Vegas Wrap Up

Links to Vegas posts:

Best Thai Restaurant in North America
Bouchon
David Burke
L'Atelier de Joel Robouchon
Ethel M Chocolates and Cactus Garden

Nighttime Shots of the Strip, or Playing with the Camera...


I thought this pic was kinda cool.

At one of the casinos, they had real life dancing girls! Look at them go!

This girl was getting a tattoo in a window in full view of everyone walking on the strip. Trashalicous!

Mr. Insomnaic used to play at O'Shea's as a 18 year old freshman at UCLA. That's how he'd make his rent money...

So long, Vegas.

Next trip: Napa!

Bouchon in my bouche

Chatting away online, yeah4me and I discovered that we were going to be in Las Vegas during some overlapping days. Yippee! We made plans for a Sunday brunch at Bouchon.

Charming and bright interior

A waiter delivered fresh bread and butter to our table...

I ordered the special - Maine Crab Benedict with potatoes. I could really go for that about now... I'm starving. So much on that brunch menu looked good. I was torn between that and the corned beef hash. I love that stuff. But I was happy with my order, as it was very tasty.

Yeah4me got the chicken and waffles, which prompted Mr. Yeah4me to wax nostaglic about Roscoe's. One of these days, I'm going to have to make it out there.

Mr. Insomniac got the Croque Madame - a toasted ham and cheese on brioche with a fried egg and mornay sauce. Served with fries.

I don't remember what Mr. Yeah4me got, but he sure liked it. I think it was the steak and eggs special.


Good conversation, good food. Good times. I didn't want to leave and the drive 5 hours back to LA. Mostly because I was positive that I'd fall asleep while driving and land in a ditch in the Mojave.

David Burke, or What Happens When Someone Else Chooses the Restaurant

*this post has been edited by Mr. Insomniac *

Mr. Insomniac was really excited about eating with X and his wife Y.

Off to David Burke, located in the Bellagio. I should have studied the menu beforehand, but I couldn't get pass the incredibly annoying website.

This place was loud. I had to literally shout and lean in close to talk to people. And red. Not a good red, but a bad red.

The centerpiece of the room is this sea anemone-like scuplture. Water falls on it. Which probably does nothing but add to the noise. Awesome.

We catch up on old times. X and Y live in a town of 12,000 people which recently got a Starbucks and Target. They live on 120 acres have 14 chickens and are planning on getting some llamas. They wanted alpacas, but they're worried that wolves might eat them. I think about the time I saw a squirrel stealing peanuts by opening up a sealed bag at a food stand. That's my wildlife story. Shifty squirrels.

[redacted by Mr. I]


Anyway, let's bring out the food.

Bread with butter on a pink salt block. Was amused at the butter and how quickly folks were eating it up at the table, but the bread was dry and its dried up flakes ended up all over the table.

Amuse bouche. Fresh crab salad.

See this little thing in a spoon? Best thing I ate all night.

Moving on.

Appetizer. Lobster bisque.

This tasted like the chef had dropped one of those butter pink salt blocks into the pot. Salty as all get out.


Main Course
Mustard Crusted Ahi Tuna, bok choy, sticky rice, napa cabbage

Slop on a plate. Presentation was god awful. Had dried parsley. Tasted forgettable. Totally ordered the wrong thing, apparently.


Mr. Insomniac really liked his dish though, as did the two other people that got it at the table. It was a roasted "red bank" chicken with potato puree, maple smoked bacon, wild mushroom madiera jus, and quail egg. Apparently Mr. Burke is known for putting eggs on everything. I tasted it, but didn't think it was anything special. Probably because of all my bitterness. lol

What? WHAT?! DID I SAY IT WAS LOUD IN THERE? It was.

The other entrees were a braised beef short rib with a corn and lobster risotto

And some fish dish

We spent the rest of the evening having an impromptu reunion at the bar with a bunch of former residents who magically showed up.

Ate at Atelier

Gambling at Vegas: $0
Clothing/Accessories bought at Vegas: $0
Accomodations at Vegas: $0
Plane ticket to Vegas: $0
Food at Vegas: $$$$

Here we go... Dinner at L'Atelier de Joel Robouchon.

The restaurant is located in the MGM Casino and I spent just enough time in there making a beeline to the restaurant that I was drenched in cigarette smoke. Which is par for the course in that town. But whatever.

The interior is "non-traditional". What does that mean exactly? It means that most of the seating is at a counter. Here's the concept: "A kitchen opened on a circular bar with 36 seats that allows clients to follow the service, to watch the succession of dishes, and to compose their own meal according to their appetite." Sitting at the counter alarmed Mr. Insomniac, but I took it in stride cause I knew it meant I was in for a food show. (TM WeezerMonkey)

There are some tables though. For wusses.

And then there was some sort of fridge on display.

All in all, it was a colorful restaurant with a nice relaxed vibe. The noise level was minimal and the chefs in the kitchen provided a nice visual distraction with Mr. Insomniac and SportsDoc started their shop talk. All the red was a little red light district though. But moving on.





