Jean Philippe

Jean Philippe is the executive pastry chef of Jean Philippe located at the Aria & Bellagio Hotels is Las Vegas Nevada. 

Visit the largest chocolate fountain in the world; verified by the Guiness World Records.  The chocolate fountain cascades from ceiling to floor.  The funny part is we didn't notice the ceiling part as when we saw the chocolate flowing, we just got too excited as our eyes zeroed in the chocolate.  It was the following day that we realized what we missed the first time.

The pastry shop has all sorts of his signature chocolates (too pretty to eat), cakes, pastries, candies, coffee, tea and various gift items. You will have to just see and eat for yourselves.  We didn't want to just eat sweets so Sandi and I shared a delicious Vegetable Quiche, Cheese Danish and Cinnamon Roll. We both thought it would have been wonderful if the Danish and the Cinnamon Roll were heated so as to get the crunchy and soft texture plus the icing on the cinnamon roll would have been best if it had melted a bit. There were too many things to try and not enough time.

Just outside Jean Philippe's store at the Aria, there is another impressive dragon sculpture made of chocolate.  This is one dragon I would not mind meeting or eating anytime!

FYI:  In 1997, Jean Philippe had the title of "Meilleur Ouvier de France" which translates to "Best Pastry Chef in France."

Mix

I have been dying to try this restaurant of Alain Ducasse for a long time.  Mix is located at The Hotel of Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, Nevada.  The only way to go was to make a reservation and schedule a trip; so this is what we did.

We arrived early and was able to walk by the bar and admire the breathtaking view of the strip.  We were the first customers. The decor and ambiance was equally breathtaking as the view.  Everything was white and what looked like see through balls hanging all over were bubbles of Murano glass. The only color you see are the bright red glasses all over the tables. They had booths that looked like pods from a space ship. We were escorted to a small table very close to other tables; in other words, a lousy spot.  I asked if we could have the pod and our server agreed.  The pictures I took do not do justice as it was dark but I am including them so you get the (dark) picture.

We both decided to go for the second Tasting Menu which had more courses. We had to "go for it", after all this is why we came to Las Vegas.  Another server came to deliver the complimentary amuse bouche. I don't know what country he was from but he rattled everything so fast we hardly understood what he said but between Sandi and I, we figured it was a Lobster Potato Vicchyssoise.....hhmmmm...deelicious!

We got excited as this was a nice preview of things to come.  The first course came along which was Gnocchi which were tender, with pumpkin cooked 2 ways. It had wild mushrooms and crispy bacon. So far so good!

The second course was Roasted Maine Lobster "Au Curry" served with coconut basmati rice. Oh, just imagine big chunks of juicy lobster and having it with the creamy rice cooked in coconut milk. I dislike (hate) coconut but anything in coconut milk is another story. We could have eaten that as a main entree but a much bigger serving.

The third course was the Filet Mignon Rossini with Foie Gras and Black Truffle. Remember, we were in Nevada where they can still serve Foie Gras unlike California.
Believe it or not we were almost too full to eat the filet; this was served with a side of "fork crushed" mashed potatoes which I'm sure was made of lots of butter and whipping cream.  We forced ourselves to consume most of it.

 

As we were waiting for the dessert, another server came to present a "pre-dessert". This was warm coconut foam milk with rum.  In the bottom of the martini glass was passion fruit & mango syrup.  We absolutely loved this dessert. It was the winner of the evening. The medley of flavors just came together like pieces in a puzzle.

Our final dish was their famous Baba A L'Armagnac, Monte Carlo style. Essentially, you get 2 slices each of what looked like pound cake and you get to pour your own almagnac which was strong enough to grow hair on one's chest. This was served with whipped cream. We both could not finish this dessert as we were both really full to capacity. When they took the plates away, we just relaxed and waited for our bill.
Meanwhile, another server came to deliver yet another "post dessert", Warm Madeleines with a chocolate dipping sauce.. By this time we just went through the motions like one would when invited to someone's home for dinner and you just can't say "No".

Although the food was very good, we were not quite happy with the service. Our lady server was nice and explained the menu to us in the beginning but after the brief encounter, we pretty much didn't see her. She did pop up once or twice in the 2 hours we were there to ask if everything was alright but somehow we got the impression she didn't care. It was almost robotic. Different servers brought the food and recited what they memorized as fast as they could....I had to ask some of them to repeat what they just said. It was like they were all in the show "Survivor" and they were participating in a relay game.

In a restaurant such as Mix, food and ambiance is not all that matters. Service is a very important aspect. They need to pick their servers carefully. If I were Mrs. Ducasse, I would have fired a bunch of them.

Tableau at the Wynn

I had vivid memories of the short rib eggs benedict at Tableau Restaurant at the Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas.  Sandi and I had reservations for a late lunch.  We looked at the menu which did not include eggs benedict;  partly because they were not serving lunch and not breakfast.  I asked our server who has never heard of it but offered to ask the chef.  Turns out, they do not serve it and one of the cooks who has been there a long time remembered how they once did.

We were both starving as our last meal was a bacon donut hole at 7:00 a.m.  We ended up ordering the Roasted Beet Salad with crispy marinated tofu, pistachio puree, goat cheese crema. Very refreshing appetizer which we enjoyed. Prior to this they had served a basked of sour dough bread and 2 items they called popovers. The popovers were more like muffins; a plain one and a bacon one. We preferred the ones with the bacon which was good but not as good as we expected it to be.

