Like so many things on this trip, it all started with Joel Robuchon. In conjunction with Vegas Uncorked he was offering a Sunday Brunch at L'Atelier, and yours truly really wanted to go until they revealed the cost per person to attend. I get it - he's the chef of the century and he's been awarded more Michelin stars than I have teeth - but $175 per person is steep admission for the first meal of the day. For that price he'd better be serving pterodactyl egg omelets and ambrosia imported from Mount Olympus.
As you no doubt have deduced, we didn't book Robuchon's Uncorked event and that is why I suddenly found myself on a quest for brunch when previously the idea had never entered my all too distractible head. I eliminated brunch at the Wynn or the Bellagio immediately because that Sunday was Mother's Day and that meant hordes of hungry people getting between us and our morning alcoholic drinks. Thanks to a handful of reviews on Yelp along with some real-world input, I decided on the Eiffel Tower Restaurant at the Paris Hotel. Their lunch / brunch menu seemed more reasonably priced than their dinner menu and we would still get to experience one of the best Vegas Strip views in the city without the glare of nighttime neon or the squeeeeeee of constant marriage proposals.
This is one of those restaurants where guests have to be escorted from the casino / lobby to the dining room proper. In this case you must wander through the casino until you find yourself at the base of the tower ... just look for the giant indoor erector set! An attendant will ask you to state your business, summon an elevator, whisk you up out of the smoke and noise, and deliver you to an open kitchen where another staff member will escort you to the check-in area. On this morning we were also given a small taste treat as we exited the elevator - trout salad on a wee cracker. I don't know if this is common practice at the Eiffel Tower but it was a nice surprise, if something of a strange choice for a breakfast hoover doover.
Something seems fishy ...
As we checked in with the hostess she tried to offer me a mother's day gift - they had an entire table set up with little flowers in terra cotta pots and were handing them out to all the female guests before seating their parties in the dining room. I'm not a mom ... I will never be a mom ... and handing a live plant over to me is akin to signing a botanical death warrant, so I thanked her and declined by saying, "I don't qualify."
She seemed stunned that I didn't want to take it and maybe it was ungracious of me not to accept, but I felt then and still feel now that it would have been inherently dishonest to do so. Thank gawd my so-called integrity wasn't challenged by an offering of complimentary Mother's Day cheese.
Ahem.
We were led to a fabulous little table for two along a wall of windows overlooking the Vegas strip. All of the window tables were small, triangular shaped two-fers that rested right up against the glass - it made for an intimate meal with a truly spectacular vista. Just look at these two pictures and you'll see what I mean.
O, indeed ...
Bellagio ... I hear you have a fountain of sorts.
In a recent review I mentioned that one of the reasons I adore French restaurants is that they can usually be counted on to offer guests a fabulous array of artisan cheeses with which to satisfy their bacterial cravings. Whenever Jay and I are headed for a particularly Frenchie dining experience I find myself singing that old Beatles standby Please Cheese Me, and such was the case on this lovely morning. But there is a sad flip side and it is this: I also loathe French restaurants because of their incessant use of mushrooms in nearly all facets of their cuisine. This unfortunate culinary trait also tends to trigger more bad singing on my part, "All they wanna do is shrooma shroom shroom shroom and then more shroom."
Which leads me to the most horribly ironic amuse bouche in recent memory: mushroom mousse.
It was cold. It was thick. It was gacky. It was bursting with a pungent shroominess that actually made me throw up a little in my mouth. If this love offering from the kitchen was designed to set the tone for the meal to come then I was ready to leave.
There's nothing amuse about this!
Thank goodness Jay likes mushrooms and the kitchen went back to doing something I could really endorse: bread and cheese! In this case they were baked together into light, airy cheesy poufs. Dear Chef, in the future please hold the fungus gloop, and bring on the yeast and mold, thank you very much.
Cheesy Poufs - eat them up yum!
I think that I must have been nursing some absinthe after-effects from the previous evening's booze on fiyah finale, because I started the morning meal off in strange fashion with shrimp cocktail. For some reason it sounded tasty and fake Paris in Vegas seemed like as good a place as any to indulge, so behold - a platter of beautiful shrimpies with both American and French cocktail sauces. They were big, honking shrimp and they really tasted wonderful - cold and sweet! As for dippage, the French sauce reminded me a little of thousand island dressing, at least in color, but the taste was creamy and smooth with just a hint of cognac. I should also mention at this point that I couldn't order a cheese plate as I'd intended because the restaurant didn't offer one on its brunch menu ... the horror!!!
Thank you sir, may I have another?
Jay ordered the Soup du Jour, a rich, creamy asparagoose bisque with a delicate flavor. After taking a taste, I found myself wishing I'd chosen this as well - it was just that good.
The Jolly Green Giant was here ...
It is, of course, impossible to indulge in Vegas brunch in fake Paris without enjoying an alcoholic beverage. I decided to stretch my wings and try something new: Pims Cup #1.2 which was comprised of Pimms, Heyman's Old Tom, Fresh Cucumber, Lemon-Lime Soda, and Cucumber-Basil Froth. It was more bitter than I expected, but it grew on me as the meal progressed. I still prefer our version of a Pimm's Cup but I'm glad I tried something different. Jay went with the old tried and true: Bloody Marie. I liked this variation of the traditional breakfast drink quite a bit because it wasn't nearly as spicy as most - they actually used Lemon Citron Vodka and I thought that lent it a refreshing lightness that paired well with the tomato juice.
It's a Bloody Pimm!
For my breakfast proper I ordered the Light Omelet Souffle with Brie and Asparagoose. The portion size was much larger than I expected and it was actually a bit bland except for those times when I chomped down on a chunk of brie. It was well cooked - very light - but also quite rich and I wasn't able to finish it.
Not made from pterodactyl eggs ...
Once again Jason made the better choice: Poached Egg Cheese Souffle, Petite Frisee, and Parmesan Cheese. While it didn't sound all that appealing on the menu, one look at his plate and one taste filled me with breakfast envy. While his souffle, like mine, was very rich, it had a great blend of flavor and wonderful, gooey cheesiness.
Next time, I'm ordering this!
During our meal we were fortunate enough to see the Bellagio's fountain show in its entirety more than once. Please enjoy our pictures, which actually turned out quite nicely in this attempt!
Jay and I were so caught up in the water show that we ordered a dessert we didn't really have room for. I don't know the name of this item, but it was incredibly tasty - vanilla ice cream, hot fudge, caramel, whipped cream, and two shots of espresso. It was so good we found ourselves battling over the final spoonfuls of fudge and the last slurps of espresso ... ah, if only every morning could start with this kind of caffeine jolt!
Who's idea was it to share?
And then they brought out a birthday treat for the hubba! A yummy little chocolate mousse to help celebrate his 40th birthday. I had made sure to indicate on the reservation that we were celebrating his special day in the hopes that something like this would happen. Since we vacation so often in October, I have been on the receiving end of some lovely treats over the years and really hoped that the same would happen for Jay. That it did made me a very happy wifey and I almost forgave the chef for the mushroom mousse that began the meal.
Almost.
Birthday mousse!
Overall we were satisfied with our Eiffel Tower meal, although I'm not sure it's worth another visit. The food was good but not spectacular - I really think it's more about the uniqueness of the restaurant's location and the amazing view. While I'm glad we experienced it, and am very grateful for the birthday love they gave the hubba, there are definitely other Vegas establishments we want to try before returning here. Who knows, maybe next time we will try a champagne brunch at the Wynn on Mother's Day; I'll just be sure to bring a flask and tattoo "child free zone" across my gut!
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