Ratamacue Stew: November 2008

Las Vegas 2008

I'm attending a conference in Las Vegas and benefiting from the hospitality of our hosts. A great opportunity to try some new restaurants.

Sunday - Sushisamba
A unique blend of Japanese, Brazilian and Peruvian cuisine, music and design made for a great dining experience. The menu is full of opportunity for a dining adventure and instead of having to choose what to eat and leave out something equally delicious, the wait staff prepared a "family style" dinner for us with a variety of selections from the menu. Five courses in all and probably too much food, it was a wonderful dining experience and a highly recommended restaurant to try out for some interesting fusion flavors.

Monday - B&B Ristorante
A Mario Bitale restaurant, had to stop for appetizers and dessert We had:

- Proscuitto San Daniele "Riserva" with Black Pepper "Fett 'unta"
- Calamari and Seppie Fritti
- Matsusake Carpaccio (doesn't appear on this particular menu)
- Cioccolato w/Braised Huckleberries

Had a good super Tuscan: 2005 Campo di Sasso Toscana IGT

An intense young red, with violet, black fruit and light toasty oak character on a medium body, with fine tannins and a medium, espresso-tinged finish.

Tuesday - Nobu

Located in the Hard Rock Hotel, Japanese Restaurant Owner and Chef, Nobu Matsuhisa, is highly recognized for his groundbreaking modern and authentic Japanese cuisine; the sushi is fresh as is all the seafood and most entree's will introduce a guest’s taste buds to delirium. Signature dishes to satisfy any palate include the Lobster Ceviche infused with citrus flavors that give guests the reminiscent feel of the tropics; Shrimp and Main Lobster drizzled with tangy lemon sauce and the Scallops in Spicy Pepper. Other exotic offerings are the Assorted Sashimi flavored with garlic, ginger and sesame seeds, slivers of Red Snapper with chili paste or for the more adventurous type, the Yellowtail with jalapeno. The house specialty is a Three-day Marinated Cod seared and served with sweet miso sauce.

Aside from the fine cuisine found at Nobu, the interior design features bamboo pillars, wooden birch trees, a black river rock wall and a seaweed wall, replications of the décor found in Chef Nobu’s New York restaurant, TriBeCa. Other impressive details include the burnt ash tabletops to match the bamboo feature and a black rock at each table setting to hold chopsticks.

Wednesday - Aureole

We spent our last night in Vegas at Aureole which is located in Mandalay Bay. A dramatic space with urban sophistication, serene elegance and world-class cuisine. "Wine angels" fly through the four story wine tower retrieving wine from a selection equal to most in Vegas. The wine menu itself is presented to you on a wireless tablet PC with sorting and search capabilities to let you hone in on your favorite country, region, varietal, etc.

The menu was excellent and offers two prix fixe choices and one a la carte three course menu. The entire table must order the same menu so if you have some with you who aren't adventurous with their taste buds, beware that you may not get all that you are wanting when choosing from the menu. In our particular party, we had a stickler who didn't like sushi or duck (I think he's crazy personnally) and that kept us from the prix fixe menu we wanted. But, we were not disappointed in the menu we did have and thoroughly enjoyed our evening. We paired dinner with a 2004 Chateau Lascombe Bordeaux. Below are pictures of the dishes I had.