may recognize Tony Abou-Ganim for his appearance aside Mario Batali on “Iron Chef America-Battle Mango” (Batali cooked, Tony mixed the cocktails). Yet his skills in mixology go back over 30 years. Tony first learned the art of mixing cocktails from his cousin Helen, who helmed the bar of the Brass Rail in Port Huron, Michigan for many decades-she was a pioneer in a trade where men typically kept the bar. I had a chance to get a few moments to visit with Tony after the book signing. The book is filled with historical anecdotes on the history of the cocktail, many of those bits of intrigue accompany photos and recipes that for cocktails that I know I'll find interesting. Another point behind the book is that part of the proceeds of the sales go to the Bartender’s Relief Fund in memory of Helen and another woman, Neva, both of whom had an influence on the Bartender’s craft. The fund helps retired Bartender’s after they have left the trade, many of whom worked for decades without adequate health care or retirement plans. An admirable effort indeed.

Tommorrow I leave for the annual "Vegas Uncork'd" events sponsored by Bon Appetit Magazine. jsmeeker will be joining me in Las Vegas, and together we'll be posting reports on some of the events, people and the food we taste at Uncork'd. Let me serve you an Amuse-bouche of just some of the Chefs, restaurants and people who I plan to dine with during my adventures at "Uncork'd"-Tony Abou-Ganim, "The Modern Mixologist," Mandarin Bar/Mandarian Oriental Hotel, MOzen Bistro/Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Country Club Grill/Wynn, Chef Shawn McClain-Sage/Aria Hotel, Chef Alain Ducasse-mIX/THEhotel, Chef Guy Savoy-Caesar's Palace, Chef Julian Serrano-Serrano/Aria Hotel, the Chefs of Wynn, Joe Bastianich, Chef Joel Robuchon-L'Atelier/MGM Grand, John Curtas-Eatinglv.com and KNPR. I suppose there might be a few other dishes on the menu. Vegas Uncork'd kicks-off on Thursday with a series of private dinners at Caesar's Palace. Look forward to the reports and Tweets beginning later this week.

Dinner last night was the end of a week-long experiment that started bad a week ago--then ended up good last night. The original idea last week was to do sardines in an escabeche "style," meaning I'd use the classic escabeche mixture of vegetables and a combination of olive oil and sherry vinegar. But rather than marinate the sardines overnight and then serve them the next day, I decided to serve the vegetables in the vinaigrette as an accompaniment to broiled sardines. Well, the broiled sardines just didn't taste all that good--far too oily for my liking. The vinaigrette "escabeche" though was good. On night two I took some of the chilled, broiled sardines and broke the meat up, combined it with some potatoes I had boiled the night before and chilled, then combined the potatoes and sardine meat with the leftover vinaigrette--a sort of sardine potato salad "escabeche" style if you will. Another well-sounding attempt but the flavors just didn't work together. So not giving up this week I think I hit on a good dish. I had some Pacific Sole filets in the freezer and I recently saw an episode of a Jacques Pepin cooking show where he did a classic poached sole dish. I had been looking for some ideas to use my sole and so there it was-I would poach the sole and serve it with a new take on the "escabeche" style vinaigrette. I rolled-up the sole filets and poked them with a toothpick. The poaching liquid was chardonnay, bay leaf, peppercorns and some water. The fish was poached for about 10 minutes and then chilled overnight. The vinaigrette started with a bounty of diced vegetables including-Roma tomato, red radish, avocado, carrot, red onion and zuchinni. I added marjoram and basil, lemon zest and juice, orange juice, salt and pepper. I used extra virgin olive oil and sherry vinegar and then also added a small amount of pear-balsamic vinegar. The pear balsamic vinegar adds a nice sweet and sour component to vinaigrette's. I spooned some of the vegetables on the plate, then placed the cold sole filets on top. Yes, a lot of ingredients as you can see in the photo but it was delicious. And I think well-worth a week's efforts of trying to get this darn dish figured out. Sort of. I think it would also work well with thin filets of poached salmon.

