This is the first post in a six-part series titled "Celebrity Chef Dining in Las Vegas."
Part II: Joel Robuchon (The Mansion)

My favorite thing to do in Las Vegas is to watch the Bellagio fountains.  I never miss it. I can watch show after show after show.  The magic never loses its touch on me, for some reason.  I am just mesmerized by it. Maybe it's the music.  Maybe it's the majestic heights that these fountains reach (with the help of fireworks).  Maybe it's the way the music is timed so perfectly with the artistic movements of the water.

Last year on the way to Bryce Canyon, we stayed at the Bellagio in a fountain facing room  for one night (rates were cheap in the dead of the hot summer on a Sunday night).  I just sat next to the window, for about two hours, watching every single fountain show. Every 15 minutes. I enjoyed every minute of it.

Just a few weeks ago, Bryan and I went to Las Vegas again for our annual CES trip. This time, we decided to hit up a bunch of celebrity chef / famous restaurants.  I believe all of these restaurants or chefs (except for one) have been featured on the Food Network.  The last chef is just super famous.  I have interspersed some pictures from these restaurants with other random Las Vegas scenes.  Can you guess where I went?

A signature dish at this old world Italian restaurant was fantastic.

Agate stone stairway at the new City Center.

Shrimp tamales with fresh corn!

One of these restaurant gave a box of chocolates "to the lady" to take home.

An eight course pasta tasting showcasing interesting ingredients.

Utter decadence!  A gold leaf, caviar, and salmon.

Of course, I leave you with my favorite fountains, at dusk. This series will continue all next week, as I showcase detailed descriptions of Las Vegas!


*thanks to Bryan for taking the fountain pictures as I was too mesmerized to take any photos

The post Celebrity Chef Dining in Las Vegas appeared first on Tiny Urban Kitchen.

Gastropubs have become insanely popular throughout the U.S. Chefs are closing down their high-end white tablecloth establishments and replacing them with restaurants that offer sharable small plates, house made cured meats, and dishes made with local, seasonable farm fresh ingredients.

The last place you might expect to see restaurants focusing on "local, seasonable farm ingredients" would be a city in the desert.

Namely, Las Vegas.

Interestingly, farm-to-table restaurants are thriving in Las Vegas. Las Vegas has the benefit of being quite close to California, where farms are abundant. As a result, Las Vegas restaurants are able to build relationships with farmers in California and offer the same type of local, seasonal fare that is abundant in places like Seattle, San Francisco, and New York.

We had a chance to visit Libertine Social at Mandalay Bay, one of the newest restaurants of this type to hit the Las Vegas Strip. James Beard award-winning chef Shawn McClain, who is also behind Sage and Five50 Pizza Bar at Aria, has partnered with mixologist Tony Abou-Ganim to create a restaurant that serves "comfortable but provocative" food - in other words, well-known dishes with a twist that surprise and delight the diner.
It's provocative in more ways than one. Check out the statues in the huge wall outside the restaurant.

. . . and inside the restaurant.

The space is huge and includes many different types of seating, such as a large bar, a front lounge, soft couch-like booth seating, kitchen counter seats, and even a back arcade bar.

THE MENU

The menu includes a wide variety of small, sharable plates that fall under a number of categories such as "Small Plates", "Local Fare", Toasts and Dips", and "Flatbreads." They also offer larger format meat and seafood dishes, all made on the company's Argentina-style wood-fired grill.

SMALL PLATES

From the Small Plates section, we started with the one of the restaurant's signature dishes, the Marinated Tuna Cones, delightful savory cones filled with marinated raw tuna, whipped pink peppercorn creme fraiche, and yuzu kosho.

Although I've had many such type cones (inspired by Tomas Keller, most likely), this one really surprised me with the intense pink peppercorn flavor, which I loved.

