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David Walker
Barrel Sampler
Posts:2284
 | | 04/24/2007 1:49 PM |
| Posted By Al HooKoo on 04/22/2007 9:02 PM
Went to Bouchon again the other night. Excellent again.
I was out there about a month ago and wasn't a huge fan of my meal at Bouchon this time. In fact, I was a little disappointed. And I was most looking forward to that meal of all the places we ate.
L'Atelier ended up being my MOTT (Meal of the Trip). Not sure what they do with that lamb, but oh my! | | | |
| Rob Kim
Las Vegas, Nevada
Grape Sorter
Posts:227
| | 04/26/2007 3:53 PM |
| In terms of Bouchon, I think that it is good food, but not spectacular.
As for L'Atelier, I agree it is a winner, my wife loves that place. | | | |
| saut
Grape Fermenter
Posts:502
| | 06/22/2007 12:03 AM |
| Back from Vegas, and a spectacular meal at Guy Savoy. Broke the budget, though. Their wine list comes with its own podium since it is too big to hold comfortably. Prices that defy reason. As good as the food is, I just can't get past staring out the window at a giant casino hotel.
Food ***
Service ***
Amibiance *
Peoplewatching ***
So the couple next to us starts out with Cristal by the glass...why don't they just order a bottle for $800? I was visiting a friend who knows the maitre'd, and apparently a few weeks ago a couple ordered a $30,000 bottle of wine off the list, but they finished too soon and had to order another one. Forget the "dress code"...if you wear anything dressier than a pair of slacks and a short sleeve pullover, you look like a rube. The only folks wearing suits besides us were the staff...
Great experience. Tasting menu $290. Recommended...I guess.... | | | |
| gus fleener
gilroy
Barrel Filler
Posts:1343
| | 02/12/2008 9:28 AM |
| on the afternoon of thursday 31 january 2008, my brother, scott, called me to tell me those who were to accompany him to las vegas for superbowl weekend had bowed out & he was left with a suite at the wynn that now had room for me. he suggested i buy an airline ticket for the following day, which i did.
i only go to las vegas when scott invites me. it just wouldn't seem right to actually pay for things like meals, golf, room service, tickets to events, massages, not to mention the accomodations. also, they are never going to offer me this on my own because i don't, nor will i ever, gamble at the level my brother does.
i arrived at the airport in las vegas 30 minutes ahead of scott & our mutual friend, henry, & relaxed while watching the people at the airport. i love watching people & airports are good places for this, especially the las vegas airport. when scott & henry arrived we were taken to the hotel in one of the lesser limos from the wynn. i say "lesser limo" because scott informed me that he is usually picked up in a bentley or rolls royce & we were merely in a lincoln.
upon arrival at the wynne, we were greeted by scott's host & escorted into the tower suites registration desk & then up to our suite on the 60th floor overlooking the golf course. (there aren't actually 60 stories. for some reason there are no floors in the 40s, you go from 39 to 50 & of course, there is no 13th floor.) this place is so nice i certainly don't mind sharing what i call the kid's bedroom (i could have easily fit all 4 of my kids in those 2 beds) with henry.
next we went downstairs (not literally, we rode the elvator) to play some blackjack (heny & i each won a significant amount of $$, while scott lost big) before dinner at okada, the japanese restaurant at the wynn. the sushi was fantastic & the kobe beef was absolutely incredible. scott also brought wine for the weekend because he thought it was time to drink some of his 97 cabs & he just wanted to try the 98 turley rattlesnake acres petit sirah that we had with the kobe beef. we started with an excellent sake in a funny shaped bottle whose name i can't recall. compared to any sake i had had previously, this stuff was quite excellent. the petit sirah was very good as well. after dinner we played a little more, but went up to bed by 0130 because we had a 1000 tee time the next morning.
on saturday morning henry & i (scott doesn't golf) went down to the golf course & hit some balls & practiced a bit while waiting for the other twosome we were to be paired with. these 2 guys arrived late & introduced themselves as dwight & bob. dwight had a superbowl ring on his finger & i deduced correctly that this was dwight hicks formerly of the 49ers. we had a great time on the course even though i played like crap (altough i did birdie the 245 yard par 3, the longest of their "short" holes).
