Supping on the Strip

[BryanZ]

Not an issue at all. In fact, the ever eloquent Joshua broke the ice with, "I hope you're not going to put those up on MySpace." I doubt he would have said the same thing to older diners, but we rolled with it. Sadly, I have a MySpace profile, long dormant, but a profile nonetheless. From this comment we had a brief exchange about eGullet. He had heard of it.

[BryanZ]

Day 4

Our last morning in Vegas we arose relatively early to catch a cab over to Bouchon in the Venetian. I was last at Bouchon in Yountville about a year ago and frequent Bouchon Bakery in New York every few months. I also cook from the Bouchon cookbook a good deal. With this said, I’m quite familiar with Chef Keller’s take on bistro cuisine and am a big fan.

This meal did not disappoint. As so many others have said, breakfast at Bouchon is a welcome respite from the hustle and glitz of Vegas. Looking out over the pool garden, awash in natural light with a pastry and orange juice, life is good. We ordered several Bouchon staples.

Pain au chocolat

This was an exemplary pastry, superior to those I enjoyed in Paris. The crust was impossibly flaky, the interior moist, with just a bit of chew and the ideal amount of chocolate.

French toast

Completely decadent and quite delicious. I could never eat this kind of breakfast regularly but once in a while custardy, fruity, syrupy overkill can be a good thing.

Quiche Florentine

Bouchon’s quiche, when I first had it a year ago, opened my eyes to how good quiche can be and remains one of the tastiest things I’ve had in recent memory. We make various Keller quiches at home, but it’s always nice to sample one from the horse’s mouth.

Service was adequate if not quite fawning. Had this been dinner I may have been a bit disappointed but at breakfast a bit of space and time to decompress was just what was needed.

After this meal the culinary part of our trip would come to a close. Net-net, I only lost a few hundred dollars gambling, got to stay in a couple great hotels, and, most importantly, had a wide range of enjoyable meals.

[somemale]

BryanZ this is an amazing thread, thank you for sharing. I wish I was as talented as you in writing amazing descriptions and posts.

What camera were you using for the pictures?

[BryanZ]

Thank you for the kind words. The pictures were taken with a standard 3.2 megapixel point-and-shoot bought circa 2003. It's pretty crappy actually. I Photoshop some pictures if they're really bad, but it's really all about having a steady hand and getting as much light on the plate as possible. Not flash mind you, but I've been known to move the plate in question halfway across the table to get more light on it.

[somemale]

Thank you for the kind words.  The pictures were taken with a standard 3.2 megapixel point-and-shoot bought circa 2003.  It's pretty crappy actually.  I Photoshop some pictures if they're really bad, but it's really all about having a steady hand and getting as much light on the plate as possible.  Not flash mind you, but I've been known to move the plate in question halfway across the table to get more light on it.

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Thanks for the reply! You are certainly do a wonderful job with the camera you have! The pictures are more then presentable! Thanks for the tips!

Do you ever feel timid when taking pictures of food?Especially at 'fine dining' or 'starred' restaurants?. When my girlfriend and I went to Joel Robouchon (mansion) on our last trip to Vegas, we really wanted to take pictures of the food (once in a life time experience!) but definitely chickened out especially with all the people watching you... Its okay though, that meal was so amazing that it is ALWAYS in our minds, would've been nice to take pics of the food however!

On our last 'nice' meal we were at Michael Mina in SF and had no problems taking pictures (well to be honest my girlfriend took the pictures) but the server was definitely very nice and accomadating (when he was serving the lobster pot pie he even waited for her so she could get a good shot at times). Even though she was the one snaping the shots, I still felt a little cowardly. I guess its just something I need to overcome?

Have you ever had any looks or reaction from workers at the restaurant? Or do you tend not to care at all? I'm especially curious about your experiences in Europe, you have some amazing pics from there..

Keep up the good work!

[BryanZ]

My camera is small and I try to be discrete. I never ever use flash. In fact, flash in restaurants is one my pet peeves. I digress. In general, I don't care because I'm not imposing on anyone else with my picture taking. I'm actually not the picture taking type--for instance, all my eating in NYC goes undocumented--unless I'm blogging for a specific purpose. Then again, more power to those who do take great pictures. Ulterior epicure, docsconz, there are undoubtedly many others.

[jsmeeker]

nice to see this thread bumped up.

I'm flying to Las Vegas on Thursday. I was there earlier this year (around the Fourth of July) and had some god meals (duck tasting at Wing Lei, a nice dinner at Bouchon, breakfast at Bouchon, lunch at Lotus of Siam, a visit to Jean Phillipe Patisserie) Just today, I made a reso for L'Atelier for Saturday night. I've dined there once before (summer 2006) and am looking forward to returning. Seems like the that place still delivers the goods. Also, going to Daniel Boulud. I hope it's good.

[santo_grace]

nice to see this thread bumped up.

I'm flying to Las Vegas on Thursday.  I was there earlier this year (around the Fourth of July) and had some god meals (duck tasting at Wing Lei, a nice dinner at Bouchon, breakfast at Bouchon, lunch at Lotus of Siam, a visit to Jean Phillipe Patisserie)  Just today, I made a reso for L'Atelier for Saturday night.    I've dined there once before (summer 2006) and am looking forward to returning. Seems like the that place still delivers the goods.  Also, going to Daniel Boulud. I hope it's good.

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How was Daniel Boulud? My husband and I will be in Vegas in April for 1 night, and I think based on Bryan's writeup we will be going to L'Atelier. I did consider DB's though, and wondered what you thought of it.