The Modern Fried Egg is actually not a fried egg at all (though chef insists on keeping the cryptic name). Instead, it's a hollowed out eggshell filled with a sous vide egg yolk, corn pudding, egg white, and American sturgeon caviar. You get a toasted brioche stick on the side, the perfect vehicle for mopping up the rest of the sous vide egg.

I really enjoyed the classic egg + caviar combination (how can you go wrong?), and the corn pudding gave the dish an unusual twist which I really liked.

TOASTS AND DIPS

From the Toasts and Dips section, we had the Foie Gras Mousse with motarda and country toasts, which was very good.

LOCAL FARE

The Local Fare section showcases salads and vegetable-focused dishes from partnering farms in California. We tried the Roasted Fingerling Potatoes, which came with pancetta, shaved Serrano ham, and a sous vide egg. The sous vide egg added a nice creamy balance to the salty Serrano ham (which, by the way, had excellent flavor) and the tender fingerling potatoes.

One of their specials of the day, a roasted Chiogga Beet Salad with feta cheese, pistachios, and local greens, was delicious.

FLATBREAD

Although we did not specifically try one of their flatbreads, we did try another one of their specials that day, a simple Fontina Cheese Pizza topped with Winter Burgundy Truffles. The pizza had a bubbly, chewy crust and the truffles were awesome.

shaved table-side!

SPECIALS

One of the daily specials was a simple Crab Salad topped with a creamy avocado mousse and perfectly cooked cubes of potatoes.

I was impressed with the precise attention to detail. The cubes of potatoes reminded me of knifework that one would typically find in high-end dining, not a gastropub. All in all, the flavors were lovely. Again, crab and avocado is a classic combination, but I really enjoyed the unusual addition potatoes.

MARKET FISH

The Market Fish of the Day was a whole Branzino cooked in their Argentina style wood-fired grill. Everything that's cooked in the wood-fired grill is served with chimichurri sauce in some form or fashion.

In this case, the fish came topped with classic chimicchuri sauce and lemon. The execution was flawless. The meat was tender and we loved the charred, wood-grilled flavor on the outside.

MAIN COURSE

The main course, a grilled Wagyu Skirt Steak with Chimichurri Sauce was fantastic with the addition of freshly shaved winter black truffles.

The execution was excellent (a perfect medium rare), and the truffles were awesome.

SIDES

From the Sides part of the menu, we ordered the Wood Grilled Broccoli & Broccolini. I was especially impressed (again) with the tiny, precision-cut, carrot cubes, which (again) reminded me of a high-end restaurant. I loved the charred, smoky flavor in the vegetables. Everything was perfectly seasoned, and overall I really enjoyed this dish.

DESSERT

We tried several desserts and they were all good. My favorite was the Bread Pudding, which came with some sort of  liqueur (maybe grenadine?) topped with vanilla bean ice cream. It was decadent - creamy, dense and rich. I definitely tried to include some of that crunchy toasted top into each spoonful (yum!).

The Apple Pie came with a lovely quince and desert honey gelato on top.

The Chocolate Mousse Cake came along with a dollop of toasted marshmallow.

GENERAL THOUGHTS

I was very impressed with the food and overall dining experience at Libertine Social. I like the emphasis on smaller plates (yay variety!), and the food is very good. Some of my favorites included The Marinated Tuna Cones, Modern Fried Egg, Beet Salad, and anything made on that lovely Argentina-style wood-fired grill.

I would definitely come back, and highly recommend this cool place.

Libertine Social Las Vegas
Mandalay Bay
3950 S Las Vegas Blvd,
Las Vegas, NV 89119

Disclaimer – this meal at Libertine Social Las Vegas was a press meal arranged by MGM Resorts, the parent company that owns Mandalay Bay. I did not pay for this meal, nor was I paid to write this blog post. All opinions are my own.

The post Libertine Social Las Vegas -Mandalay Bay appeared first on Tiny Urban Kitchen.

No! Not OFFAL! I don't want to eat brains!!!