Well, chiming in here as a very unscientific home cook, for thick New Yorks of about 1 1/2" and thick tenderloins of up to 2," I only let them rest no more than 5 minutes. They stay hot, which I want, and don't seem to lose much moisture. The tenderloin doesn't of course have as much moisture to begin with as a New York, but honestly, I don't seem to lose much moisture out of my steaks. Rather than let the steak rest on a cutting board, I put the steaks on a small rack over a serving plate while they cool. Any juices that do seep out run onto the plate that I'm serving the steak on, so I basically have steak jus on the plate, which I like. If I choose to make a sauce, I'll add those juices back into the pan and take on making the sauce. It's not a typical technique but it works in my atypical kitchen. For whole roasted chickens, which I usually do on the rotisserie, I'll let a 3 1/2-4 1/2 pound chicken rest for about 10 minutes. Now those I treat differently than the steaks. I keep them on the spit and just let the bird rest before carving.

Congratulations Janet, this is wonderful recongition. And your piece got me to realize about the first time I actually had a Gimlet. It wasn't at any fancy hotel bar, in fact, it was quite unfancy. The setting was at my friend John Ruby's house in 1975 when we were high school seniors. Imagine that, teenagers drinking Gimlets. I didn't have a clue to what a Gimlet was, but John knew exactly how to make one and he of course knew that the correct way to mix a Gimlet was to use Roses's Lime Juice. To this day, 35 years later, I haven't forgotten that taste and I still love a nice Gimlet. Congrats again for your award.

We are still in the midst of one of our best asparagus seasons in years due to our mild winter--and I couldn't be happier. The price is staying at about $1.99 a pound now for over a month for fresh asparagus. The spears are harvested daily within just a few hours of Spokane. This asparagus came from Granger, WA, which is just West of the Tri-Cities which is in the Pasco-Richland-Kennewick area of the state. I made a risotto and then put the asparagus tips in at the last 5 minutes of cooking. Since the spears are so fresh and tender they didn't need any par-boiling before being put right into the risotto. I also added some Dungeness Crab meat that I had in the freezer. All was well with a chilled glass of German Riesling-

I was glad that Jamie did a segment with a large food supply company last week. At first I was skeptical because I thought he was going to go down the path of portraying them as only the bad guys--which in my mind they really aren't--I see them as simply a vendor delivering a wide array of products to their customers. If the customer asks for it, albeit the most unhealthy, highly processed, sugar-glopped, canned stuff on earth, they will sell it to ya. On the other hand, if your order sheet specs call for Kurobata chops and a crate of Kumquats, they'll put that on your delivery van. I was glad that Jamie visited the warehouse and showed that in addition to the thousands of boxes of frozen, processed, breaded, mystery meat cutlets, they also had huge walk-in coolers filled with all-manner of fresh meats, fruits and vegetables. Now mind you, as the representative of the warehouse told Jamie, "we can get anything for you," is not as simple of an answer as it sounds.. ....the additional underlying phrase of course would be "at a cost........" That seems to be one of the main challenges Jamie's been facing in Huntington and no doubt the challenge faced by families and school districts throughout the country--can we eat healthy at a reasonable cost? I think Jamie's only scratched the surface on the issue, but he's certainly made huge strides in the right direction. You can eat healthy at a reasonable cost and you can cook healthy dishes, (stir-fry), in a quick amount of time. Jamie's created a lot of positive energy with the show and I'd like to see him keep it moving forward. While I've been a bit perturbed by some of the "schtick" and editing, that's television. I fully support the message he's delivering and he's done a great job. But this afternoon I was watching ABC and I saw a clip that said tonight was the final episode. Then I checked the show's website and in fact tonight is the final episode after only five shows. Seems a bit of a short season to me. Television has the ability to reach so many people and have such a huge impact I was hoping for more shows. I'm hoping that even though this first season was short, Jamie has made enough of an impact with the sponsors that ABC will bring the show back again. Jamie's put the spotlight on an important issue and the efforts shouldn't stop after the show ends.

I tend to use a product if it gives me the results I'm looking for, which typically means the flavor I want. (And I suppose if a bottled product like liquid smoke is good enough for David Chang, there must be some redeeming qualities about it). I use a few drops of liquid smoke in a smoked creamed corn dish I make in late summer when our sweet corn is ripe. I smoke the ears of corn on the barbecue to give it a true smoked, charred flavor. Then I puree the corn with cream and add a few drops of liquid smoke to enhance the flavor. I also add some smoked bacon and chives to the creamed corn. The liquid smoke gives the final dish a little boost and I don't feel at all guilty for using it. Granted, I haven't ventured out using it on meats.

