nyc restaurant scene goes west

bright lights, big city, Vegas is always exciting. We decided to splurge on a couple of nights and try out two of the more upscale dining establishments. Truely though, it seemed like most of the restaurants were on the higher end of upscale. I've only been to Vegas a couple of times (three to be exact), and in the previous two visits, I don't remember there being this much choice in restaurants.

The first one that we went to was called Aureole. You may be familar with this, since it's also a NY favorite. Its signature feature is the four-story wine tower centered in the dining area. It has a stash of several hundred wines and a boasts a fantastic sommelier, with which we had some interesting wine discussion and debate. After some discussion about our wine favorites, we were steered to a fantastic and *very* reasonably priced Spanish Malbec. We started with a composition of smoked salmon and caviar. The main course was a roasted chilean sea bass over couscous - fantastic!

The second place we went to was called L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon. We did the tasting menu and it was a taste explosion. The restaurant consists of primarily counter seating, with a backdrop of the kitchen and chefs busily assembling the unique dishes. The tasting menu was a nine course meal which included

- blue fin tuna in a tomato infused olive oil
- Maine lobster custard with curry scent and fennel foam
- sea bass filet steamed with lemon-thyme butter and steamed vegetables

to name a few. The Maine lobster custard was incredible, like nothing that I have ever tasted. The curry flavor was very subtle. I don't normally enjoy fennel, but it was so fresh and mild tasting. It pulled the whole dish together. We were lucky enough to be in the company of Chef Robuchon himself! When we asked if we could pay our compliments to the chef, he gladly oblidged. Be prepared to dig deep though, I'm going to be paying this one off for the next two months. This chef also has a restaurant at the NYC Four Seasons Hotel.

*k*