High-end Dining: Expectations and Reviews

[ElSapo]

My girlfriend and I did this wine pairing last night. The winemaker was there and seating was done communally. There were basically three long tables and about 40 people overall.

The price was $90, not including tax and tip. Not a bad deal, I thought, given that you taste six wines and have a decent meal. The food was solid but not great. I think that comes from trying to time 40 plates to come out about right.

The amuse course was fun - served with a plastic "spork" stuck into the arincini (traditionally this is fried risotto in a ball, though this was more of a puree). The parfait was served in a small plastic cup. Both were really good.

The foie gras was probably my favorite course. The tart cherry compote (is was more of a thick sauce really, streaked across the plate) really worked with the rich, buttery foie gras. When you combined the two flavors they elevated each other. At first I thought the wine was a mistake, as it didn't seem crisp enough to cut through (it was semi-sweet but with a dry finish), but after a couple of bites it all worked much better together. I think it's amazing how a wine's flavor seems to change as you drink and eat more.

The risotto was a good dish, but it came out merely warm - otherwise it was excellent. The prawns were excellent. I wasn't a huge fan of the Nebbiolo; seemed a little thin for my taste, but it was a good match with the rich risotto.

The third course was merely ok. The sirloin was cooked to medium (a little too done for me, but oh well, we weren't asked) and the braised shortrib was tender and flavorful. The course just seemed like an afterthought, if that makes sense - almost a letdown after the two before. The parsnip puree was excellent though.

HOWEVER, the Block 11 Cab was phenomenol. Big and bold and well balanced. It seemed a shame to taste it next to the Zin, which was completely overwhelmed. The Block 11 sells for somewhere around $45 or $50, while the other wines are around half that.

The Dessert was oddly not accompanied by a wine selection or drink, which seemed odd. It was good, but just average really. Solid but not spectacular, and like the beef plate seemed oddly out of place.

Overall, this meal was sort of incongruous. Some good wines, some good dishes, but it didn't really gel as a whole. That probably has everything to do with it being a 40-person tasting. Overall, I was really happy. And damn, I want that Cab again...

[firstyearclay]

Having lived in Vegas for 3.5 years I have had some of the best food in town. This review and most of my reviews are centered towards two things. One, I love food, and I love to eat the classics and try new things. Food is Numero Uno. Two, I love the experience. This can be a different level of service, a beautiful location, a nice view, in a nice part of a city/town, ________(fill in the blanks). I don’t just leave it to food, but food makes up 80% of the experience imo.

I would be lying if I didn’t say there is a level of bias in my review here because I know the Exec Chef Geno Bernardo, very well. He comes from a long line of Italian food, has worked in a plethora of food landscapes, and is a all-around HOF. He recently took over as Executive Chef @ "Nove" in the Fantasy Tower in the Palms Casino in Las Vegas.

In January, I was making my routine trip to Vegas for friends and fun when I called Geno to see what he was up to tonight. Being in my own world, I completely forgot he was working and obviously wouldn’t answer. I was plotting a night out with my new “I drink Scotch now” Jacket on. Two minutes later Geno calls me back and says he is going to be off the hook busy because he has 160 people coming in for dinner. Apparently this large group booked late and was on their way in. I wanted to come down and check the place out for a drink before meeting friends at the Hard Rock so I made my way down to the Palms by 11pm.

I was escorted to the elevator that takes you up to what I think is the second from the top floor of the Fantasy Tower. When you walk in you are immediately taken back by the huge “Palms” sign that is brilliant through the back windows of the restaurant. (Their is a nice preview on the N9ne Group restaurant website that will show you all of these pictures.) I was immediately taken back by the décor. The restaurant is gorgeous with rich browns, purples, cheetah skin, brown leather backed chairs and STUNNING views of Flamingo drive and LV boulevard. I went right to the bar and sat in front of 3 bottles of Macallan. (In the shot of the bar in the Nove Photos section, you can clearly see the three bottles: 12, 18, 25 years.) Having been 2 weeks into my new found passion for alcohol, I jumped in and asked for a glass of the 18 year Macallan. What a night that was. Trip Report for a different forum different-time.