Last night I grilled a fresh, whole Sea Bream that I simply prepared by stuffing lemon and rosemary in the fish and seasoning it with some salt, pepper and olive oil. I served it with grilled bread and these wonderful Sweet Pea and Tarragon fresh ravioli that I found in the market. They're made by "Cucina Fresca" company of Seattle. I served the ravioli with some fresh Walla Walla, WA, asparagus with a drizzle of olive oil and a garnish of chives from my garden. We are very fortunate in Eastern, Washington, this spring as our asparagus is quite early due to the mild winter. And my chives are thriving and just getting ready to start showing some small buds, another wonder from our mild winter.

Thank you kalypso for adding your perspective and experience. I'm hoping that Jamie is reading our discussion. This got me thinking even more about my experience when I was a kid, and while it was 40 years ago when I was in elementary school, I often think that the way we ate back then was so much more healthy than the way the kids eat in schools today. We had a choice to eat either the hot lunch prepared in the kitchen at the school or to take lunch from home. I didn't eat the hot lunch much because in all honesty my parents couldn't really afford it. Looking back on it now, I got teased for being a kid who couldn't afford a real lunch and carrying a Roy Roger's lunch pail into the cafeteria. But when I think about it today, I was probably eating a pretty healthy lunch. My Mother would always pack a fresh, healthy sandwich, fresh fruit, vegetables and the only small item we'd call "unhealthy" today would be a homemade sweet of some type like a piece of pie, cake or a cookie. Of course, I lived in a time before "Lunchables" and bottled, flavored, "power" waters were invented. Today many people wouldn't want to spend the time it takes, which is really only a few minutes, to make a decent sandwich and to put it in a brown paper bag to take to school. If you care about yourself and your kids I'd take the time. Get off the cell phone and stop texting and make a decent sandwich and put an apple in a bag.

I hadn't realized how messed-up the schools really are until I saw the second episode on Thursday night. We've not only got the issue of School Districts trying to provide food programs under restrictive budget conditions, but they're also dealing with standardized federal and state dietary guidelines that often just plain don't make sense. And along with that goes an incredible amount of food waste that is socially irresponsible that sends a terrible message to the kids. The high school kids all but avoided the fresh salad bar line and waited for their everyday feed of hamburger--and fried chicken sandwiches and fries along with a choice of sugary chocolate or strawberry milk. I would imagine that all those salad bar items were thrown out at the end of the day as probably little of it could be refrigerated and re-used the next day. It was really appalling that the noodles Jamie made to accompany his teriyaki chicken didn't meet the standard for having enough vegetables, (he included 7 fresh veg in the noodles), because it only filled something like 2 of the four compartments on the lunch tray. At least that is what I got out of what the lady who was policing the cafeteria said. So he apparently only had meat and carbs on the tray and no veg in the other compartments or something like that so it didn't meet the standards. I get the fact she was only doing her job in admonishing Jamie, but that's another factor that has to be upturned as part of his "Food Revolution." Hamburgers, fries and breaded, ground chicken sandwiches qualify as nutritious lunches while an entire fresh salad bar goes virutally untouched and a nutrional lunch of teriyaki chicken with stir-fried noodles and seven fresh vegetables doesn't meet the standard because it doesn't fit the compartments of a lunch-tray. Incredible.