I couldn't believe it. After having heard amazing things about celebrity chef Mario Batali’s Babbo in NYC, (and pasta basically being Bryan's favorite food in the world), we had decided to try B&B, Batali and Joe Bastianich's joint venture in Las Vegas. This restaurant has been most closely compared with Babbo, Batali's restaurant in New York. Both Babbo and B&B have signature eight-course pasta tastings which change seasonally.

While at the airport en route to Las Vegas, I thought it would be fun to look up the pasta tasting online.  Uh oh.  Bad idea.  B&B had just started featuring their seasonal offal pasta tasting.

In case you don't know, offal is defined as basically parts of an animal that most people don't want to eat.  Hmmmm . . .

Now, being Chinese, it's not like weird animal parts are foreign to me. I grew up eating tripe (cow stomach), pig intestines, and chicken hearts. I've had frog legs, sea cucumbers, duck tongue, and all sorts of other things. Really, it shouldn’t be a big deal. Nevertheless, there are a few things that have always grossed me out, and one of these is brains.

And the first course of the tasting menu? Ravioli made with lamb's brains.

I looked deploringly at Bryan - "No brains . . please? please? PLEASE????" “No brains!”

He looked crestfallen. The pasta lover had been looking forward to this meal for like a year.

We entered the restaurant and the waitress RAVED about the pasta tasting. She said the various dishes were REALLY GOOD. And after looking at the other menu options (which looked much more ordinary and less interesting), I was stuck in a bind.

Bryan looked at me again, smiled mischievously, and said, "pasta tasting?"

I sighed. . . defeat . .again. How does this always happen?

So here is a detailed summary of my first offal pasta tasting ever.

Lamb’s Brain “Francobolli" with Lemon and Sage
Honestly, if no one had told me that the pasta was filled with lamb's brain, I would have had no idea. The brain itself is mild, and when mushed up and mixed in with the ricotta, it basically tastes like it is part of the cheese. The pasta texture was absolutely perfect, and the lemon sage sauce was light, yet bright and crisp at the same time. I hate to admit it, but it was really good.

Spaghetti Neri alla Chitarra with Ricci di Mare
The second course was our favorite entree by far. The pasta was a handmade squid ink pasta with a lovely chewy texture. It was mixed with uni (which is only arguably "offal" I think) and a surprisingly amount of hot peppers. The pasta had quite a bit of kick. It was great. The combination of the strong squid-ink flavor with the creamy uni and the spicy peppers was perfect. Really really delicious. I sincerely believe this is the best dish.

Tomato Conserva “Gettoni” with Ragu Norcino
The third dish is an interesting melange of various organs (liver, hearts, cockscomb, and "duck fries" - more on that later) stewed for three days into this gloriously rich and flavorful sauce. I was surprised that I actually liked the cockscomb (the red comb on a rooster), which I had never had before. It’s sort of gelatinous not unlike cow tendon. The sauce is then tossed with fresh coin-shaped mini-raviolis filled with a beautiful tomato sauce (made from fresh tomatoes jarred in the summer), which was absolutely spectacular. All of their homemade pastas were nice and al dente, super chewy, and just all around perfect.

Heh heh, silly us - we understood everything the waitress said except for "duck fries." What are duck fries? I was highly suspicious that it was a euphemism for something really awful. Bryan thought they were French fries cooked in duck fat. I was NOT convinced, and was even more suspicious when the dish that arrived had no fries in sight.

We finished the dish and it was truly delicious. While waiting for the next course, I whipped out my Blackberry and searched the term "duck fries."

I almost spit out my drink. Are you ready for this? Duck Fries are duck testicles. I couldn't believe it. I was soooo glad I had already finished the dish. I had always avoided "Rocky Mountain Oysters" (cow testicles) because the idea grossed me out. Oh my . . oh my . . I’m so glad I had already eaten it . . .

Pici con Cibreo
This dish consisted of thick chewy spaghetti-like pasta tossed with various livers. Because I don’t like liver, this was one of my least favorite dishes, although Bryan really liked it.

