| rev:text
| - I loved this place. This place "was. an. experience." It's a surprisingly chic place not far from Fleur de Lys in Mandalay Bay and right next to a Starbucks. It was packed and loud, so I guess that's a good sign.
To be honest, I wasn't impressed with our waiter. He seemed like a casual Billy Corgan type who was interested in talking to you so long as you were increasing your order. No small talk, 0 personality, and the real piss ant is he conveniently didn't add our restaurant.com coupon to our bill. He may have forgotten, but frankly this is the second time this has happened to me in Vegas, and seeing how just about every other attraction in Vegas is designed to suck the money out of your pocket I can't help but wonder if it's not a coincidence. They must slip more than a few bills under the noses of patrons who unknowingly assume they got their discount but fail to check after a bottle of wine, but not me, and I'm not too forgiving about this ether, because I think it really is intentional.
Anyway, the food is what saved this place from a more negative review because in the end that is all I really and truly care about anyway. Anyone can learn how to carry a plate of food to a table, but it takes a talented individual to craft a work of art in the kitchen.
We had salad to start. Frankly I wasn't impressed with my caesar. It seemed a bit bland. I was hoping this wouldn't be precursor to the rest of the meal but in this rare occasion it wasn't at all. Salad must not be their thing because the rest of the meal was mind blowing. I had a regular filet with a side of peppercorn sauce and another side of the creamed corn. Ummmm....the food was utterly fantastic. The filet was of EXCELLENT quality. Perfect taste and texture throughout, and the accompanying pepper sauce was not a creamy peppercorn sauce like you usually get, but more of a demi glace sauce with peppercorns - truly the sauce I have been after for years.
The sides of the mashed potatoes 3 ways was stunning. They serve 3 little bowls of mashed taters. One is sour cream and chives infused, the other is lobster infused, and the third is horseradish infused. Each was the creamiest, smoothest mashed potato I have ever had, and was accented perfectly with its character ingredient. Wow. With the steak it was just superb. The creamed corn with jalapeno was very good, although not the best ever. Still very nicely done though and no complaints.
To top it off, and the reason this place is a solid 5 star experience and worthy of one of the most smitten reviews I have ever posted was the simple divine experience I had with the Executive Chef, Ben (lost his business card but remember his name).
I was walking out of the restroom, and stopped by to look at their see-through window next to the grill where they cook the steaks and other entrees. I noticed what seemed to be a chef standing nearby, so in a spontaneous moment of gratitude I went up to him and told him how much I enjoyed my food. He was very nice, and after I asked a few more questions about how the steak is prepared, he said "come on, I'll take you back." He actually took me back in the kitchen past all the kitchen staff who were probably thinking "WTF is this guy doing in here?", and took me straight up to the grill where a few beautiful steaks were in the home stretch. He explained the process, how the steaks actually soak in clarified butter at a perfectly controlled temperature before they are grilled. This would explain the awesomeness of the steak, actually, but now that I've tasted it I know that it's the best. He enthusiastically answered my other questions about the kitchen ("is it really like Hell's Kitchen??") and then ushered me out of the kitchen. I don't know why this is such a big deal to me, but it really just impressed the heck out of me that the Executive Chef of one of the best restaurants I'd ever been to was so down to Earth and gave me an impromptu tour of his kitchen. I remember as a young boy my dad would approach the cockpits of planes even during flights sometimes to talk to the pilots, and they would bring us into the cockpit, explain a few neat things, and then with a wink we'd be on our way. Obviously those days are gone forever, but tonight I had a bit of the same feeling; the man running the ship gave me the tour with no expectation of anything in return. Clearly I don't believe this kind of thing happens that much anymore and that's why I'm so ecstatic, but it was a privilege and an honor to meet him and I cannot thank him enough for his exemplary skills as both a chef and a business man.
I'm a fan of Strip Steak for sure. Maybe next time if I win big in Vegas I'll try the Japanese Kobe (it's not cheap). Until then I'll enjoy a superb domestic cut of beef and be glad I can afford the luxury.
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