Today I asked three of my employees if they had heard of Jaime Oliver and I was pleasantly surprised that all three said that not only had they heard of Jaime but they've either heard or seen "Food Revolution." Talking to just three people is only a sort of rough sampling, but I came away with some interesting thoughts. Two of them are pretty concientious of their diets and what they eat, although they aren't really informed cooks. You don't have to necessarily know a lot about cooking to be interested in eating right and eating healthy and responsibly--which is one of the basics of Jaime's challenge. One of my employee's shops for her fresh fruits and vegetables at Trader Joe's or Whole Foods--another suprise to me since I wouldn't classify her in the economic demographic of the shopper who normally has the means to regularly shop at an upscale market. She knows their produce is higher quality and costs more but is worth it. She is fortunate to live in a large metropolitan area like Seattle that offers both stores. Living in large urban areas does afford one the opportunity to find a wide variety of different types and scales of markets and varieties of foods. Residents of Huntington, West Virginia may not have a Whole Foods nearby, but do they have options to buy fresh produce? Certainly they must. One of the employees has learned to buy just a few banana's or a few oranges at a time rather than a 10lb. bag of oranges and let most of them spoil before they are eaten, only to have to throw them out. Why do we have this urge to "buy in bulk" in America and let so much fresh food go to waste? My employee said he's been shopping "to scale" for a while now, but watching "Food Revolution" made him realize how it's important more than ever to shop and eat responsibly. One final point I drew from my unscientific mini-focus group of three employees today was that none of them wanted their young kids to have to be teased at school or have to be tested for diabetes like the kids on one of the episodes of "Food Revolution." So in some small way Jaime is making a difference so far.

The salmon was delicious although I went about two minutes too long on the broiling and got it a bit overdone for my tastes. I prefer it more on the medium-rare end and it ended up medium. Because you use sweet chili sauce it's not too spicy and not too sweet--just right and the broiling method gives the surface of the fish a nice crisp and a few charred spots. (The credit for the recipe goes to the editors of Bon Appetit). Next time I'm going to try preparing the salmon in the same way and then serving it on top of thick noodles in a soup.

Jaime should post himself at a checkout stand at any Walmart Supercenter in America and see what some people stuff into their shopping carts. That would make for an interesting episode.

Those are excellent ideas and would certainly educate kids on how our foods are grown and go from the farm to the table. Jaime's show reminded me of when I was in school in the 60's and each of our schools had their own cafeteria with real cooks who actually baked the breads, cakes and pies fresh each day. The meats and fish were all prepared right there and weren't prepped and flash frozen in another state then shipped in. We had fresh peach cobblers when the peaches in Oregon came into season each fall and fresh strawberry shortcake each June when those berries came into season. Our head cook, Mrs. Fox, was best-known for her cinnamon rolls. Now this was of course in the days before shopping mall Cinnabons. Somewhere along the way school budgets couldn't support individual kitchens and cooks, so they disposed of the expense and now most of the cafeterias in our school district don't operate the old-fashioned way. The food is shipped in from central warehouses and the food is either frozen or prepared and all that is done locally is to reheat it, steam it or fry it and put it on the line for service. It really isn't fresh like it used to be when I was a kid, but then again, the budget constraints are a lot different today. I hope that "Food Revolution" is more than a one-season wonder and can take this discussion further. There has to be a better answer for kids.

I've seen the barbecue episode and really enjoyed it. I also saw an episode on fried chicken that was pretty good. The show is a nice alternative from Adam Richman making me sick watching him stuff his face on "Man vs. Food." This show focuses on people and real places doing some authentic dishes and I really thought it was great fun. I've already started taking notes on the two fried chicken recipes. I'm sure I won't come close to duplicating what they do.

It will be interesting to see Jaime meet the challenge of parents who seem to think that fast-food not only tastes good but is cheaper and more convenient. It might be cheaper and more convenient in the moment, but I don't suppose it is when you end up paying more in the end for visits to the doctor for the associated health care issues that come from years of eating a poor diet. Of course, that can be like telling someone who eats off paper plates every night that serving dinner on real plates enhances the experience and pleasure of a meal. You can't win over everybody.

I'm glad you brought up those two issues. The DJ that was featured in the Huntington episode focused on the British/celebrity-chef element and the producer's seized on the issue. That's the aspect of a show like this that I often find distasteful so to speak but I applaud Jaime's efforts in ultimately turning the guy around to realize why eating right will extend his life. I've followed a lot of Jaime's career and cooking and I've found he's brought a refreshing personality to food and cooking to America. I think he fits a young demographic where he can relate to an audience that might need help in understanding simple ways to appreciate food and cook more healthy without forsaking flavor. In the episode played back this morning, I thought that burying the family's deep-fat fryer in the yard was a bit over the top, but it is television and yes, it is astounding to find people who in this day and time eat the that way some do--all fried food all the time with nary a fresh banana or peach in the house. On the other hand, I hope that "Food Revolution" doesn't cross the line and portray a sense that everyone in America is this abusive in terms of their eating and cooking habits. It's a fine line between "entertainment" and truly putting forth an effort to help people. I'm behind Jaime and I hope he's successful.