Fast forward to Tuesday night. I feel like [censored] because of the recycled air on the plane, the dry air in Vegas, the 36 drinks on the previous Friday, and the 147 bong-hits I took over the weekend, but I soldier on for drinks and to catch up with Geno.

I take one of my close friends in with me to enjoy the experience. It was moderately packed. We ordered some scotch to start and the appetizers started flowing.

We had:

Antipasti

Crudo – Italian Sashimi, olive oil, herbs, sea salts
Salumi – cured meats, olives, pecorino cheeses, ciabatta
Lagostino’s - Italian Shrimp
Federal Hill Calamari – banana peppers, lemon

These were all amazing. The combination probably was too much, too fast, but Geno meant for us to try everything instead of stuffing ourselves. I couldn’t stop eating. The Lagostino’s were amazing!

Insalate:

Caesar – split for 2.
Winter Caprese – roasted tomatoes, pesto mozzarella di bufala

Both normal as you would expect at a high-end restaurant.

Second Piatti

Tuna – Seared rare, Capanota, Barolo wine
Veal – Osso Bucco Milanese, saffron risotto

Both ridiculous. I have a true passion for Osso Bucco and it was one of the top 3 I have ever had. My friend destroyed the tuna and said it was sushi-grade. I tried one bite and thought it was good, I just couldn’t really rate it because it was seared instead of raw.

Sides –
Asparagus, balsamico
Italian broccoli, parmigano

Geno’s Black Truffle Polenta, cracked pepper, pecorino

I can’t even explain how stuffed I am at this point. I had to try the Polenta even though I have had his before (made at home [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]). This is a must order imo. If you go here it should be up their on the menu as a special along with his 3 lb lobster (labeled The Big Sicilian), Nove Spaghetti (lobster, shrimp, crab, scallop, calamari, basil), and the “Sunday Gravy”. This should be "Chef Geno’s Sunday Gravy" because I know the kid can make a sauce and meatballs that would knock your dick in the dirt.

We declined on dessert before Geno came charging out for us to try one more thing. If I remember correctly, it was a Crème Fraiche Gelato with strawberries. It was gorgeous.

The meal was world class in every way. The restaurant is all Glitter Gulch-Vegas at its best. Might be one of the top three places in all of Las Vegas to start your night at.

Zagat gave it a great initial review with no ratings yet.

This is my 500th post and 2nd review in this thread.

fyc

[citanul]

Tru, Chicago, ~$150 for food, 2006

I tried the internet reservation system for Tru a couple weeks before I wanted to dine there, and was not incredibly surprised to find that reservations were unavailable for the dates I wanted. I called on the phone to find out how far in advance I should actually be looking, and found out that in fact the kitchen table was available for the evening in question. The kitchen table is a few dollars more expensive than dining in the main room, but you get more plates. You also don't really get a pre-prepared menu. The chefs change things that they bring you based on your responses to previous dishes, at least a little bit. I was pretty excited.

We walked in the door, checked our coats, and then were led in to the bar area (now removed to make room for a "lounge" where there is a seperate menu from the rest of the place. We got a couple glasses of champagne and sat for a bit (we were early, they were not late). In the lounge we were pretty shocked to see art such as Venus, and Somebody's Mother (which I'd really like to find a print of, but I don't think they exist), as well as a couple others. When we got a chance to see the main diningroom, we saw the rest of the art some of which is listed here, but not close to all.

I'd really wanted to eat at a kitchen table ever since I'd heard seen the table at Charlie Trotters. At Trotters, the table for 2 or 4 is in the small, efficient kitchen, just feet from the chefs. Tru is significantly different. When the table was ready and we were done with our champagne, they led us to the table. The kitchen is immense. Huge, spacious, basically like 3 kitchens stuck next to each other, one for sauces, one for meats I think, one for other stuff, then another space entirely for staging and plate prepping. This doesn't even count the large amount of space off to the side for custom dishes, etc. The chef's table is in a seperate room off the back of the kitchen. Next to it is a room a little larger which is the dedicated dessert kitchen. Through the meal what we found was that the books that the restaurant has for sale are kept in this room, as well as certain platters and silverware and decanters and such, so people had to walk through quite a few times to get these things. This kinda sucked. Two other problems I had with being in the kitchen room: 1) To ge to the washroom, you had to be escorted across the kitchen by someone who would then wait outside the room for you to escort you again 2) Because of the seclusion of the room, every time the waiter approached the table it felt like we had to be a good audience. (2) there isn't really as bad as it sounds, it was just a touch awkward, and from what I've heard of dining in the main room, this awkwardness doesn't happen at all.

