Shariq’s Département

Daniel Boulud’s opulent “DB Brasserie”, facing a magnificent waterfall with multi-colored images and sound, at the Wynn in Las Vegas, is unlike his more muted and reverent restaurants in New York. 

The service is as gracious and solicitous.  Hoever, the food is a hit-or-miss affair.  It can be sublime (my tuna appetizer, picture 1 -a fantastic vitello tonnato with crispy sweetbreads and radishes) or disappointing (my beef main -picture 2, which was very pedestrian  and P.’s salmon main - picture 3, since the texture of the fish was quite slimy, without being silky).  The much-hyped peekytoe crab salad (picture 4) that P. ate was also apparently a bit bland - it didn’t stand out.

Overall, though, this one-Michelin star effort is a very romantic experience, with the view.  P. got to celebrate his birthday again! (picture 5).  The wine from Provence (picture 6), an unusual 1999 vintage, was an excellent choice and set the tone for a French brasserie evening, where, as most of you know who have been to Paris, expect the unexpected.

P. has always been a high roller and an artist, so what better way to celebrate his birthday than at the 2-Michelin star Picasso in Vegas?  The chef, Julian Serrano, of Spanish descent, obviously views himself as an avante-garde artist with his food, which did not disappoint.

The setting is a handsome, stately room with views of the Bellagio fountains which sway and swoon every 15 minutes, and the walls are graced by actual Picasso paintings. 

My first course was a delicious warm quail salad with sauteed artichokes and walnuts.  The bird was delicate and exciting, without being too gamy.  It was just the right tantalizing introduction to a high quality evening (picture 1).  P. had a cream of squash soup with shrimp, which he enjoyed (picture 2).  Our wine was a delicate 2002 Volnay with a very long finish (picture 3).

For the second course, I ate a boudin of fresh lobster, shrimp and scallops, offset by a very tasty tomato coulis (picture 4), while P. ate black bass with saffron sause and cauliflower mousseline (picture 5).

My third course of venison with apples and a zinfandel sauce was exceptional (picture 6) - I have not had better venison in the States (only Switzerland compares).  P. ate swordfish, which he seemed quite happy with (picture 7). 

The desserts were so beautiful (pictures 8 and 9) - both chocolate and both irresistable.  Petit fours rounded out the evening (picture 10).

If you are in Vegas and want to celebrate a special occasion, Picasso is highly recommended.  Just ask for a table with in front of the windows, with a direct view of the Bellagio fountains when you book.

As you know from an earlier post, I am a fan of Craftbar.  The restaurant is cosy, the food is excellent and innovative at non-exorbitant prices.  Even their brunch has very unusual dishes: I recently ate a dish of short ribs, leeks, baked eggs, pototaoes and dusted with Ibarra chocoloate.  I was hesitant to order it, but it was extremely delicious.  Kudos to the chef for innovating with the sacrosanct American steak and eggs and taking it to a whole new level.

Craft, on the other hand, continues to prove why it has lost its Michelin star, and should not regain it.  When I took my parents for dinner there recently, the food was shockingly bad and the menu was boring and uninspired.  We kept looking at the one-note dishes trying to figure out what we were going to order. 

There was a time when the notion of just a protein and side dishes was cute, but now it seems tiresome.  The concept depends on fantastic execution and fresh ingredients.  However, the side dishes we ordered, including the much-praised mushroom sides were rubbery, bland and unappetizing (picture 1).  My lamb, which had been ordered medium-well was delivered so rare that it was almost oozing blood, and when it was returned after a 20 minute delay, it was a charred mess and about half the size of the original dish (picture 2).  M. had the famous short ribs, and said they were just ok.  Take a look at picture 3 of the short ribs, and you will see that they look quite unappetizing!

Definitely stay away from Craft and go to Craftbar instead.  It has been almost a year now since Craft lost its Michelin star.  Tom Colicchio seems to have seen this as an opportunity to neglect the restaurant even more, since it has become a brand and been exported to Las Vegas, and still charge stratospheric prices.  He needs more chefs like the one at Craftbar.

It’s a shame Tabla doesn’t have a Michelin star, because its food is consistently much better than some Michelin-starred restaurants in NYC.

A recent dinner for my sister, S., at Tabla displayed excellent food and service, and what was great was that the menu had changed since the last time we visited, in May.

My hamachi tartare appetizer was ethereally good (picture 1), while S. liked her crabcake (picture 2), a signature dish at Tabla, and P. enjoyed his New Orleans shrimp dish (picture 3).  Before appetizers, we were presented with tangy tomato-based soup amuse-bouche with a small dollop of cream, which got the taste buds flowing!  Also, Tabla alway serves complimentary nans and rotis with the appetizer, accompanied by fresh-made chutneys.  Very nice!

My main (which P. also had) of rice-flaked halibut with wild watercress in a lime and watermelon curry (picture 4) was exceptionally good.  Both P. and I completely wiped our plates clean.  S. also liked her wild striped bass with tomato kachumber (picture 5).

