| rev:text
| - From the mind that created Carson Kitchen comes Standard & Pour. A fitting, final tribute the legacy of the late chef Kerry Simon. Very good and IMHO clearly defines the culinary style of Vegas cuisine.
Similar but not the same. There are enough differences between this and its sister restaurant to make both destination worthy. In general solid, fresh ingredients treated to tease their natural flavors with some combinations making you cringe (white chocolate and raw venison). Surprisingly, most of it works.
Tip: Order many dishes and share.
Top props to the Venison Tartare. Very well chilled, creamy from the raw quail egg, naturally pairs with the cherry mostrada and surprisingly with white chocolate. The hint of coco butter punches up the mineral, gamey flavor of the venison. Spoon some on a crostini, oh heck, just shovel it in your mouth. Very good.
Excellent mac and cheese. Cheesy in all the right ways. Fontina and harvati provide the mild cheesy flavor, cheddar, the finish, port wine, the perfect nuttiness. More cheese? The snow crab fondue with artichoke hearts, spinach, and parm, all mixed together and warmed to a gooey spread, great on charred baguettes.
A little healthier, the whole smoked romanesco (Roman cauliflower). The gentle sweet bitterness of roasted cauliflower and the green vegetal flavor of broccoli blend perfectly with the briny capers, sweet rasins, and red onions. Cut it up, make a mess and enjoy. Good eats.
While correct, not everything wows. The kimchi taco with grilled, soy marinated flank steak topped with asian pear slaw and kimchi on a charred scallion pancake lacks vibrancy. Perhaps more acidity. The snail wellington (escargot with prosciutto, mushroom duxelle, parm, in puff pastry on a garlic cream sauce) a tasty but not memorable bite. The wine poached flavor of the escargot is lost amidst too many flavors and excessive pastry wrapping. Finally the spicy shrimp, OK but the flavors are muddy and the sweetness of the shrimp is lost in the sambal red curry.
Great off Strip service. Friendly and relatively efficient.
Nice cocktail program. Reasonable off Strip pricing.
All told, well done.
|