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| - Accessed through two elevators near the Venetian parking lot (not the Palazzo), this Thomas Keller gem is sure to be a crowd-pleaser whenever one wants to impress an out of town guest on the strip for a classy yet affordable weekend brunch. They don't take reservations for brunch so getting here early will cut down on the wait time. I've been here three times with close friends and most recently for my mom's birthday, and the chicken and waffles is what I always recommend. Having grown up in the South, this is not your soul food variety with fried chicken and sweet waffles as is done at many other places in town, but a wonderful reinvention that showcases the creativity and respect Keller shows towards his ingredients, classical French cooking techniques, and the humble dish from which it is inspired.
The dish is presented at one's table with a perfectly half-roasted chicken with crispy flavorful herb-encrusted skin enclosing impossibly succulent and juicy meat that comes right off the bone. Despite being laced with with chives and bacon, these savory waffles are light as a feather. The accompaniments include maple syrup and a Chasseur sauce("hunter's" sauce) made with demi-glace, mushrooms, shallots, and herbs, along with a Tahitian vanilla bean butter. Nothing is unintentional as one can feel free to spread a little butter on the waffle, drizzle some maple syrup to finish, and eat it alongside the chicken dipped in the Chasseur...such a complex symphony of flavors that will have your taste-buds doing cartwheels. Very rarely can a variation on a classic transcend the original, but with someone of Thomas Keller's caliber, I think his rendition does just that.
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