My memory of the entire meal isn't all that fantastic since it was about a year ago but I will try:

We sat and ordered a nice bottle of Spanish white wine that was suggested as "able to go with the whole menu." Soon after we were brought an amuse bouche, which since my menu doesn't say what it was, I have no idea what it was.

Next up was the signature "Caviar Staircase." I'm a big fan of caviar, and a presentation of I think 4 nice caviars, with all of the traditional accompaniments (except vodka) is a great way to start a meal.

At this point my GF and my menus diverged because she is a Fish only type vegetarian:

I next had a Wagyu tartar with caper berries, white anchoy, quail egg, and a consomme gelee, which is one of the more awesome things I've ever eaten. Meanwhile my girlfriend who likes all of those ingredients except the beef sadly had her Yellow Fin with tapenade, potato confit, beans and radish. This was basically the most plain thing to come out of the kitchen during the evening. It was still good, just a bit bland.

A note: Tru will not only offer women a wrap if they are chilly, they have these little cube furniture pieces for putting next to your chair and putting your purse on so you don't have to leave it on the floor. I think that's pretty awesome.

Next up, for me a fairly traditionalish Foie Gras with brioche "french" toast, banana chutney, and a chocolate sauce. Just a really nice prepatation of foie gras. All great pieces that go well together, and everything was just the right sweetness, texture, and level of cooked. My date had possibly the best plate of the evening at this point though: Poached lobster riotto, gemelli pasta, wild mushrooms, pesto, parmesan. It was at this point we started getting really worried about our ability to actually eat everything brought to us. Everything was really great so far, but a fairly significant sized portion of gooey, fantastic risotto is usually well, dinner, and then you go hibernate. (A variation on this dish was served on the Trumanto/Gand Iron Chef.)

Then we had soups served in designer coffee cups (also as seen on TV):

I can't remember who got served which, but I think we both tried both. Pumpkin soup with an amaretto reduction and toasted seeds, and porcini mushroom cappuccino with a parmesan crisp. Light, small, great smells and presentation, and at this time we were given a touch of digesting time. Very good timing for that.

I then had a roasted sturgeon with braised oxtail an a carrot puree which I don't really remember anything about. GF had Roast halibut with red and green apple salad and arugula. She really really liked this, and told the waiter that she especially liked one of the types of green apples that she had never had before, the waiter told her what kind it was and explained that it isn't readily available at grocery stores.

We continued with "main course:" I had a Venison loin with fennel, walnuts and dried grapes with Elk jus. (I find Elk jus to be like, hilarious for some reason.) I thought this was amazing and just perfect in basically every way. I was however, happy to know that this was the last of the "real food" courses. GF had Roaseted spiced hamachi with camargue rice, toasted macadamias, and an apple-ginger jus, topped with shavings of the apples she liked from the previous dish. She says this was definitely the second best thing after the risotto.

At this point we were left alone for a touch to talk, and did that. All the time btw we can watch everything happening in both kitchens through huge windows in the walls of our room.

When the cheese guy came around, we were ready to eat again. We had a selection of great cheeses, with GF of course picking her standard selection of the stinkiest cheeses she could find.

Next up was a palate cleansing cherry lemonade, which oddly, though only 1.5oz or so, I thought was one of the best things I put in my mouth all night. It was just perfect cherry lemonade, great tartness and sweetness, and all the stinky cheese taste gone.

Dessert at Tru is a multi-course tour. I remember having a rootbear float with like, cardamom icecream (Gand has her own line of rootbeer), there was a tart or crisp, and I think also a small molten center chocolate cake, and I think some version of a Trifle. (These are not listed, and if GF comes home and reminds me of other desserts I will edit.)

