Eating on Kenji's Safari with the golf group will invariably be be a horror story of buffets, bar meals and coffee shops, so today, I'm doing research to find something special for dinner, as joining me will be David Block, former director of the Florida Solar Energy Center, who is part of the golf entourage organized by Kenji Sumida, and they are flying in tomorrow morning from Hawaii on an overnighter. I so detest that flight that I perversely went West around the world via Tokyo and Amsterdam to get here last night.
Clearly, then, the restaurant I chose for tonight must be Robuchon's in Las Vegas:
I should mention something about David Block. First, he does not own the bar on the mezzanine floor of the California Hotel:
However, he was among the first seven faculty members of Florida Technological University in 1968 when it started with 1500 students. When a history major became president in the mid-70's, the name was changed to Central Florida University, but, by then, Dave had become director of the Florida Solar Energy Center, which is linked to this university. You have to appreciate the psychological politics of academia to appreciate why this idiotic conversion had to occur. However, I'm an engineer. In any case, CFU now has 58,000 students and is the second largest university in the USA to Ohio State.
I started with Kir Royale and we ordered a bottle of 2005 Markham Merlot from Napa Valley because Dave only drinks Merlot, for his body does not tolerate other red wines, such as Cabernet Sauvignons. They use Riedel glasses here. Our first course was a fancy and free gazpacho:
Note the work of art. I then had a foie gras and morel soup, maybe the best soup I've ever had in my life. These were large chunks of mushrooms and FG, with a heavenly creamy taste.
Again, the technicolor spices added an aesthetic statement. I went overboard on foie gras, for my next dish was a combination with beef and nano particularized mash potato:
I never got around to asking what that transparent glass-like rod was doing on the top, but I ate it anyway. I had an assortment of cheeses, while Dave had a sorbet:
We did not think his spiffy brown turtle-neck would allow him into the 3-Star palace, but it turned out that we were were the only customers at 5:30, and by the time we left, it is possible that Dave was the only non-Oriental diner.
Was it worth it? Well, my rule of thumb that a Michelen 1-Star meal would cost $100, a 2-Star $200 and 3-Star $300 only reinforced my informal guideline. I found the 3-Stars to be deserved, and the whole bottle of Merlot was about the same price as a bad glass of red wine at Ryu Gin.
On the way back we stopped through the Fremont Street Experience:
I started with Kir Royale and we ordered a bottle of 2005 Markham Merlot from Napa Valley because Dave only drinks Merlot, for his body does not tolerate other red wines, such as Cabernet Sauvignons. They use Riedel glasses here. Our first course was a fancy and free gazpacho:
Note the work of art. I then had a foie gras and morel soup, maybe the best soup I've ever had in my life. These were large chunks of mushrooms and FG, with a heavenly creamy taste.
Again, the technicolor spices added an aesthetic statement. I went overboard on foie gras, for my next dish was a combination with beef and nano particularized mash potato:
I never got around to asking what that transparent glass-like rod was doing on the top, but I ate it anyway. I had an assortment of cheeses, while Dave had a sorbet:
We did not think his spiffy brown turtle-neck would allow him into the 3-Star palace, but it turned out that we were were the only customers at 5:30, and by the time we left, it is possible that Dave was the only non-Oriental diner.
Was it worth it? Well, my rule of thumb that a Michelen 1-Star meal would cost $100, a 2-Star $200 and 3-Star $300 only reinforced my informal guideline. I found the 3-Stars to be deserved, and the whole bottle of Merlot was about the same price as a bad glass of red wine at Ryu Gin.
On the way back we stopped through the Fremont Street Experience:
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1 comment:
It really seems like a great place to eat in general, besides all the great hotels in las vegas have their own and sometimes more restaurants with great cheffs in charge of them
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