Goose Liver Ravioli with Balsamic Vinegar and Brown Butter
I'm not a big liver fan, and thus the liver flavor turned me off a bit, but I must say the sauce was fantastic. Though quite sweet, the strong, balsamic vinegar reduction worked beautifully with the strong liver flavor. And of course, the ravioli texture was perfectly chewy.

Blood Orange Sorbetto
This was the perfect palate cleanser to a very well-executed rich and satisfying meal.

Pumpkin Bread Pudding with Caramel Sauce
The dessert was good. The pumpkin bread pudding was nice and custardy. The entire dish had a pumpkin theme, including toasted pumpkin seeds that added a deliciously toasty crunch to the dessert, cutting through the rich creaminess of everything else.

Concluding Thoughts - was the Offal Awful?
Well, what can I say? B&B surely knows its pasta and competes, if not surpasses the top restaurants we've tried in Boston's North End. The dishes here are more unique, exotic, and expertly executed than most that I've tried. All of the pastas are homemade, and they all have incredible texture. The sauces are also top notch. Bryan, who loves liver and loves pasta, says this is one of the best pasta eating experiences he has ever had.

This tasting is not cheap - it's $99 a person and the whole table has to order the tasting. If you want a cheaper option, go to Babbo in NYC, where the pasta tasting is only $69 a person, and is mostly likely just as good, if not better. For some reason, there is a premium on everything in Las Vegas. It's not a place for "value" dining, although you can't deny the quality. Despite the fact that the offal sounded really gross to me, B&B was able to execute these dishes beautifully, and I have to concede that the meal was stunningly good.

B&B Ristorante
The Venetian
3355 Las Vegas Blvd S
Las Vegas, NV 89109
(702) 266-9977

The post B&B Ristorante appeared first on Tiny Urban Kitchen.

Utter decadence.  Royal Opulence.  Over-the-top.

These are just a few words that come to mind when I think back to my experience dining at Joel Robuchon.  Up until that point, I had never felt so much like a king while dining at a restaurant.

We're lucky to even be able to dine here, actually.  Back in 1996, Joel Robuchon, one of the most acclaimed French chefs in history, felt "stifled" from cooking at the age of 51.  He closed his famous restaurant in Paris (Joel Robuchon) in 1996 while "at the top of his game."

Fortunately, after six years, he got the itch again.  He came "straight out of retirement" to open his first French restaurant in the US - Joel Robuchon, The Mansion, in Las Vegas.

This is the only three-star Michelin restaurant in all of Las Vegas. Having enjoyed two other three-star Michelin restaurants in NYC, I was curious what a three-star Michelin outside of NYC would be like.

The craziest thing you can order is the Menu Degustation (8-courses for $385 pp!!!).  I wasn't feeling so crazy, and we had a show to catch at 7pm, so we opted for the 4-course tasting for $148 pp.

The Incredible Bread Cart
Moments after we had settled into our plush, velvet seats, this gorgeous bread cart rolled up right next to our seats.

Wow.

Definitely the most amazing spread of bread options I had ever seen in my life. Typically at these nice restaurants, a waiter comes by holding a tray of various breads and allows you to choose as many as you want, which is always fun. Here, the waiter wheeled this massive cart filled with gorgeous, perfectly formed mini-baguettes, herb rolls, large crusty breads, milk bread rolls, and on and on and on. It was mind-blowingly full of options, and every single piece looked tantalizing.

I think between the two of us we almost tried every single piece of bread (heh), and they were all fantastic. If I had to pick our favorites, I think it would be the mini-wheat baguette, the basil roll, and milk bread.  But really, they were all incredibly enjoyable.

And that was only the beginning of this insanely over-the-top meal.

We started with the most amazing amuse I've ever had at any restaurant. At first I thought they gave me an entire can of caviar to eat, which would have been crazy. Instead, it was a beautiful taste of a simple crab salad topped with a layer of caviar.  Look inside!