Just when we thought we were done with desserts, a guy comes by with a cart. The cart has every available surface covered with different candies, chocolates, lollipops, and truffles. He tells us to take anything we want. We take a sickening amount of chocolates and truffles and brittles and etc, and he makes sure that we take lollipops because he really likes them.

After all this we did the whole leaving thing, which was pretty depressing. Also because we had the longest menu and were seated at the last seating time, we were like the second to last party in the restaurant. As we got our coats and they hailed us a cab they gave us a parting gift! Accompanied by a card explaining that the idea was that the experience didn't have to be over yet, they gave us little packets containing a couple canneles (or cannelles, i can't remmeber) which are these little fantastic pastry things that take days to prepare.

Basically everything all night was just about perfect. Tru was the first of the high-end places I'd been to where they expect you to leave incredibly full. It's a different kind of ethic or whatever than most of the placse. I'm not sure if they expect you to clean every plate, but they definitely expect everyone to enjoy everything that is brought to them. The food is obviously not experimental, but is executed flawlessly, uses great ingredients, and occasionally surprises you with flavor combinations.

I've since been back for their dessert only seating, which is something like $35 for a 3 or 5 course dessert, and that also was great. I suggest Tru to anyone who wants to head out and be blown away by great food, great service, and doesn't mind a bit of expense. I do, however, recommend sitting in the main diningroom instead of the kitchen.

citanul

[El Diablo]

Michael Mina

Michael Mina was chef/partner in one of my favorite restaurants in SF, Aqua. He left that a few years ago to start his own restaurant empire (http://www.michaelmina.net/index.html).

I was very excited to try this, because it was one of my favorite chefs doing a style (small plate tasting menus w/ trios of different preparations) that I really enjoy.

This was a couple or few years ago, a few months after they opened.

The restaurant is in a hotel in Union Square. It's right off the lobby, so straight off the bat it feels a little more hotel-y than optimal. Hard to describe, but it feels more focused on being expensive and impressive to business travelers and tourists (I've found this to be the case at a number of places in hotels) as opposed to really being all about the restaurant.

We sit down, and the first thing I notice is that it's just way too loud. Annoyingly so.

Then we get our options. A few different levels of tasting menus. We did the full tasting menu, which at the time was $120. This was quite annoying, as standard at the time was around $100 for this level of dining. Now they've increased to $135.

When presented, one of us needed a course sub'd for something else due to allergy or something. They said that was fine, but then suggested what they'd change it to and said that selection would be a $10 supplement. Weak. Also, somewhere in the middle of the courses there was an option to have something (I don't recall what, but it was not something incredibly special or anything) that was another $10 or $15 supplement. These little touches just seemed chintzy at a place where we are paying $120/per before wine.

The concept for this menu is that everything is presented in trios, three preparations of the same ingredient. So, a seared foie gras, a foie gras terrine, and something else. This was very cool in a few spots, but also resulted in getting pretty small tastes of the best stuff. In a lot of courses, there were one or two preparations that made sense and a third that clearly felt like "damn, gotta come up with a third preparation." Overall, I only recall two courses that were really "wow" - I believe they were scallops and beef. Everything was good, but generally most of the stuff was just that, good. I recall the poultry dish (some sort of game hen I believe) being very ordinary. Just not what I'm expecting from this level of restaurant.

Service was overall quite good.

We pay and get our parking validated. We go to the garage and present our ticket to the attendant. That's when I notice the sign, something like "Valet $20, $15 w/ restaurant validation." Hahahaha, how ridiculous. $5 off. I don't care if I have to pay for parking, that is fine. But just forget about the whole parking validation thing if you're just gonna give a $5 discount, what a joke.

So, all in all, not a place I would recommend at all. I think it's a place worth going if you're on a business dinner, as it is a somewhat unique experience, but definitely not one I'd pay for for a special occassion.

[shemp]

Thanks for the Mina review. I've looked in a couple of times and thought the place looked uninvited. Kind of an east coast* formality/stuffiness that seemed out of place. I don't know. Too big. Too boxy. I see there's a practical effect with the acoustics that doesn't surprise me.

I guess the one thing I'm not sure of is why you say it is worth a try on a business dinner.