when we got done, we cleaned up & went down to the car scott had ordered for us & went over to the mandalay bay where scott had secured floor seats for the ultimate fighting championships. now, i have never watched this stuff on tv or in person, but having been there i can understand the draw. this is brutal fighting, but there is some science & strategy to it & it can fascinate & suck you in even if you think it isn't your thing or that it is to violent or brutal. then there was the best part, the crowd. what an interesting cross section of humanity! wanna be rappers, bubba from the trailer park, hosers & posers, tattoos & wild hair, women young & not so young who desperately wanted everyone to look at them (i personally accomodated them), every stripper for 5 states & celebrities including barry bonds & ken griffey jr. but the best part was the way the ufc fighters in attendence who were not fighting worked the crowd, hadnshakes & hugs, pictures & autographs, they mingle with their fans & show their appreciation. what a great marketing strategy! this was an interesting experience, but looking around i couldn't hlp but be reminded of the colesium & the gladiators of ancient rome.
since we missed lunch on the golf course we had saturday dinner #1 at an asian place whose name escapes me at the mandalay bay during some of the earlier preliminary bouts. the food was very good & if i could remember the name of the place, i would recommend it.
after the fights we went back to the wynn & saturday dinner #2 at the sw steakhouse. i had the ribeye which was wonderful, although i had the most disappointing seared foie gras here that i have ever had. the foie was almost flavorless. the wines for dinner were a 97 joseph phelps bacchus & a 97 shafer hillside select. upon my insitence, we started with the bacchus although both wines were opened & poured immediately. the bacchus was a more elegant wine. although this is, i believe, a single vineyard 100% cabernet sauvignon from napa, we all felt it was very bordeaux-like. the bacchus was drinking very well & while i believe it could last a while yet, i don't know that it will get much better. the hss had more muscle, more fruit, more tannic structure & was just a big chewy cabernet that made me very happy. this wine is drinking very well but could go on for several more years & evolve further but i would certainly have trouble keeping my hands off of it if i had any. strangely, as much as i loved the hss, both scott & henry preferred the bacchus. this worked out well for me at the end because there was a last pour of the bacchus in the bottle that henry traded me his last glass of hss for.
on sunday morning we had a nice breakfast at tableau. we had beignets & some mango pancakes for the table. i had the lobster benedict, scott had the kobe short ribs benedict & henry the prosciutto omelet. these were accompanied by coffee & juice.
next we went to the spa for our massages. mine was quite good & scott & henry seemed happy with theirs. i haven't had many professional massages & i should do this more often. next we detoxed in the steam room for 30 minutes or so, then showered & shaved & went back to the room to get ready for the big superbowl party.
now, i hadn't gambled since friday night which was probably why i was still ahead. 30 minutes before game time, i got in line at the sattelite sports book adjoining the ballroom where the superbowl party was to make a couple of bets on the game. half-way through the line i realized there was no way i was going to absorb the incredible number of bets on these pages, so i stepped out of line & went to a stand-up table to study. while i staring at the pages, 3 ladies from the new york area came up to me & said "we want to bet on the game & we don't know what to do". i asked who they thought would win & they said the giants. i then pointed out that if they truly believed that they could get 3.5 to 1 on that bet. i also recommended that they take the giants with the points just to hedge a bit. they said they wanted to make a 3rd bet so i explained the over & under to them a 55.5 points. they liked the under &went off to make their bets. while continued to contemplate, henry showed up & i asked him what he bet. he took the giants outright, the under & parlayed the giants getting 12 point with the under at 4.6 to 1. henry place these bets for $500 each, i liked them so much i put $1k on each of them & went in to find our table & watch the game. (i figured since this was part of what i had won on friday night, i really couldn't lose).
about 30 seconds before halftime, wanting to smoke a cigar & feeling pretty good about how the game was going, i went into the adjoining satellite casino & found a seat at a blackjack table, fired up my avo & proceeded to play. they had big screen tvs on every wall in this room so i really didn't miss much even thoughi stayed until the 3rd quarter was nearly over & won even more money than i had won on friday night.
needless to say, i was pretty hoarse from yelling during the 4th quarter & my hands were sore from high-fives with any & all giants fans in the area, but i wa a pretty happy guy when it was all over. i had won a lot (for me) of money & i was done gambling.
we had a nice dinner at corsa that night with 2 97 flora springs cabernets. the wild boar vineyard rivalled the hillside select from the night before in my opinion & was ready to drink now! the rutherford hillside reserve was still a little tight & seemed to me to need a bit more time. all in all though, 2 fine bottles of wine.
we also drank a 97 arrowood sonoma cabernet & another bottle that evades me at the moment over the weekend.
about the time i recovered from this trip, katy & i went off to sanfrancisco for the weekend & now i think i need to fast for a month, but i am headed to texas with the family for my mom's 70th this friday so maybe i can just eat lightly for this week. scott's bringing a 6 liter of '83 chateau montelena & most of the folks at "the compound" don't even drink. | | | |
| Chicago Wine Geek
Chicago Western Suburbs
Wine Labeler
Posts:3645
| | 02/12/2008 10:51 AM |
| | Great read Gus, thanks for sharing. | | | |
| baron45
Grape Truck Driver
Posts:26
| | 02/13/2008 11:47 AM |
| Posted By gus fleener on 02/12/2008 9:28 AM
upon arrival at the wynne, we were greeted by scott's host & escorted into the tower suites registration desk & then up to our suite on the 60th floor overlooking the golf course. (there aren't actually 60 stories. for some reason there are no floors in the 40s, you go from 39 to 50 & of course, there is no 13th floor.)