Yesterday afternoon I happened to catch the Oprah show and Jamie Oliver was the guest. The topic was Jamie's new show, "Food Revolution," which debuted on ABC last night. The opening segment focused on the residents of Huntington, West Virginia, and Jamie's campaign to raise the nutrititional standards in the schools and homes in town. Now I didn't see Jamie's show last night so I'm not yet able to comment on the first episode, but I think the overall topic and the issues of this “Food Revolution,” and Oprah's introduction of it are worthy of discussion. Regardless of whether one is a celebrity, well-known chef, community activist, or simply someone caring for their family, I am a champion of anyone who works to improve the standards for what is served in our schools, restaurants and homes. But two issues came to mind as I watched Jamie and Ryan Seacrest, (producer of “Food Revolution), discuss how they were received by the residents of Huntington when they arrived in town. Jamie mentioned that he initially had a hard time overcoming the view that he was a foreigner, a celebrity as it were, trying to force his ethics on their town purely for the entertainmet value and for his own profits. I've followed Jamie's work with schoolchildren in the U.K. through segments that have aired on BBC America and I find his efforts pretty admirable, but I can also see how the image that he's crafted could be a turn-off to residents of a town in West Virginia. While I understood Oprah's point when she said that Jamie's motivation wasn't to make money, (and I agree, I don't necessarily believe that is his main motivation), am I off when I thought it was disingenuous of Oprah to suggest that producing a major show on ABC doesn't generate profits for the producer and Jamie? Did they have an obligation to the audience to let us know that the motivation is to help us change the way we look at food and the way we eat but in the end, they also profit? Should we assume they profit through those efforts or does it even matter? They previewed a segment from “Food Revolution” showing a Mother of four and the groaning table of deep-fried junk, fast-food she was shoveling into her family. As Oprah mentioned, “everything was golden,” there was “nothing green on the plate.” When Jamie asked about vegetables the Mom said something like “no we don’t eat them.” Now isn’t that sad. Sad that we’ve gotten away from good food, from cooking and from eating right. Sad that we need television to tell us that. I had a quiet little chuckle about this new effort being called a “Food Revolution,” and I thought about two people and what they would think about Jamie’s “Food Revolution.” My Grandfather, Ralph Pink would rail against pork being called “the other white meat.” He’d be aghast that there was no longer a local butcher in town where he could go and buy a pork loin roast with a thick layer of fat. He would hate a supermarket "lean" pork roast that didn't deliver a juicy roast to the table with a ring of crackling fat on the outside. Ralph Pink’s “Food Revolution” would be against today’s pork. My Mother, Janet Ross, will only serve asparagus in the spring and it will only be asparagus from Walla Walla, Washington. It is local and it only comes out of the ground one hand-cut spear at a time--in spring. Mother didn’t know what the word “seasonal” was in 1952 when she got married and first served asparagus for Easter dinner so she only served it once a year when it was fresh and at the peak of flavor. The tradition continues today. Mother’s “Food Revolution,” would be against imported asparagus in October. Yes, Jamie, Grandfather Pink and my Mother would certainly agree with you that America has lost it’s way and I guess some need a “Food Revolution” to bring them back. But really, some of us, a few I suppose, never lost our way and we’ve been farming, eating and cooking the same way, the right way, all along. So did you watch "Food Revolution" and do you think it will change the way America eats?

Last night I did the cover recipe from the April 2010 issue of Bon Appetit--Salmon with Sweet Chili Glaze with Sugar Snap Peas and Greens. The recipe calls for using pea tendrils for the greens but we don't have a market where I can find them so I substituted watercress. I included the stems of the watercress for texture and added some oyster mushrooms to the mix.

Next time you are in Las Vegas, you might want to try Valentino located in The Venetian. Chef Luciano Pellegrino is a James Beard award-winner and his cuisine is superb. I've dined there a number of times, including a private white truffle dinner two years ago that was outstanding. The truffles were flown in fresh from Alba having been picked the day before. In fact the first shipment wasn't up to the Chef's standards so he called for a second shipment! Tourists often rush to the newer places in town and I regret I didn't include Valentino in my earlier recommendation for you. Pierre Selvaggio owns Valentino and the flagship restaurant in Los Angeles and he is a James Beard winning restrateur. Combined they have decades of experience and Valentino in Las Vegas has withstood the test of time which is rare in that town.