Our waiter.

Everyone in that place spoke French. The head chef would call out the orders in French, the waiters spoke French. I felt pressured to practice and bust out with the "Je voundrais le tasting menu, por favor". But I knew I would look like a major tool, so I easily fought the urge. The service was very attentive. No complaints there.

One cool thing about L'Atelier is that your entire party doesn't have to do the tasting menu and that they'll do a tasting menu for one person. Being the greedy little piglet that I am, I got the eight course Discovery Tasting Menu and Mr. Insomniac and SportsDoc got the smaller Winter Tasting Menu.

I began my meal with a glass of chardonnay from ZD Wines which was excellent and switched to a Pinot Noir during the latter part of the meal from Row Eleven. I liked both, but plan to buy a few bottles of the pinot the next time I'm buying wine - it's a good value.

After he had poured my glass, our waiter tasted some himself, saying that it was newly put on the menu and he hadn't gotten a chance to taste it yet. We both agreed it was good.

Ladies first...

L’AMUSE-BOUCHE
Foie gras parfait with port wine and parmesan foam

Oh heaven. We were advised to use the spoon so that we could get all the flavors intermingled together rather than drinking it like a shot. This was delicious - a perfect mix of salty, savory sweetness. A perfect way to start the meal. I burst out into a grin after I finished this. And would have clapped my hands in delight, if that was socially acceptable. I settled for dragging my spoon along the glass to get every bit of the parmesan foam.

LE SAUMON FUME
Smoked salmon in a herb gelee with a light wasabi cream


This was interesting. The flavors were great, but I had some time getting past the texture. It was like fishy jello. Or eating cold chicken fat. Liked the wasabi cream though.

In the meantime, I watched the head chef calling out tickets and everyone scurrying around. Food show!

LES HUITRES
Poached baby Kussi oysters with French Echiré butter

Tasty. Buttery. Good.

LE HOMARD
Main lobster in a tomato sauce and green asparagus

This was also really good. The sweet flavor of the lobster shone through brilliantly and each component was cooked perfectly.

LE FOIE GRAS
Fois gras ravioli in a warm chicken broth with fresh herbs

I dare say this was the best of the evening. Days later, I'm still thinking about this one. The broth was amazing - perfectly seasoned and the ravioli were plump little treats. I want to frame this picture and put it on my desk so I can gaze longingly at Francois, Pierre, Jean-Claude, et Michel wading in their chicken broth swimming pool.

All evening long, I was seated in front of this ham.

Periodically, someone would come over and slice some for the Iberico ham with toasted tomato bread, like this dude. Food Show!

LA SOLE
Dover sole with a warm leek salad and crispy potato

This was just okay for me. I'm realizing that I'm not a fan of sole. Kind of bland.

LA CAILLE
Free-range quail stuffed with foie gras and served with truffled-mashed potatoes

Now we're talking. Delicious all around.

L’ANANAS
Pineapple infusion, Tahitian cheesecake

I traded this course for SportsDoc's cheese course. He seemed to like it though.

LE PARFAIT ARABICA
Light coffee cream served with coconut milk and lemon from Corsica

Sort of unmemorable, truth be told. But it had gold on it. I liked the cheese better.


LE CAFE
Coffee or Espresso

I opted for a mint tea to end the meal instead of something with caffeine - after all I do have the sleep issues. Mr. Insomniac wanted to know if they had soy milk for a cappuccino, but the waiter had to tell him that they didn't. We only have whole milk - not even skim, he says. I mention something about French full-fat, full-flavor French cuisine and go for the high-five. That's what happens when I drink two glasses of wine - I high five strangers.

Here's the Winter Tasting Menu

Les Légumes
Mediterranean vegetables layered with buffalo mozzarella

Missed the shot on this one. It looked like a Caprice salad.

La Langoustine
Crispy langoustine fritter with basil pesto

This was delicious. I could have eaten a dozen of these. Mr. Insomniac enjoyed it too.

L’Onglet
French-style hanger steak with fried shallots

The meat was ridiculously tender and a perfect medium rare. Apparently, JR is known for his mashed potatoes. I didn't like them so much - they were so pureed to the point of being soup. I like my mashed chunky. But they did have a ton of butter, so thumbs up on that.

Les Fromages
Selection of imported cheese

Cheese! Brillat Savarin! Once the waiter uttered those words, I knew I had to wheel and deal to get SportsDoc to relinquish the cheese plate. Fortunately, it didn't take much. The cheese was served with a nice selection of raisin bread. I happily munched away.

For dessert there was a choice between tarts and ice cream/sorbet. Mr. Insomnaic got the tarts.

Les Tartes
Traditional tarts

Note the gold on the lemon one. I didn't taste all of them, but the lemon and berry tarts were good. I'm noticing that I like my desserts sour. I think that of all the desserts, his was the best.

SportsDoc got the cold stuff. He liked them and the couple that I tried were pretty tasty.

Glaces et Sorbet
Ice cream and sorbet

Great meal. Worth driving 10 hours for.