Full post about our holidays coming up once I’ve had time to write it and get the pics sorted out, but in the meanwhile, here is a fairly pedestrian description of the various dinners we had
Vegas:
1. Enotecca San Marco
A Mario Batalli restaurant situated in the Venetian’s strange St Mark’s Square. Fairly good Italian food, Shelley had rigatoni with roasted cauliflower puree and chilli and I had a decent four cheese pizza.
2. Dos Caminos
We ate here twice, and on both occasions this fantastic buzzy Mexican did not disappoint. Twice Shelley had the farmer’s market vegetable quesadilla. I had conchinita pibil, a succulent slow roasted pork on our first visit. On the second, a blackened skirt steak; tender, spicy, ace – all that steak should be – oh yes, and served with beans and chorizo, like the best baked beans ever J
3. Postrio
Our first sample of Wolfgang Puck’s food at this corner of his massive empire. Initial impressions weren’t great; the maitre d was a chilly blond woman who seemed to delight in telling off members of staff in front of customers. On to the food – Shelley had a remarkably rich porcini ravioli with truffle oil, which was delicious. I went for a maytag cheese and black mission fig pizza, which was as odd as it sounds. The cheese was a little too strong, making the dish a bit of a challenge.
4. Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill
We popped in here for some food before catching Ka, the Cirque de Soleil show. The food was good, better than at Postrio I think, as was the atmosphere. It feels odd eating pretty much in the middle of a casino but that certainly didn’t spoil things. To start we shared (and needed to share) some handmade crisps with magtag blue cheese and truffle oil. Heart attack. Mains – I went for veal ravioli with brown butter – very rich and well seasoned – and Shelley went for what to all intends sounded like a very nice, and very simple, pasta with tomato and basil sauce. Very good overall.
5. Michael Mina
Overpriced and lacking in any atmosphere. The tasting menu was of reasonable quality but only had 5 courses, which did not actually match the menu we had asked for (i.e. the trio of deserts was replaced with something entirely forgettable). One dish (fava bean cavaletti) was grossly oversalted. The waiter was … odd.
6. Gaylord
This excellently named Indian restaurant is at the Rio and was a much needed taste of home after our rich week of burgers and fat American food. Simple, fairly typical local Indian food done quite well. Shelley’s vegetable thali outshone my tandoori mixed grill.
San Francisco
1. Michael Mina
Fantastic restaurant experience - a real buzz, a sense of culinary theatre. Excellent food and wine pairings, although some courses disappointed slightly. The desert was average and the cheese course tiny, but then other courses (squash blossom tempura in particular) were supreme.
Here’s what we had:
White Crane Springs “Wild Man” Mixed Greens with Marinated Stone Fruit, Pickled Spring Garlic, Ramp Vinaigrette
pyramid valley riesling ‘lebecca’, marlborough, new zealand 2005
“Panzanella” English Cucumber, Heirloom Tomatoes, Castelvetrano Olives
wattle creek sauvignon blanc, mendocino 2007
Tempura Squash Blossom, Ratatouille Stuffed Piquillo Pepper, Ricotta, Goldbar Mousse
domaine sigalas santorini (assyrtiko, athiri), greece 2006
Carnaroli Risotto, Sweet Corn, Castelmagno Cheese, Australian Black Truffles
ambullneo pinot noir cuvée michael mina, santa barbara county 2005
“Scotch” Hen Egg, Chanterelle Mushrooms, Heirloom Radishes, Consommé
vougeraie gevrey chambertin ‘justice’, burgundy, france 2002
Amanteigado cheese, Artichoke, Lemon Aïoli, Black Garlic
bodegas el nido clio, jumilla, spain 2004
or
Bittersweet Soft Chocolate, Poached Cherries, Ruby Port, Cherry Pit Foam
Taylor LBV port, portugal 2001
2. La Folie
I’d not really looked into this restaurant in advance but Shelley spotted it in the Lonely Planet. We went along after our visit to Alcatraz, dressed in t-shirts and jeans, not expecting it to be the fairly refined place it was. After all, we thought that as it was a mid-week evening the place would be quiet. It was not.
The maitre d looked us up and down, her sneer quite visible – but then, happily, she let us in – they had a table.
La Folie is one of those excellent gems you stumble upon sometimes by accident. The food is outstanding, the service knowledgeable and friendly. Certainly one of the best meals I have ever had, if not the best.
We both had four courses, Shelley choosing from the menu jardinière and I from the usual menu. As far as we can recall Shelley had:
- Heirloom tomato soup
- Parmesan and sweetcorn risotto with shaved black truffles
- Assiette Jardinier (Savoy Cabbage and Carmargue Rice Cannelloni, Root Vegetable Gateau with a Red Wine Mushroom Syrup, Citrus Cranberry Compote) – I think …
- Valhrona Milk Chocolate Passion Fruit Bombe with Hazelnut Dacquoise, and Black Pepper Gelato
I had:
- Snails!! Snails in garlic butter and parsley with porcini and bone marrow, stuffed into a veal bone and topped with a parsley butter crust
- Blackened cod with stir-fried vegetables
- Rabbit three ways: stuffed loin, rack (tiny), and leg stuffed with mushrooms
- Brioche bread pudding with vanilla custard, peach, and a celery sorbet.
3, Greens
We had been looking forward to visiting this landmark vegetarian restaurant for some time. We had heard that it was as good if not better than Brighton’s outstanding Terre a Terre.
It was not.
We had to eat from the 4-course prix-fixe which is the only thing available on Saturday night. The first “course” was some cheese and salad notable not only for its stinginess in size but also for the blandness of its execution.
We both opted for the Greens sampler for our starter. Not bad not great, the only highlight was some string beans and fava beans cooked with a little star anise which I thought was a nifty idea.
For main, I had a filo “cake” which had goats cheese and roasted veg in it, which was fine but dull. Shelley had a soufflé I think.
Desert … I can’t even remember.
I had the gall to ask one of the staff to call us a taxi only to be told that there was no point, one would not be there for another 30-45 minutes. Great service.
4. Millennium
From one extreme to the other. Where Greens was characterised by small portions, unambitious food and chilly service, Millennium was a feast and a delight. And … it was vegan.
I have no idea what we ate but we ate a lot of it (5 courses in all), all of it was very good, and each course was accompanied with some surprisingly decent wine for an excellent price. Good stuff.
