The consommé after the heirloom tomato/squid dish was my favorite, with the tomato dish a close second. Our dinner party felt that the portion sizing was wrong, everything was too big for the 7 course tasting menu. We were enthralled with all the dishes except the two savory ones (pork loin and duck breast), they were great dishes on their own but too heavy when compared to the rest of the meal which contained Chef Gagnaire's legendary light touch. The new chef de cuisine Ryuki Kawasaki was in the house, but Chef Gagnaire had to return to France early so we unfortunately missed him in the kitchen. Kawasaki used to work at Sketch in London where the two heavy savory dishes came from, I hope the future menus take more inspiration from Chef Kawasaki's time in Japan and France than they do from his prior role at Sketch. The Sketch inspired dishes lacked the same level of creativity... funny thing is I think most American diners would think that these two dishes are the best, but this is what I expect on the menu at Puck's Cut, but I didn't expect to see that at Twist. Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining... the meal was outstanding, I was very happy... but even in happiness there can be flaws that could be fixed. I've had some of the best meals of my life at Twist, including the last time I ate while Chef Kawasaki was in training with Chef Gagnaire in the kitchen... I hope to have that level of cooking brilliance again in a full tasting in a few months when they change the menu again.

We went to Publican and The Purple Pig instead of Girl & the Goat, it was too packed to consider it an option. I suspect Purple Pig is similar in concept to G&TG, except the heavy use of goat instead of swine; am I right? Purple Pig's chef used to work for Mario Batali at Esca, Del Posto and Lupa; some of the dishes are really similar to Mario's concepts - but far more cost effective. The octopus was almost a dead ringer for his octopus at Babo, I am going back again next time I am in Chicago, it was a home run for honest offal-centric Italian and Spanish hybrid cuisine.

Alinea switched to a ticketing system last month, lots of problems during the conversion, but it is beginning to get better. They release tables daily on twitter and Facebook too so if you don't get a seat, there is always a backup plan.

Really surprised to hear that your experience at el Bulli was disappointing. I am going to 41 Degree Experience and also Tickets next month, these are Albert & Feran Adria's new restaurants which they opened to keep busy after they closed el Bulli. It may seem strange, but a small part of me is also hoping I will be disappointed, it would be kind of cool to walk away from 41 courses (omg!) at 41 degrees thinking that I have had better food at Alinea, Minibar, Twist or é.... of course that would suck, so I hope it doesn't happen ;-)

I have had quite a few "modernist gastronomy" experiences, but only one true molecular gastronomy experience. As I see it, modern gastronomy mixes classical preparations with new cooking techniques... yes foams, airs, and spheres can be a part of this, but it is not the reason to exist. Molecular Gastronomy, in my definition, is an over-use of these new techniques, and is too gimmicky. Moto in Chicago is the only Molecular experience I have had, although it was an amazing experience I can honestly say it was too gimmicky for me. There is a great chapter on what defines modernist and the misuse of molecular as a term in Nathan Mayvold's Modern Gastronomy (book 1), check it out!

Yes Girl & the goat and the Purple pig are similar in concept but in my humble opinion PP was not even close in flavor,execution and ambiance.I ate at both within 48 hours last year.

I liked Purple pig but I have no plans on going back.

Girl & the Goat on the other hand has me craving more!The baby octopus dish was probably one of the top 5 dishes in my life.

Btw I am a newbie foodie and have gained much knowledge and intrigue from this forum.Much respect to the heavy hitters in this forum.You know who you are.

Let me also add that girl and the goat was not goat heavy menu like the name might imply,only a couple goat dishes.Had a wide range of proteins.

Came into this thread for vegas recs and find the last few posts are about all my favorite Chicago spots! Sorry for grunching, any recs for a vegas spot for me and the GF? We both like tapas so I was considering Julian Serrano, we did Jaleo last time and we were underwhelmed when compared to the DC version and Bazaar in LA. We're not huge steak people so preferably tapas, seafood, or etc with a little bit of chic. Thanks!

My experience at Serrano on Labor Day weekend: Food was very good (we did the prix fixe and swapped bites), but the kitchen had trouble getting the food out at the right time. I understand that straight tapas can be/is supposed to be sorta haphazard, but we were doing prix fixe with wine pairings, so it was a little annoying.

Going to Joel Roubouchon for the first time, I have done L'Atillier in three cities cities, but this is a first for me (and long overdue). 5 course or 6 course - which is the better experience? I can't do wine pairings and I am avoiding foie gras, so keep that in mind when you make your recommendation. 16 course seems a little silly, my friend did a stage (unpaid chef gig) here and said the 16 course was the worst value he had ever seen in a fine dining restaurant. His opinion was that it is better to fly to NYC to eat at Per Sé sans alcohol than to eat the 16 course degustation at Roubouchon with wine.. but he never actually ate there, only cooked, so wtf does he know ;-)

Advice?

Do the full menu, best meal I've ever had

Ya, the 16 was absurd. Go big or go home.

For an upcoming trip, I have already made up my mind to get the Twist tasting menu one night, the Raku omakase on night two but I need a fine dining recommendation thats not French, Japanese, or steak for night 3. What are my best available options?

I go to Vegas every year for a boys' trip. The budget isn't unlimited but we do manage one good meal each time we go. There are 10 of us and some of us aren't terribly adventurous when it comes to eating out so we've always gone to a steakhouse. The environment/location are probably as important as the food and the service. We don't want to go someplace stuffy. We're all in our 30's and 40's and are okay with spending between $100 and $150 per person including appetizers and drinks.

Our past trips have taken us to:

Circus Circus: I was expecting it to be top flight based on reviews and I'll admit I was disappointed. The service was good, the atmosphere was cool (old school) but the food was kinda bland.

