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| - This was my first visit to a Wolfgang Puck restaurant and perhaps my expectations were a bit too high. I know that his brand has extended far beyond a size he could reasonably oversee on his own, but I was inspired by a book on food history I read that gave me new appreciation for Puck's early culinary breakthroughs and for contributing to the gourmet pizza trend that began in the 80s.
I started my meal with the trio of house-made sausages served with three mustards and pickled vegetables. This was a delicious dish, though really a bit too large to be served as a first course.
For my second course, I had to try one of his famous pizzas. Since it is usually the simpler dishes that allow culinary genius to really shine, I opted for the margerita pizza and was sadly disappointed. The pizza section of the menu was placed before the entrees, but this was misleading as the pizza was large enough to be an entree. Now I expect large portions from chains such as the Cheesecake Factory, but here I would have expected quality over quantity and that was not the case. The ratio of the ingredients was off with everything being dominated by a very thick layer of cheese. The tomatoes were bland and the crust was a bit soggy under all that cheese. When I did nibble on the bits of crust around the edge there was none of that amazing flavor you find in better pizzas or even the crusty/chewy combo to be had at places like Settebello. Sadly, even Lavo has a better margerita pizza last time I checked. This didn't exhibit any of the charectaristics of a high-end pizza. My friend ate one piece and I didn't even finish mine.
For my entree, I selected the lobster roll, though after tasting it I think a better description would have been a BLT. This sandwich was good, but not great. The bacon dressing used on the sandwich was delicious and the Applewood smoked bacon was tasty, but between the two, overpowered the flavor of the lobster. The grain bread and arugula was quite nice, but the tomatoes were flavorless and I found that unforgivable. I work in the restaurant industry here in Vegas and know first hand that there are some amazing tomatoes to be had here. Serving bland hothouse tomatoes in August is just plain lazy. The amount of lobster actually in the lobster roll was not generous enough to be considered the main ingredient, though the chunks that were included were tender and delicious. This was accompanied by a mound of french fries large enough to serve a family of four. Really.
For dessert, we shared the chocolate beignets. The presentation was lovely, with a large quenelle of caramel macchiatto ice cream, a small dish of vanilla dipping sauce and a small pile of chocolate beignets filled with a liquid chocolate center. This was the one course where the portion size was appropriate. The ice cream was fabulous - the flavors well balanced, the texture was very creamy and it paired well with the beignets. The vanilla sauce was thicker than a classic anglaise and just right for adhering to the little doughnuts. I loved the flavor of the beignets and thought the filling was a great idea, but it wasn't executed very well. They were quite doughy in the middle- either from being under cooked or simply by putting the liquid ganache in the center while still warm. Either way this kept the dessert from being as good as it could have been.
Another disappointment was the service. Our server was OK, but I felt rushed at several points during the meal. Yes, my friend and I were doing a lot of talking, but I don't think that keeping our table for under 2 hours for four courses is unreasonable. Two of the courses were cleared while I was literally still chewing food from my plate. I also would have expected the server to do something about the disappointing pizza. Either take it off our bill or offer us something else, but when less than two pieces are eaten (between two people) that should be a flag that something is wrong. In fact at one point after our pizza was cleared, but before our main course, the busser brought the pizza out in a to-go box and put it down on our table. I wondered just what he wanted us to do with it. It was too large on a very small table to fit the plates for our next course, so it had to be taken away again. No problem, neither of us wanted to take it home.
All in all it wasn't a bad meal. Some of the food was good and I did end up really enjoying my wine, but that isn't enough. In this competitive food town, not bad, just isn't good enough to bring me back for seconds.
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