Mario Batali's B & B Ristorante, just a few steps from Zeffirino in The Venetian would be a far better choice with a more creative menu. Well David, one of my favorite musical groups is Blind' Faith' (I'm dating myself I know) Zeffirino canceled and B&B booked Many thanks for the info. We went to Bouchon for Brunch the bread was great, the bread pudding type French Toast ok, my Croque Madame and fries were very good, my MIL's corn beef hash with Egg, very good. B&B's just finished about 1/2 hour ago, party of 7 celebrating my Mom's 80th. I tasted a lot of things, I ordered: Warm Lamb’s Tongue with Chanterelles and a 3-Minute Egg, I liked the egg and the mushrooms, could not distinguish the taste of tongue in there. It was good. Beef Cheek Ravioli with Black Truffles and Crushed Duck Liver. Small portion for the $$. Tasted good, sauce very good. Tasted the liver, did not taste the beef or the truffles. I think that I got so spoiled eating fresh, delicious truffle at Le Meurice, last winter that I cannot find it any place else. After all it could have been picked that morning and driven up to Paris. Whatever the case may be, I will not set my sights so high, thinking I will taste it like "that time". And you know that the say about the FIRST time, about a lot of things, maybe that's a factor too. “Brasato al Barolo” with Horseradish “Gremolata” was my main or my secondi dish and, alas I was disappointed. It was described as a incredibly most, marinated over 8 days in a wine and then slow cooked, short rib off the bone. Yes it was good. However, this past Tuesday I ate at Alan Wong's, arguably the best restaurant we got in Hawaii, had the tasting menu, and the last dish before dessert was a small braised short rib. I was too full to eat it at dinner, so took it home, warmed it up the next day and it was fab and beat the one tonight by a mile. Service was not quite on as well. 5 of us were seated, drink orders taken, the last two, came in 10 minutes later and were not asked for their drink order for 15 minutes. Perhaps the hostess did not tell the waiter, the rest of the table was now seated. But we did tell the waiter they were on the way, I think he could have been more attentive. We finally asked a busser if he would please send our wait person over, then after a while the other two drink orders were taken. I thought the service was slow, we had to ask for bread we were not offered any first. But hey, we were there at the busiest time of the evening so this should be taken into account. Did the guy earn the $100+. tip we left him? This by itself was not really off putting as the next part. I was very disappointed in this last bit here: I may be off base here please feel free to correct me if I am. I let them know it was my mom's 80th at the time of reservations, at the time of seating and even joked with the waiter about fitting 80 candles in dish. We were all too full to order dessert. What they did for her, was bring a pitiful little plate of tiny cookies and the chef? wrote in chocolate Happy B-day, I think. The plate was too small to really say and read anything. The bill before tip was around $550., one would think they could put a candle in a $10 dessert and say, if not sing Happy Birthday ! AND, what really was a bummer was two tables away, there was a cake with at lest 10 candles burning on it with about 7 staff were singing Happy B DAY to a person at that table, about 15 minutes before my moms little plate came. Were my expectations too high, was I incorrect to think a real dessert with a candle was appropriate, to be comped ? Not at all, your expectations SHOULD have been high--especially given the name over the door and the prices you were paying. And it is egregious given the fact that you were treated differently compared to another table in the dining room. That is simply unacceptable. That was not at all the experience you should have left the restaurant with. Not at all. Part of what sets Las Vegas apart is that it stakes its reputation on creating special experiences for people. Whether the party next to you was VIP's or not, it shouldn't matter and whether you made the notation of the birthday at the time of the reservation or when you walked in the door shouldn't matter. All guests should be treated special on a special occasion. I highly doubt you'll be back and I expect your words here will have an influence on others who may choose not to dine there when they travel to Las Vegas. I'd recommend a detailed letter to the Management. It won't erase the bitter taste in your mouth, and it may only elicit a "we're sorry, please accept this gift certificate as a token of our sorrow," type of pitiful excuse for your poor experience. (You know, just the type of sad excuse and rebate you'll probably never use). But, in the end, you may feel better for getting it off your chest, and again, you are right for expecting more. Much more. Thanks for your comments