Fleur de Lys. A Chef’s tasting.
I should learn to be less trusting.
I’ve already learned the hard way not to trust them when they say, “Trust me, I’m a lawyer.” And that’s coming from an ex-lawyer, so you can trust me.
I am inclined to believe “Trust me, I’m a doctor,” and even “Trust me, I’m a Michelin starred chef.”
But I’m starting to question “Trust me, I’m the executive chef at a celebrity chef’s Las Vegas outpost.”
You see, the Chef’s Tasting menu at Fleur de Lys is not listed. You tell them if you have any allergies or if there’s anything you don’t eat. Besides that, you’re in the chef’s hands. In this case, Executive Chef Steve Wolf.
Now, here’s the thing. I’m not really sure if the ever changing chef’s menu is really Chef Hubert Keller’s menu, Chef Wolf’s menu, or Chef Wolf channeling Chef Keller’s menu. So I’m not really sure where to lay the blame for a meal that was, well, hit and miss. Don’t get me wrong, there were some outstanding dishes. But there were also some dishes that missed the mark enough to make me question if they were coming from the same chef.
Photo courtesy of Stuck in Customs on Flickr
Let’s start with the positives. The restaurant is absolutely beautiful. A towering space with walls of stacked stone, heavy floor to ceiling dark curtains, an imposing second floor wine cellar behind glass, and an “eye” of orange roses watching over a dining room of white tablecloths and brown leather banquettes and chairs. It’s masculine and luxurious and opulent.
The service is also top notch, finding that balance between attentiveness and unobtrusiveness.
And the menu had some high points. Some very high points. But the lows brought it back down to earth.
We started with an amuse of dungeness crab and avocado sphere in a watermelon gazpacho. If the amuse was to capture the essence of the meal, I would have been very happy. It was delicious, tart and refreshing. It held out the promise of a great meal.
We moved on to the 1st course of ahi tuna tartare over a shaved fennel slaw in ginger ponzu, topped with a fennel seed tuile. An ahi tuna tartare seemed like a safe, if uninspired choice, to start the meal. I’ve had many, as I’m sure you have, and this one was good without being remarkable. The fennel slaw beneath it was a nice touch, giving it some textural difference but the ginger ponzu sauce was overpoweringly sour.
Next up was the truffled onion soup with a braised duck ragout and shaved black truffles. The braised duck ragout was served in a small rolled crepe in the middle of the dish, with the soup poured around it. This dish was the highlight of the meal. The onion soup was sweet and rich, with the taste of the truffles coming on in the end notes. The truffles were more pronounced in the crepe itself. I’m not sure if any seafood stock was used in the soup but it tasted remarkably like a lobster bisque.
Third course was veal and Yukon Gold potato ravioli with a sunchoke foam and English peas. The potato ravioli were very soft and tender and the veal jus lent a concentrated meaty flavor to the dish. Another good dish.
The next course was hamachi with a ginger aromatic foam and tempura scallions. My first and lasting impression was that the ginger foam was salty. So salty that the hamachi tasted like a meat dish. This is one of the dishes that really threw me with the heavy handedness of the seasoning.
The final meat course was the Colorado rack of lamb with charred corn cous cous, mango chutney and a carrot curry sauce. The lamb was on the rare side of medium rare, just how I like it, but again the sauce was a salt lick. Salty to the point of obliterating the other tastes. The addition of curry introduced an odd flavor profile into the meal. I can’t say it tasted like an Indian curry, for one, and, secondly, it just seemed incongruous with the rest of the tasting menu. If I didn’t know better, I’d have wondered if that plate had come from the same kitchen or even restaurant. To be fair, our waiter did offer to have the chef prepare another dish for us more to our liking but, at this stage, we were approaching fullness and opted to move onto dessert.
The intermezzo was a passion fruit and coconut sorbet on a streusel crust in a coconut soup with tapioca balls, strawberry, kiwi and plantain. I loved the coconut soup with tapioca balls. Just like an upscale boba and a perfect palate cleanser after the two salt bombs. The sorbet was also very good. This course set the meal back on track.
Dessert was sauterne marinated pears on a cinnamon crust and cinnamon ice cream with a walnut sesame crisp. The ice cream was good but the highlight was the cinnamon crust the dessert sat on. Delicious. The kitchen also sent out two glasses of complimentary sauterne to pair with the dessert to make up for the lamb dish. A nice gesture and a nice way to end the meal.
Finally, a small tray of lemony madeleines with a chocolate dipping sauce.
And an autographed copy of Hubert Keller’s book “Burger Bar”, a rose from the aforementioned “eye” and personalized menus of the night’s meal. A nice touch even if a couple of the courses on the menu were not what we had received.
So there you have it. A meal, on the one hand, that exercised some restraint in bold flavors and two dishes that exhibited a heavy handedness in their seasoning and discordant flavor profiles.
But who am I to judge?
Just trust me. I’m a food blogger.
Mandalay Bay3950 Las Vegas Blvd
Las Vegas, NV 89119 (702) 632-7777
Campanile. A seduction in 3 courses.
Campanile is a brunette in a city of blondes.
Not just any brunette. A brunette that has settled down for 20 years in the same home.
No wonder I’d driven past her countless times and not noticed.
But step through the doors of her home, and this is one classy lady. And what a home it is. Once owned by Charlie Chaplin, no less. It’s like eating in the enclosed courtyard of a Spanish mission.
But you’re not here for the architecture. You’re here to taste her.