I made sure that every tiny bit of caviar was cleaned out of that can! The dish was simple, elegant, and of course, had wonderful flavors. I'm not sure if it was creative or innovative, but just solid, good French food made with top notch ingredients.

I LOVED my first course. I still have mixed feelings about eating gold, but I can't deny that it makes the dish feel over-the-top extravagent. I loved loved loved this dish. Salmon tartare topped with caviar and a gold leaf - how can you go wrong? Flavors were delicious, but would you even expect this combination to fail? This course was super enjoyable, and I savored each bite.

Bryan got a crab salad that was recommended by the waiter. Solidly prepared, although I liked mine better. 🙂 I just might be a bit biased, seeing my love for all types of fish raw. 😉

And then it was time for the soup. Because I don't really like liver or fois gras, I opted for the black truffle mushroom soup, which had an additional "add-on" of $40 pp (ouch). After having tried some top notch white alba Italian truffles at Daniel, I was curious what I would think of black truffles (I know I don't like the black truffle oil as much as the white truffle oil).

Although the veal broth was amazingly rich and flavorful, I only though the black truffles were OK. (Isn't that so sad??) I guess it was sort of an expensive experiment, but now I know that I vastly prefer the tasting of white truffles to black truffles. Black truffles are not bad - they are earthy and musty. However, they don't have that intensely fragrant aroma that I think comes from white truffles. Oh well, the soup was still delicious.

My main entree was a sole that was excellently prepared. Nice balanced flavors, perfectly cooked fish texture, and a nice flavorful sauce. Nowhere as good as Le Bernardin, which makes the most amazing fish I've ever had anywhere in the world, but solid.

Bryan's main entree was more of an Asian-flavored fish and octopus dish. We both liked mine better, although both were pretty good.

The mashed potatoes are a signature Joel Robuchon side dish. They are amazingly smooth - I have no idea what he does to give them this incredibly velvety smooth texture.  It was delicious.

Dessert was beautifully presented. I got a layered passion fruit ice dessert that was light and refreshing. Solid, although nothing to "write home about." Similarly, Bryan got an espresso/chocolate themed dessert which was very good. Again, we were not wow-ed by either dish, but we definitely enjoyed them.  And there's just something to be said about the level of detail that goes into the presentation. Absolutely mind boggling.

And then the mignardises tray. Wow. That's all I can say. I have never seen a more impress cart of mignardises in my life! The possibilities were endless, and every small cookie or cake was delicately designed, beautifully presented. I had a hard time, but I ended up choosing the French macaron, the poppyseed "lollipop," the rum custardy thing (sorry, don't remember), the mini-cheesecake, and a silver dusted rice crispy treat. These were very well made and it was the first time I got to choose, so I highly enjoyed the procss.

Just look at that spread.  Gorgeous.

Oh, and as a final really nice touch, they gave “the lady” a box of chocolates to take away. It was beautifully packaged, and tasted divine.  Again, several pieces of chocolate dusted with gold or silver. Crazy opulent!

Concluding Thoughts?
In some ways, it's unfair to compare one restaurant's signature 8-course tasting with another restaurant's 4-course tasting. So, instead, I'll just give my general impressions. There are many aspects of the ambiance at Joel Robuchon that are more opulent than any other restaurant I have ever visited. The room is washed in various shades of purple. Purple velvet “couches” perch regally in the corners while purple ribbons hold together white linen napkins placed gingerly on delicate dishware. It seems like the entire wait staff speaks English with a French accent, and the room is adorned with more chandeliers, mirrors, and jewels than you can imagine. Over the top. Royalty. Opulent.

In a similar way, many of the spreads are there to wow you. Both the bread cart and the mignardises cart did just that - we were tickled and amazed at the same time at the vast array of choices we had. Especially when every choice looked so amazing. I've never seen anything quite as good as Joel Robuchon in these respects.