David. I was so unsettled that I called the restaurant that night, got the name of the GM and his email address. I wrote him how I felt, gave him the link to my post. I did not bother with a call to action to give me a rebate. He wrote me a long email in return saying: Service was during the height of the rush, which I knew and already told him in my email "I understood that". My family are not the model customers, some patrons are. Have you ever heard the comedy bit by Jackie Mason, how a jew orders his food ? He was observing my family when he wrote it. It is hilarious and as is the case a lot of the time, with bellyaching humor. All EG's should listen, you will laugh so hard......but anyway The GM wrote me to say he is sorry my experience was not what it should have been, I should understand it was the hight of the dinner service, told me please contact him when I'm next here, you will be taken care of and made sure to have...yada yada. AND that the restaurant's policy is, not to comp a $8-$12 dessert with a candle and that the table next us bought the cake themselves. I'm not sure if really read my email. It was NOT inflammatory, accusatory nor contained any swear words. No reason not to have read it though. He did not address what was and still is my biggest 'problem' with dining there that night; The table next to us had a birthday cake with sparkle candles, 7 staff members and thew rest of the table sang Happy Birthday to this gal, sought of "in front" of us. I had assumed she bought a cake, made arrangements for it to be served with all the fanfare. We did not pay for a cake, I did not expect a cake. What I had a right to expect was for an expensive restaurant to have someone in the drivers seat during the Sat. night dinner service who could think on his/her feet! The the wait-person, host, management, whomever oversees customers, KNEW it was my Mom's 80TH. I told host at podium and hostess when they seated us, my mom had not arrived yet so I could talk openly. I joked with the waiter about it and he acknowledged my joke. When I made the reservation and confirmed the reservations told whomever I spoke with. EIGHTIETH BIRTHDAY PARTY FOR MY MOM. To present her, 10 minutes right after the celebrating at the table next to us, with a saucer size plate, with unreadable words in dark chocolate, with cookies the size of my fingernails is just plain not good business sense. At, almost $700 with tip, (remember three of us no alcohol and my mother in law ate one simple pasta dish period) for 7 people........is inexcusable for me to accept. Someone should have thought "hmmmm, how will the guest feel at the next table" "MAYBE, in this case, we should give them a decent dessert and make a little show, so she does not feel bad if she compared her celebratory experience with the guests next to her" I do not think that the email which the GM sent me means the restaurant will comp me and a companion for dinner. We don't drink alcohol, so drinks and or champagne holds no allure for me or Ginger. But mostly, there are so many GOOD restaurants in that town now, I don't want to waste my time going back. I did not respond to the GM, but now that I have wrote this, if I did not round file his email, I will cut and paste it as my response. You are so absolutely right. I've been in a different end of the Customer Service business for over 30 years and this General Manager is making excuses, excuses, excuses. It didn't matter that the other guests bought the cake or not. It didn't matter that they were at the height of service or not. As you've so clearly pointed out--you left with having a horrible experience. In my business, if my employees--and by association me--if we leave our customers with a poor experience, we failed. When we we fail it doesn't matter if it's a busy day, night, weekend, holiday, whenver, wherever or at whatever time. It doesn't matter if all our seats are full or empty. If we don't meet the expectations we've set as a company, we failed our customers. And if that happens, the business fails. The GM isn't realizing the point. The point wasn't the fact that the other table brought in the cake and all his staff did was adorn it with a few candles. The point would have been to do something special--to have a standard at his restaurant for a special occasion that, without a lot of cost, would have made your dinner end of a very special note like it did for the other guests. It would have been a matter of standard practice behind the scenes, a matter of employee training and extra care that would have simply made all the difference to you. This past week some well-known Las Vegas restaurants abruptly closed their doors, in part due to experiences and excuses like you have been given. It's too bad they don't get it. I'm glad you're one of the consumers who stands up and speaks for what was wrong with your experience. Maybe the staff will learn from what happened.