To take her into your mouth. To chew, to extract, to savor.
Why don’t you pour yourself a glass of 2004 Alban Vineyards Roussanne and make yourself comfortable?
Let’s start with the appetizer. Poached egg with a porcini mushroom cream. Served on a slice of toast with some simple greens, this seems like an odd start to dinner.
Or is it an invitation to stay for breakfast?
I think I like that idea.
And it is an ideal breakfast dish. A perfectly poached egg, mushrooms and toast. There’s something luscious about piercing the skin of her egg and allowing your yolk to spill out.
Honestly, one of the best renditions of a poached egg I’ve had in recent memory.
But the egg was just a starter.
You hunger for something more. You’re here for the main course.
That’s right, you want to taste her clams.
Specifically, steamed mussels, fingerling potatoes, fennel and tomato confit. Mmmm, it tastes of the sea with the tomato broth adding a bright sweetness. The fingerling potatoes with a melted cheese sauce on top add a density to the dish.
But the broth is delicious. You could sop up those juices all night.
But you’re not done yet.
You still need to eat her pudding.
A dainty, compact bourbon bread pudding with caramel sauce and creme fraiche. On the top, folds of bread burst and spread apart, a thick bourbon caramel sauce oozing into its crevices. But dig deeper into her pudding and you’ll find its depths to be soft and sweet and custardy.
If you like your pudding creamy, feel free to add some creme fraiche.
Finish off her pudding and relax in the afterglow of the meal. Feel free to discuss it with the friends you just shared it with.
She won’t mind. She likes to share.
Campanile, thanks for reaffirming my passion for brunettes.
I might just call you Mrs Robinson.
624 S La Brea AveLos Angeles, CA 90036
(323) 938-1447
The Art of Craft
Tom Colicchio is no Picasso.
Not that I think he’d ever aspire to that. After all, he named his restaurant empire Craft, not Art.
He’s more of a craftsman. An American artisan. More in the vein of a Charles Eames or a Frank Lloyd Wright than a European master. If not in reputation then at least in aspiration.
And that artisanal viewpoint is carried through to his food. An emphasis on seasonal and sustainable ingredients. Family style service. A hearty meat-centric menu.
Walking into Craft, it’s hard not to be impressed by the dining room. All woods and curved surfaces, it’s like a welcoming cave lit with what seems to be a hundred Edison bulbs. Perhaps a nod to another great American artisan.
This was a meal shared with friends. Pepsi Monster from Right Way to Eat, Fel from The Food Ledger, Austin from Living to Eat, a friend G. (who is ex-Patina) and the girl. Fittingly, all the dishes were served family style.
We started with a selection of breads, two servings of endive, apple and pecan salad, and two servings of the smoked salmon rillette.
The endive salad was good. Fresh, crisp, with a light tart dressing. It felt clean.
I also enjoyed the salmon rillette, served with lavash bread. The smoked salmon gave it a nice earthy taste. I’m a big fan of patés and rillettes and am always happy to start a meal off with them.
For entrees, three of us ordered the roasted beef sirloin and it was also served family style. Given that Craft is known for their meats, this was a dish I was looking forward to. Honestly, I liked it but it was nothing special. I mean, it was well prepared, still nicely pink in the middle, and seasoned but not a dish I’d return for. Granted, one of my slices was the end slice so it was somewhat dry and overdone. I did try a bite of one of my companions’ braised beef short ribs and it was delicious.
The sides – mushrooms, potato gratin and market vegetables – also served family style, were very good though. The gratin was creamy with a nice crust. Rich and cheesy.
The mushrooms, simply prepared, tasted of herbs and earth.
But the desserts were where Craft shone. Definitely not what I had expected, always having thought of Craft as a mecca for meat. But pastry chef Shannon Swindle deserves the recognition for this meal.
Also served for the table, we shared the raspberry and almond buckle, the Columbian chocolate coupe, donut holes with caramel and chocolate dipping sauces, a selection of six ice creams and sorbets, and caramel corn.
I’m predisposed to love any meal that ends with sorbet and donuts. I eat donuts so infrequently but somehow ordering them at a restaurant legitimizes them and makes them less bad for me. At least, that’s my justification. I also like my ice creams and sorbets served separately, so the flavors don’t mix when they melt. Picky, I know, but I don’t want my fruit flavors laced with chocolate.
The ice creams and sorbets came out in six separate cups. Banana, apple, vanilla, cacao chip, cinnamon and raspberry. All were delicious. You could really taste the individual ingredients. The apple tasted like frozen apple sauce, the banana tasted like real banana, and the cinnamon (which you can buy at $24/quart) obviously used a good quality cinnamon.
The Columbian chocolate coupe was essentially a chocolate mousse atop a whipped cream topped with candied orange zest and what tasted like Oreo crumbs. Given that I’m not a big chocolate fan, I really enjoyed this dessert.
The raspberry and almond buckles, similar to a muffin with a streusel topping, were served warm and were deliciously moist.
And, of course, the donut holes and the caramel corn. The donut holes were warm, soft and sugary. You really didn’t need to dip them. But I did. And they were good. What more can I say about donuts? Ditto caramel corn.
What I can say though is that it was a very homey way to finish off the meal. A meal, served shared, that was as much about the company as the food. A meal that left me satisfied and happy with the world.
And if that is not art, then it’s a fine craft.
10100 Constellation BlvdLos Angeles, CA 90067
(310) 279-4180
The Gastronomnom 