This is due to the superstitions of Asians regarding floors starting with the number 4, which has the same phonetics as the word for death. Consequently, since the casinos cater to alot of Asian business, they are smart to respect this, although I have wondered if there is a floor #4. I know that the Rio Hotel also skips floors 40-49 as well. | | | |
| Daniel Bailey
Grape Fermenter
Posts:657
| | 02/13/2008 3:40 PM |
| Great post. Thanks Gus. | | | |
| Al HooKoo
Las Vegas, NV
Barrel Filler
Posts:1336
| | 05/12/2008 5:28 PM |
| | Took the family (wife, twin boys, my mom and mother-in-law) to Tableau at the Wynn hotel for brunch yesterday. It was excellent. | | | |
| Rothko
Palm Beach
Wine Thief
Posts:2849
| | 05/13/2008 5:25 PM |
| Planning a trip to Vegas in June. Staying at the Venetian (my brother-in-law got comped a free room).
I don't have any dinner plans made yet, so any suggestions would be welcome. | | | |
| rickym13
los angeles
Wine Thief
Posts:2790
| | 05/13/2008 5:54 PM |
| my two favorite places are not on the strip and they are not really fancy or glitzy. they are lotus of siam and rosemary's. both great food and wine list! but if you are going for nice vacation/romantic vegas dinning experiences they are not the places to go imo. for fancy vegas dinning i like (picasso, delmonico, guy savoy, ogden, mina, l'atelier de joel robuchon) didn't really care too much for the main joel robuchon for the price...maybe off night? i will be ther for work at the end of the month and made reservation to LOS and rosemary's already  good luck and have fun!! | | | |
| Winetex
Austin, Texas
Master of Wine
Posts:10570
| | 05/14/2008 3:19 PM |
| Now this is "Burgers and Cab" from Luxist: Note you do get a bottle of 1990 Petrus (~$3000+ pb) with it!   And a certificate!! 
The Fleur de Lys restaurant in Las Vegas at Mandalay Bay
may serve French cuisine but that hasn't stopped them from adapting
their own version of an American classic: the hamburger. Called the "Fleurburger 5000"
it's no Plain Jane either, featuring a juicy Kobe beef patty topped
with a rich truffle sauce and served on a brioche truffle bun. And this
burger comes with its own beverage, a bottle of 1990 Chateau Petrus,
that is served in Ichendorf Brunello stemware that you get to keep.
It sounds (and looks) delicious -- as well it should for the whopping price tag of $5000.
And if you do decide to indulge no worries about bragging rights: you
can bring a friend (they get a free burger when you order yours) and
you'll also get a certificate in the mail (along with your keepsake
glass) so you'll have both a witness and paper proof. | | | |
| Rothko
Palm Beach
Wine Thief
Posts:2849
| | 05/14/2008 5:09 PM |
| The funny thing is that isn't a bad price for a bottle of 1990 Petrus. The lowest I saw on wine-searcher was $3500, and that was retail, not restaurant prices. I can imagine that someone who has won a huge jackpot might indulge. Or maybe a European celebrating the current Euro/Dollar ratio.
Hooters used to have a special where you got a dozen chicken wings and a bottle of Dom Perignon for something like $125. That actually was a pretty good deal (not that I ever ordered it - I like beer with my chicken wings and Hooters girls). | | | |
| J cocktosten
Grape Sorter
Posts:234
| | 05/14/2008 5:16 PM |
| | Miami Subs used to have a similar deal with Dom Perignon | | | |
| Paul_H
San Francisco
Grape Puncher
Posts:889
| | 06/12/2008 2:59 PM |
| I am in Vegas this week for the first time in many decades. I ate at Joel Robuchon, L'atelier de Joel Robuchon, and Lotus of Siam. The best meal by far was at Joel Robuchon, but was it worth $500 (with only a single 1/2 bottle of 2005 chablis)? Food at L'atelier was good, but not worth the price point ($300 per person here - the five of us shared three bottles of wine). Lotus of Siam seems to be very good, reasonably priced and reasonably authenic Thai food. It was the only place out of the three where I didn't feel like a newly fleeced lamb.
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