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For our entree, we ordered the Soft Shell Crab Sandwich with fried onion creole remoulade served on a brioche roll and seasoned fries. This we did enjoy very much. The soft shell crab was very light and crunchy. The fries were unusually good because of the ketchup. We meant to ask what was in the ketchup as it was a bit sweet and tangy at the same time.

We did not have dessert since we did not want to eat too much as we were going to see "Jersey Boys" and we didn't want to be too comfortable and full that we would end up snoring during the the performance.

We planned to have a late snack after play which will be in my next blog.

Bar Vdara

We had a loooong day; got up at 4:30 a.m. flew from LAX to Las Vegas and landed at 10:00 a.m.; after we checked in the hotel, we started walking and pretty much didn't stop till 2:00 p.m. for lunch and by 3:00 p.m. we were up and about till our show at 7:00 p.m. By 9:30 we headed back to our hotel and ended up at Bar Vdara at Vdara Hotel.

Vdara Hotel at the City Center in Las Vegas is for people who do not gamble (no casino) or hates cigarette smoke. We booked ourselves there for 2 nights. We were very pleased with our room which had a little living room with a pull out sofa bed and a kitchen; not that we were planning on cooking anything....after all we were on a mini vacation.

My friend Jody told we had to go to Bar Vdara and order Peirogis.  After seeing the show, Jersey Boys at the Paris Hotel, we headed back to our hotel close to 10:00 p.m. and ended up at the bar.  We ordered Peirogis and Tempura Vegetables. The Peirogis were pan seared. In case you haven't heard of Peirogis, they are like fried raviolis or wonton wraps with potato filling. They were served on a bed of caramelized onions and sour cream.  They were very good. I'm happy to report that Jody is still my friend worthy of her suggestion.  The Vegetable Tempura was a mixture of zucchini, green beans, sweet potatoes, asparagus, onions and avocado. These were served with a chili-pepper mayonnaise; also very good.

We ordered interesting drinks which we enjoyed.  Sandi had a Naughty Lemonade which consisted of citrus liquor, lemonade, strawberries and vodka. I ordered the Ginger Pear which had Grey Goose vodka, Caravella orangecello, pear puree and sweet & sour.

This was a relaxing end to our long day. Needless to say we both slept like logs.

Corn Flakes ala Karina

Corn Flakes is corn flakes.  To spruce it up, you could add fresh fruit or canned fruit; I prefer the canned fruits. (It's still fruit)

Several weeks ago I came across Peaches and Creme Low Fat Parfait made by Dole at the supermarket.  I thought it would make a good snack.  It just hibernated in my refrigerator.  The other day, I found some corn flakes in the pantry.  Sprinkled a little Splenda and when I reached for the milk I saw the little packets of parfait.  I emptied one on top of my cereal then mixed it in and poured the non-fat milk.

It was delicious.......I can now see myself having cereal for lunch or snack as it wasn't quite as boring as just plain cereal.  There's hope for everything!

Parisian Salad

The Parisian Salad at L'Amande Bakery is just plain wonderful.  I have had this before split in half with half a panini with a friend. Today was my first time having it by itself as my main entree.

It was like rediscovering an old friend. I was able to bond with it.  What makes it so good are the ingredients of walnuts, dried cranberries, blue cheese and caramelized apples. After you mix the whole thing, I guarantee you would have all of the ingredients with EVERY bite. They don't skimp on anything. The crunchy walnuts, the salty blue cheese and the sweet cranberries and caramelized apples all go together so well.  The salad comes with a slice of their crusty and chewy fresh baguette.

This is as healthy as I'll get.....don't mind eating healthy.  See Mom, I ate all my vegetables.

Note:  To fully enjoy this salad I suggest you mix it up and not eat it the way it is presented. It's beautiful to look at but it won't be as enjoyable. Trust me; your palate will thank you.

La Rive Gauche

La Rive Gauche has been around for decades.  I personally haven't been there in a long time. It is located at Malaga Cove in Palos Verdes.

Yesterday was a rainy day and it called for soup.  Sandi and I thought it would be good to have French Onion Soup and what better place to have it than a French Restaurant.

We got there at 4:15 p.m.  We looked at the menu and we were happy to see that the Onion Soup was still on the menu.  We also glanced at the desserts and when I saw Crepe Suzette, I knew we were going to be having dessert. It's a blessing we were not really hungry (as we had a big breakfast) as most of the entrees were $30.00.

They served us warm french rolls which were good.  We were the only ones at the restaurant but we still had to wait a long time for our soup.  In fact, I made a comment to Sandi that it was taking them too long to peel the onions.  The French Onion Soup finally arrived which almost looked promising; I say almost because it was not dark enough. They could have left it a bit longer on the broiler.  We had our first spoonful and we both were silent and eventually looked at each other with looks of disappointment.  The soup was so bland and tasteless.  We both kept adding salt and it was still tasteless.

The Crepe Suzette was much better than our soup; not that great but since we were both traumatized by the soup, the crepe was a welcome surprise.

I doubt we will go back to try their entrees; actually, I doubt they will be there for long because they were once very good and that was Once Upon a Time.