The food?
Definitely top-notch French cooking. Although I cannot complain about anything we ate, at the end of the meal, I was not nearly as wow-ed or utterly satisfied as I was after leaving both Le Bernardin and Daniel. I think part of it comes from the fact that we were rushed in finishing our meal so that we could make our show. But it's more than just that. In the end, nothing on the Joel Robuchon menu wow-ed me. I love love love caviar, and I thought those dishes were amazing. But in the back of my mind, I also thought that it wasn't THAT hard to make something taste good if you put caviar on top.

So, I'm not sure what to think. The table next to us was enjoying the Menu Degustation, and of course I couldn't help but continue sneaking peeks over there to see what they were having. I have to say, their dishes looked phenomenal, and it's quite possible that you can't enjoy Joel Robuchon's most amazing and signature dishes unless if you order the Menu Degustation.

I guess you can think of this as a limited review of a first time experience.

The Environment?
The restaurant is definitely incredible in terms of the high-class environment that it offers. As I mentioned earlier, the space is beautiful, adorned with gorgeous chandeliers, royal purple seats, and mirrors all around. Perhaps it’s a French thing, but we were a little disappointed in the slight distance of the wait staff. I think “stuffy” might be a bit harsh, but they were not as warm and friendly, which was something we really appreciated about Daniel. I might make an exception for the bread guy, who was happy to entertain our giddy excitement in trying all the breads, and even allowed me to take pictures of the cart. In general, though, Joel Robuchon is one of those places where you feel like you should speak in hushed voices, move daintily, and smile politely.

Nevertheless, it’s totally worth trying. A great way to enjoy this restaurant “on a budget” is to try the $89 tasting. You still get to enjoy the over-the-top ambiance, the awesome bread cart and the mignardises cart, not to mention the awesome amuse and the excellent food. It really is steal.

Joel Robuchon
MGM Grand
3799 Las Vegas Blvd S
Las Vegas, NV 89109
(702) 891-7925

The post Joel Robuchon (The Mansion) appeared first on Tiny Urban Kitchen.

The last time I was in Las Vegas over the summer we avoided the outdoors like the plague. With temperatures reaching well over a hundred every single day, most people darted quickly between the casinos in a desperate attempt to stay cool.

Who would have thought I would later find myself lying on a rock in a Las Vegas canyon in the middle of August?

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Bryan and I celebrated our tenth anniversary in Las Vegas this year.

For a fun treat, my good friend Emily, a Las Vegas wedding photographer, took us out to Red Rock Canyon and treated us to some of her amazing photography skills. Temperatures were record high (106 °F the day we went out!), so we actually got up super early in the morning to do this "trash the wedding dress" shoot.

Yes, I actually lugged my original wedding dress all the way to Vegas for this. Am I nuts?

The trip was super fun. On top of hiking through some stunning natural landscapes right outside of Las Vegas, Bryan and I also enjoyed a ton of fantastic food to commemorate this milestone anniversary.

Here's a sneak preview of upcoming posts, along with a few more "trash the wedding dress" photos . . . Can you guess where I went?

A 16-course menu degustation at one of the highest acclaimed restaurants in the city
Chicken and waffles from a three Star Michelin chef
Banh Mi at a classic Vietnamese sandwich chain that hails from California
Frequently named the best Thai restaurant in the US, this inexpensive off-Strip spot has an incredible wine list at ridiculously low prices.
The oldest steak we've ever tried - dry aged for 8 months!!
Japanese Peruvian fusion in an Italian casino

Wine angels "fly" up the multi-story wine cave to get your wine for you. 
Red Rock Canyon, 10 years and 2 days after our wedding day. . .

To see the entire anniversary wedding shoot, come check out Emily's website here.

Next week! The Vegas Anniversary Series begins. Have a great weekend!

This is part 1 of a larger Series The Vegas Anniversary. Other posts in this series:
Bouchon Bistro (lunch)
Aureole
Lee's Sandwiches

The post A Sneak Peek - the Vegas Anniversary Trip appeared first on Tiny Urban Kitchen.