Desserts were a mixed bag.  I like my milk chocolate bar (picture 6) very much, and S. enjoyed the kulfi (picture 7).  P. found the sundae tasty (last picture), but not very sundae-ish!

Michelin needs to give this restaurant a star in October.

One reason I keep going back to the bright, airy, Michelin-starred Austrian restaurant “Wallse” in the West Village is that it still produces a delicious, authentic, crisply fried wiener schnitzel with lingonberry sauce and dilled potatoes (picture 1).  This is the main reason to go.

The rest of the food, while pretty looking, was universally judged to be lacking in taste by my party.  The soup (picture 2) was apparently bland, and my salad with a runny egg that is normally an easy dish to prepare was presented with almost a hard-boiled egg - dried up and with no yolk for sauce (picture 3).  The shrimp appetizer was apparently good (picture 4), while the halibut (picture 5) looked pretty, but was proclaimed by P. as not being well seasoned.

Desserts were good - berry torte (picture 6) and cake with sorbet (picture 7); the sides were delicious.  On the wine front, try the Austrian red (Blaufrankisch - Weninger Reserve 2004) I selected - absolutely delicious (picture 9).

If you go, definitely eat the wiener schnitzel - it is the highlight of the menu.

Vong, the Michelin-starred Asian food mainstay of Jean Georges’ vast and forever growing restaurant empire, was wonderful as always last week.  Mains remained exemplary, combining proteins with fantastic Asian flavors.  My duck entree with bok choy (picture 1), P.’s black bass (picture 2), A.’s chicken (picture 3) and M.’s cod (picture 4) all elicited sighs of rapture and deep satisfaction.

But I have to retain my highest praise for the most innocuous-sounding item on the menu, a starter of watercress salad with dressing.  I chose it because I know what a great nutritional superstar watercress is: watercress contains four times the calcium of milk.  This plant contains as much vitamin C as the same size of orange, and more iron than spinach.  A full cup is only 4 calories.  Ok - so, nutrition aside, the salad blew me away.  It was actually mixed with tangy onions (picture 5) and was so delicious that I couldn’t stop eating and only jealously allowed others to taste.  Please try it - you won’t be disappointed.

On the positive side: Veritas (which has one Michelin star) has a new French chef, Gregory Pugin, who started last month, and his food is simply sensational.  My foie gras appetizer (picture 1) was perfectly balanced, the creaminess of the liver juxtaposed with a rich marmalade, all coming together on tiny pieces of buttery brioche bread.  The duck a l’orange was perfect in execution: the orange sauce was a mild counterpoint; the true interplay was between the tender, crispy duck and poached fruit: figs, peaches and, yes, orange (picture 2).  Everyone at the table received a wonderful amuse-bouche: heirloom tomatoes stuffed with crab and a basily shooter to accompany it (picture 3).  And the desserts were very high quality (pictures 4 and 5). 

Now here is the unfortunate experience we had.  P. got extremely bad food poisoning which lasted for 2 days and resulted in fever!  It could have been one of the two dishes he had (which he said both tasted good): his appetizer of beets stuffed with seafood (picture 6) or main course of bouillabaisse (picture 7).  I don’t want to put the restaurant down, and it was probably just bad luck, but I would stay away from these two dishes till the summer is over.

All the other 3 people at the dinner were fine and had no ill-effects. 

Veritas, as you might know, has a fantastic, legendary wine list of French Bordeaux and Burgundy varietals - and the prices are stratospheric.  I managed to find a decent value 2000 Bordeaux -Chateau Haut-Bergen, which was excellent, with an extreme depth of flavour and long finish - highly recommended if you are having a problem with the wine list.

A wonderul, leisurely lunch at “One Market” in SF seems to justify the Michelin star the restaurant received this year.  The restaurant, overlooking the Ferry Building is a handsome one, with floor to ceiling glass windows allowing diners to look at the bustiling scene outside.  The place was packed, as they were having a special - all wines on the menu for half price (and they have a fantastic list!)  We ended up having a wonderful California Chardonnay, which was appropriate to the mood and place.

I had a great seasonal soup (picture 1) followed by a vibrant fish dish. P. had crabcakes and an assortment of fresh vegetable (picture 2), which included chickpea fries!  I cannot eulogize enough about the chocolate dessert (picture 3) - it was simply mindblowing.

Highly recommended for a visit next time you are in SF.

We went for dinner last night to Gotham Bar and Grill with the parents, who are visiting - it was their first time to the restaurant, and P. and I were returning after several years!

We were pleasantly surprised that the food was excellent, the service solicitous and the room has a buzzing energy that was pervaded our meal.  The room is handsome and large, and we were lucky to have a table with a panoramic view.

I started with a delicious black bass ceviche with lemongrass and jalapenoes (1st picture above) that was absolutely bursting with flavor.  For a main course I had an exceptional New Zealand pink snapper dish with artichokes, and haricort verts (2nd picture above).  Mom had mushroom soup and miso cod which she said were both excellent.

Highly recommended for special occasions.