Since my mom was going to be here for her birthday, (she is visiting from the Philippines) I decided it would be a good way to celebrate her 84th birthday along with my friend Sandi who was also celebrating her birthday on the same day though she is not quite in her 80's yet (ha ha). My brother Gary came along to participate in our eating adventures. Among the 5 meals we had while in Las Vegas ( 3 days & 2 nights), Andrea's was by far the best! Unfortunately, my mom got the 24 hour bug and was unable to join us for the birthday dinner.
We got there at 6:30 p.m when it was still fairly peaceful. We even enjoyed the music. The ambiance was not formal but rather hip and a bit whimsical. Our server, named Moon was a pretty, enthusiastic young lady that helped explain the menu to us. We were intrigued by the ipad menu of drinks that was handed to us. When you tapped on the drink, it listed the ingredients of that particular drink. I ordered "The Dream" which had an edible hibiscus flower and syrup with Perrier Jouet champagne and Sandi had "Bringing Sexy Back" which had vodka, blood orange liqueur, lime juice and cucumber soda. Both drinks were delicious. Gary ordered the White Sangria which had chunks of fruit in it; also very good. Some of the drinks were available in a big bowl and was served with several straws. No need to worry about germs....the alcohol would put them in a coma!
To start, we ordered the Steamed Edamame with Truffled Sea Salt. It was served warm and it tasted like we expected it to taste; salty with truffle flavor which we all loved.
I must mention that the menu is meant for people to share as they mostly were little plates, though not so little. The nice thing about small plates is one gets to try more dishes as oppose to getting stuck with one entree that may be great or not so good or even bad!
We ordered the Chili Shrimp Tempura with aioli, lime, green onion which was super deeelicious. The Pork Potstickers were just as delicious and so were the Shrimp and Pork Shumai dumplings. The Miso Black Cod was cooked to perfection along with the crispy eggplant. With all the pork, shrimp and fish, we had to order beef , so the Lemongrass Beef Tenderloin came along with green onions and shitake mushrooms. That was very good and it went well with the Crab Fried Rice which had a lot of crab meat; this too was cooked to perfection meaning it was not greasy.
Chef Elevado came out to say hello and was gracious as ever. My brother took a picture of us but unfortunately I looked like an "alien" in the shot; don't know why my face got elongated...nice not to have a fat face but I didn't have the nerve to ask him to pose one more time.
Dessert was a hard decision so we ordered a bunch. The Choco Coffee that Sandi did not touch since she doesn't like anything coffee. I know it is very strange but it was her birthday so we decided not to crucify her! We also ordered the Panna Cotta and a Dessert Trio which Sandi had for her birthday dessert. Come to think of it, I don't think she shared hers. Gary and I were so busy with our dessert plus Chef Elevado sent 3 ice cream cones with white chocolate teaspoons. I believe the flavors were chocolate chili, banana crunch and pistachio all of which we consumed happily.
Our second and last night in Las Vegas was almost perfect; the only thing missing was my mom's presence as I know she was looking forward to this dinner and was also looking forward to meeting Chef Elevado. She ended up having Wolfgang Pucks canned soup with crackers at her room at the Vdara. As I showed her the pictures later, she had one comment about the chef..."He is guapo". (Tagalog for handsome).
Word of advise to the chef: Don't let it get to your head; stay humble and focused. If you cook....they will come and so will we.... come back for sure.
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