Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Go Big or Go Home (Broke)

Of course, I tend to take things to the extreme so when it came to eating in Vegas – I had picked Joël Robuchon’s for Wednesday night and then Guy Savoy for Thursday night.  After some thinking, I swapped out Guy’s for é by José Andrés…that was assuming we could get a reservation.

é has 2 seatings per night with 8 seats at each.  It’s José Andrés’ restaurant within a restaurant concept like he does at minibar in DC and Saam in LA. 

For é, you make reservations via email one month before the night you’d like to dine there.  I’ve heard they’ve changed it now to where they accept reservations up to 3 months in advance now.  Once you’re set, you get a reservation form to confirm your spots and they even mail you golden tickets (a la Willy Wonka) to set the stage for your ‘dining experience’.

I was able to snag two spots for Thursday night’s 5:30pm seating.  I have to say, while Robuchon was definitely a great dinner, é was an amazing experience.  Experience really says it all.  Sure, there were some downers – the price, the lack of cooking, more just plating the dishes by the chefs, and lack of communication about the menu (even though the chefs told us that upfront), but overall…it was for me, one of the greatest meals ever.  I understand why they have to do it the way that they do and I’d really be nitpicking to come up with those downers.

It made me want to order some liquid nitrogen, buy syringes to make spheres, and go to culinary school.  And the fact that Ryan really loved it and had a great time too…that just goes to show it was really cool.

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Our Seating Arrangements for the Night

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They offer alcoholic and non-alcoholic pairings with dinner – We opted for one of each.

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There were 11 ‘small bite’ dishes that came fast and furious.  People were even told that they shouldn’t go to the restroom during these courses since they’d probably miss 3 courses while they were gone.

I honestly couldn’t pick a favorite.  It’d be super close between the chicken oyster, the rice cracker and cheese macaroon, the chicharrones, or that weird apple blue cheese meringue thing.  Or maybe the cod sandwich.  Fun tidbit: Ryan thought the spherical cava was the best ‘jello shot’ that he has even had.  He even wrote that in the guest book for Jose to read :)

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Then came the entrees.  At first, Ryan and I had doubts that we’d be full after our dinner here.  Clearly, we were wrong. 6 entrees later, I was almost ready to throw in the towel.  Again, tough to pick a favorite, but I definitely enjoyed the ham and chickpea soup, the turbot with fried bone marrow (that Ryan called Tater Tots), and the squid.  The mushroom soup was pretty tasty too.

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I was so ready to wrap up for the night, but we still had 7 or 8 dessert items left.  The flan was good, but my favorite had to be the Pan con Chocolate.  It was frozen cocoa powder with some frozen bread pieces and olive oil along with some frozen cream as well (I think!).  Regardless, it was so good I almost wanted to eat Ryan’s.  The bozcocho was great too…and it was make in the microwave!

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Here is a copy of the night’s meal that they give you as you’re about to call it a night.  Overall, what a great night.  After dinner, we left the Cosmopolitan and headed to the Mirage to catch Cirque’s Beatles’ Love show.

All You Need is Love…and some yummy food!

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