[*I love the east coast and all things east coast and mean no injury -- I'm just reaching for a description of the vibe.]

[El Diablo]

shemp,

"I guess the one thing I'm not sure of is why you say it is worth a try on a business dinner."

Just because the trio thing makes it a somewhat unique experience. And the dinner itself is good. It's just not very good imo for the price. So, I would never recommend it to someone as a place to go when they or a friend are paying. However, for someone who is going out on business expense dinner all the time and tries all sorts of good restaurants, this trio concept is likely to be a new experience. But, yeah, there are tons of far less expensive restaurants in SF that I recommend over this.

[citanul]

Spiaggia, ~$100/head pre-tax, tip, drinks, Chicago, 2007

A couple weekends ago I had the pleasure of eating at Spiaggia. I've been meaning to have dinner there for a while, but hadn't come up with a great reason. When a couple of friends said they were coming out to visit I decided that we'd go. I then made my friend a bet at 10-1 on his $50 that I would play 100k hands in January, and if he won the money would go to dinner. I got mono in January and lost. Then the friend bailed at the last minute (he forgot his gf's birthday was that weekend, lol?) as penalty, we used "his" money to go to Spiaggia.

So the three of us went to Spiaggia (2 girls and me, go me). The wine list at Spiaggia is Italian. The girls started with "the best prosecco I've ever had," while I started with probably my least favorite moscato I've ever had, both off of the by the glass list. (The prosecco was really quite nice. The moscato wasn't sweet, or bubbly, or anything elese that makes moscato interesting at all.) We were seated next to a family group celebrating an old-dude's birthday, so we chatted a little bit about the weirdness of a like 6 year old and a 9 year old having dinner at Spiaggia. They were drinking shirley temples.

The waiter came over and took our orders, and found out that GF is a vegetarian.

Amuse:

Me/Friend: Salami with fennel
GF: Cuttlefish egg

Appetizers:

GF: Traditional Sardinian carta di musica layered with tomato, Fiore Sardo cheese, basil and a poached quail egg

Friend: Langoustines with green beans, Chef’s Garden micro coriander, coriander seeds and Cappezzana Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Me: Wood-roasted sea scallop with guanciale, Umbrian purgatory bean puree, Chef’s Garden micro rapini and truffle vinaigrette

Pasta:

GF/Friend: (ravioli) Handcrafted pecorino filled pasta with chestnuts and fresh Umbrian black truffles

Me: (agnolotti) Handcrafted veal filled pasta with fennel pollen and crispy veal breast

Protein:

GF/Friend: Wood-roasted filet of turbot with sunchoke puree, trumpet royale mushrooms and mushroom veal reduction

Me: Wood-roasted filet mignon with marrow and herb crust, hen of the woods mushrooms, roasted red pearl onions and purple potato puree

Cheeses:

Some stinky cheeses, none of them available in stores in Chicago =( including an aged Fontina, a brie type cheese with goat's milk, and a truffle laced cheese.

Dessert:

GF: Semifredo
Me: Sort of a beignet thing
Friend: can't recall
Served with small truffles and such

All enjoyed with a nice Italian white that you can't find online without ordering it from Rome =(

The stars of the show were:

My appetizer: absolutely perfectly done seared scallop. I know, I know, it's not hard to make a great seared scallop as long as you start with fresh scallops, but really, perfectly done. The girls had nice appetizers but the scallop was clean, perfectly prepared seafood.

Their pasta: While the veal-two-ways pasta was quite nice (and all posta is handmade), the girls truffle pasta was just out of this world. The truffle wasn't overpowering which is often a problem with truffles in general, and somehow they made a creamy smooth filling out of chestnuts and truffles. Great sauce, great pasta, great filling.

Entrees: They were both great. I liked my filet, they liked the turbot. The filet is obviously more of something like what you can get somewhere else (though the marrow/herb crust was really good), it was what I was in the mood for. The turbot with atypical vegetables was really really good. Well prepared mushrooms of types you don't see every day can be just so good.

The cheeses were fantastic, though I wish they had given us more accompaniments. But we did learn that one can dine at the bar and just order cheeses, and if you ask, the cheese guy will match wines for you to each cheese.