Sort of an experiment tonight with a rack of lamb. The rack of lamb was o.k., but the beans were only so-so. I usually do a puree of cannelini beans with roasted garlic, lemon and rosemary. Today I added some whole garbanzo beans. I really didn't like the taste and texture of the two beans but it was at least something different. The sauce for the lamb was a simple reduction of the pan juices, beef stock and red wine.

Mario Batali's B & B Ristorante, just a few steps from Zeffirino in The Venetian would be a far better choice with a more creative menu. Well David, one of my favorite musical groups is Blind' Faith' (I'm dating myself I know) Zeffirino canceled and B&B booked Many thanks for the info. We went to Bouchon for Brunch the bread was great, the bread pudding type French Toast ok, my Croque Madame and fries were very good, my MIL's corn beef hash with Egg, very good. B&B's just finished about 1/2 hour ago, party of 7 celebrating my Mom's 80th. I tasted a lot of things, I ordered: Warm Lamb’s Tongue with Chanterelles and a 3-Minute Egg, I liked the egg and the mushrooms, could not distinguish the taste of tongue in there. It was good. Beef Cheek Ravioli with Black Truffles and Crushed Duck Liver. Small portion for the $$. Tasted good, sauce very good. Tasted the liver, did not taste the beef or the truffles. I think that I got so spoiled eating fresh, delicious truffle at Le Meurice, last winter that I cannot find it any place else. After all it could have been picked that morning and driven up to Paris. Whatever the case may be, I will not set my sights so high, thinking I will taste it like "that time". And you know that the say about the FIRST time, about a lot of things, maybe that's a factor too. “Brasato al Barolo” with Horseradish “Gremolata” was my main or my secondi dish and, alas I was disappointed. It was described as a incredibly most, marinated over 8 days in a wine and then slow cooked, short rib off the bone. Yes it was good. However, this past Tuesday I ate at Alan Wong's, arguably the best restaurant we got in Hawaii, had the tasting menu, and the last dish before dessert was a small braised short rib. I was too full to eat it at dinner, so took it home, warmed it up the next day and it was fab and beat the one tonight by a mile. Service was not quite on as well. 5 of us were seated, drink orders taken, the last two, came in 10 minutes later and were not asked for their drink order for 15 minutes. Perhaps the hostess did not tell the waiter, the rest of the table was now seated. But we did tell the waiter they were on the way, I think he could have been more attentive. We finally asked a busser if he would please send our wait person over, then after a while the other two drink orders were taken. I thought the service was slow, we had to ask for bread we were not offered any first. But hey, we were there at the busiest time of the evening so this should be taken into account. Did the guy earn the $100+. tip we left him? This by itself was not really off putting as the next part. I was very disappointed in this last bit here: I may be off base here please feel free to correct me if I am. I let them know it was my mom's 80th at the time of reservations, at the time of seating and even joked with the waiter about fitting 80 candles in dish. We were all too full to order dessert. What they did for her, was bring a pitiful little plate of tiny cookies and the chef? wrote in chocolate Happy B-day, I think. The plate was too small to really say and read anything. The bill before tip was around $550., one would think they could put a candle in a $10 dessert and say, if not sing Happy Birthday ! AND, what really was a bummer was two tables away, there was a cake with at lest 10 candles burning on it with about 7 staff were singing Happy B DAY to a person at that table, about 15 minutes before my moms little plate came. Were my expectations too high, was I incorrect to think a real dessert with a candle was appropriate, to be comped ? Not at all, your expectations SHOULD have been high--especially given the name over the door and the prices you were paying. And it is egregious given the fact that you were treated differently compared to another table in the dining room. That is simply unacceptable. That was not at all the experience you should have left the restaurant with. Not at all. Part of what sets Las Vegas apart is that it stakes its reputation on creating special experiences for people. Whether the party next to you was VIP's or not, it shouldn't matter and whether you made the notation of the birthday at the time of the reservation or when you walked in the door shouldn't matter. All guests should be treated special on a special occasion. I highly doubt you'll be back and I expect your words here will have an influence on others who may choose not to dine there when they travel to Las Vegas. I'd recommend a detailed letter to the Management. It won't erase the bitter taste in your mouth, and it may only elicit a "we're sorry, please accept this gift certificate as a token of our sorrow," type of pitiful excuse for your poor experience. (You know, just the type of sad excuse and rebate you'll probably never use). But, in the end, you may feel better for getting it off your chest, and again, you are right for expecting more. Much more.