STK: A mediocre experience all around.

Charlie Palmer: Awesome food, spotty service, no atmosphere at all.

Striphouse: Decent but not amazing.

Stripsteak: Fantastic meal. This was one of our favorites.

Delmonico: The only restaurant we've been to twice. Outstanding food and the best service overall.

N9NE: We all loved it. The food may have been better here than anywhere else. It was... festive there. Maybe a little too loud for us but we had a great time.

What are some suggestions for the next trip? It doesn't have to be a steakhouse, but seafood or sushi won't fly with this group at all. Same goes with French food. Italian might work. Steakhouses or "continental" are probably the safest picks.

Musashi is a good choice imo. Well within your budget, great atmosphere, easy to love food with lots of choices. Not in a casino, but don't know why that would matter.

If you want a more traditional place I'd recommend Carnevino. Probably my favorite of the strip steakhouses. Pasta there is awesome.

But yeah Musashi is just so awesome.

My dad asked me for any suggestions for a work dinner meeting near the Cosmo, he said it shouldn't be anything too fancy as some people in the meeting (he could include himself) don't have advanced palates. Price is not an issue, but he stressed that it needed to be a quiet restaurant so they could do businessman things.

Any recommendations?

Safest is probably the various steakhouses, avoid N9NE based on atmosphere.

Milo's probably good too.

I'd go with Jean-Georges Steakhouse at Aria. Quiet place, sedate, classy, close to Cosmo, not culinarily advanced, very good.

Milos, Scarpetta, Jean-Georges, Bar Masa

+1

kutty offered a tough one (imo) in the PLO forum

what restaurant recs would you give to mom and grandma? :O

Nobody answered

but I have my dining itinerary planned now. let me know what you guys think.

Wednesday arrival around 1:30pm
afternoon tea at Mandarin Orange Tea Room
Dinner at Sage

Thursday
Lunch - Milos
Dinner -Raku Kaiseki

Friday
Lunch - Lotus of Siam
Dinner - Twist

Saturday
Brunch at Bouchon


outgoing flight at 3pm

Old women are like the pickiest eaters by far. Tell them Grand Luxe has 6 michelin stars and they will probably never stop talking about it.

I like Gobbo's suggestion of Grand Lux for the basics, but for a sick meal that even Grandma could appreciate I would choose Andre's in Monte Carlo. Andre Rochat is often overlooked in this town, its old school french fine dining, and at one time it was the best of the best in Vegas.

Scarpetta or Milos are the two best options due to proximity, Scarpetta having the better business vibe. For a little walk I would choose JG Steakhouse at Aria, or Andre's in Monte Carlo for old school French fine dining with the best rare wine list in town for big bold reds and Riojas.. some really sick steals too!

Some out of the norm places I would consider are
Tetsu - Japanese teppen bar, great steaks (much better than Musashi, also much more expensive though). Outstanding if you want to mix steaks with raw fish of course ;-)
Golden Steer - Revisit the days of the rat pack. Solid old school steak house, similar to Circus Circus but better.

And for the big bang:
Carnevino - Combine your love of steakhouses with italian food. Order the Grand Riserva, call in advance to reserve it though because it sells out.
Cut - One of the three best in Vegas (include StripSteak and Carnevino in this category)

amoeba: Fantastic agenda, impressive! I would change Sat to breakfast and do lunch at a rammen noodle joint to call it quits, but otherwise your agenda is really good. I advise doing ala carte at Twist and sharing with friends, ask your server what he/she advises and make your own tasting here. The individual dishes tend to be the shining stars at Twist because of the multiple preparations that they provide. With that said, my next meal there will be the tasting menu so I can try it before they switch in October, its hard to go wrong at Twist if your a foodie.

One last thing... I have been eating at Masa more frequently recently, it is so expensive so I tend to stick with the sushi tasting for $75 (13 pieces) or the sashimi tasting (I think it is 23 pieces for $85). It has become my go-to place to eat at the bar in Aria.

Thanks TT.

I've been eating a lot of good Ramen recently in my hometown so I might skip Monta. I really wish Kabuto was open for lunch as I would have liked to fit that in.

By the way, at Twist I'm really excited to have the Langoustines but aside from that, what have you had there that is good?

On a different note, on the subject of steaks, I hear that real Japanese wagyu is coming back in October.

The Twist menu is not downloading, something is wrong with their web server, sorry I cannot give good advice - but just tell your waitor that you want to create your own tasting menu experience and have him select the best options to highlight the creativity of the kitchen, you can't go wrong that way. Save room for the GRAND DESSERT PIERRE GAGNAIRE. Its pretty awesome, and does a great job of showing the modernist talents of the kitchen.

Also have Katherine the bartender make you an Old Fashioned, skip the vino IMO - the cocktail program is micro-curated and can't be missed. I usually sit at the bar while dining, she is really awesome and goes to the n'th degree to get us information about each dish, sometimes the chefs come out to explain how a course was prepared, how they make a gelé, etc - hands down my fav staff member at Twist.

Re Waygu: Its already at Cut, and it is ridiculously expensive - priced on par with Carnevino's Grand Riserva (which is better than any Kobe I have ever tasted IMO - by very different in nature).

- TT

Great article in Eating Las Vegas about the truth behind Kobe and Waygu, and how to know if you are getting the real deal (nobody has had the real deal in years).

According to John, Wayguu is not a breed of cow, it just means "Beef Cattle". It really means nothing in Japan, it only took on significant stature once Australian and later American marketers caught on.

I love this quote:

Read all about it: http://www.eatinglv.com/2012/09/a-kvetch-about-kobe/

And also be sure to read the comments too, such as this one from Max Jacobson - the most knowledgeable food critic in the Vegas area (and former semi-pro lowball player back in the old school Gardenia days.