The desserts were easilly the most disappointing part of the night. my dessert was basically a whipped cream covered pastry ball filled with cold mouse of some sort. While tasty it was hard to eat and gave the impression of having been made earlier that day. I was expecting like, beignets, little, hot, awesome balls of awesomeness. So I was a bit sad. The girls both liked, but weren't shocked, by their desserts. At some point I got a cappuccino.

We all got a glass of Malaga with dessert. We'd never had this, but it was great. A waiter came over and took our pictures around now.

Spiaggia looks out at the beach/the Drake/the lake/Michigan Ave. The interior is super cool. The food is obviously great, the service was from coat check to coat retrieval amazing, professional, and unobtrusive. While they didn't hail us a cab this time, they did last time I ate in the Cafe next door, so I think we just left after that guy got off work or something. If you want great food in a more casual atmosphere, I strongly recommend the Cafe. I was happy to finally eat at the main restaurant, and will go back.

[El Diablo]

Coco 500

This place is substantially cheaper than many of the other places reviewed here and technically does not qualify, but it's one of my favorite (maybe current favorite) restaurants in SF and one of the best values around for nice restaurants.

Took a few friends there Friday. The wine guy/manager is a friend of a friend, so I chatted with him a bit. He sent us over some delicious truffled mushroom flatbread to get started with. I've liked his recommendations in the past, so I asked him to give us something big but not super dry. He said he had a couple bottles left of something not on the list and brought us a bottle of Justin Justification. This is a really nice Cabernet Franc/Merlot blend, pretty much exactly what I was looking for. Nice and fruity with a little bit of oak and earthiness to balance it out.

For apps we got fried green beans (these are like a light tempura fry here, really amazing), veal marrow bones (delicious, tender marrow served with some mini toasts - another standout dish), and a nice cheese plate with generous slices of camembert, a blue (wow, an outstanding pick), and one other cheese. Apps were all about $8 each.

For entrees we got a proscuitto pizza ($13 - this was good, but not great imo, not my favorite), moroccan lamb shank ($16 - super tender, deliciously spiced), alaskan black cod ($16 - i loved this fish but Boris was not a big fan, but I thought the sides were only so-so), and a special of steelhead trout ($18 i think - this was GREAT, this trout is almost like salmon, pink and quite rich).

Dessert was Meyer Lemon Cream ($7.50 - wow, this was outstanding, a sort of custardy thing w/ chewy cookie things to eat it with, wow), Huckleberry Bread Pudding ($7.50 - very tasty, but I love bread pudding, I didn't think there was anything standout about it - Boris loved it), and to go with our espresso, some pieces of chocolate ($2) and peanut butter cups ($2 - wow these are really amazing, flaky almost butterfingery but not quite as rich peanut butter part and delicious chocolate).

Great meal, excellent service - not hurried at all, nice pacing on everything, nice recommendations without going on too much about anything. The only minor negative note I might have is that our entrees came out almost immediately after we finished our apps, maybe they could have been a few minutes later, but whatever, very small complaint.

With tax and tip and an $80 bottle of wine, total of $300 for 4. That included four apps, four entrees, multiple desserts and coffees, so that's definitely on the high end of what a meal here will cost.

[NorCalJosh]

SF area food people-

I have an anniversary coming up in a month, are there any of these high end dining places that you'd recommend for an something like that in particular? i have had a large desire to hit up gary dankos for a while and el diablo sparked an interest in the dining room at the ritz, are either of those particularly good for a romantic evening set up?


secondly, i dont care for wine. i havent had a lot of experience, but i have been pretty disgusted by every wine i've tasted. will they be pissed at me if we choose not to order wine? do any of these places have some kind of alcoholic or non alcoholic special drink pairing besides wine? or is it worth it for me to get whatever wine they recommend which i am 99% certain i will find disgusting in hopes that maybe i've just had terrible wines up to this point and i just needed a proper introduction?

[PITTM]

i hated wine too, but that was cause my parents drink [censored] wine. when ive had good wines in nice restaurants i have loved them. give it a final shot at a nice restaurant. hey, you might end up a convert.