The remainder of our evening at The Mansion really was uneventful, apart from all the food that kept finding its way to our table. Next up was Le Soja: risotto of soybean sprouts with lime zest and chives.
Le Soja
Followed by Le Saumon: salmon with ginger broth and lightly smoked cream.
Le Saumon
And then by Le Veau: Sauteed veal chop with natural jus and vegetable taglierinis flavored with pesto.
Le Veau
Once the hearty courses were finished, I happened to ask a staff member if there was a dessert wine menu available for our review. I believe I said something along the lines of this: "I know there's a cheese trolley coming that's got my name on it and I love me some port with my cheese!"
The menu showed up shortly thereafter and we made our selection - two glasses of the 20-year tawny, please, and where's that cheese trolley??? Imagine our surprise when the sommelier returned with our port and told us that the drinks were compliments of the management as a way to apologize for the earlier ... disturbance. While completely unnecessary as far as Jay and I were concerned it was a very nice gesture and we really appreciated it.
Did someone say free port???
And then the trolley made its appearance at our table in all it's cheesy glory ... firm, soft, runny, mild, stinky, and downright offensive ... a thing of delectable, bacterial beauty that I will never forget as long as I live. There must have been more than twenty selections to choose from and we were allowed to try as many as we wanted - between the two of us Jay and I managed to taste around 15 of the available cheeses and they were just as wonderful as I dreamed they would be.
Cheese me!
My cheese plate ...
Jay's cheese plate ...
Desserts ... lots of them, then followed our cheese nirvana. The first dessert was La Verveine, light tangerine cream with lemon verbena sorbet. I liked this a great deal - it was airy and refreshing.
Dessert #1 ... Wait for it
La Verveine
And then our second dessert of the night was delivered: Le Chocolat, a chocolate mousse sphere with passion fruit coulis.
Dessert #2 ... Le Chocolat
And then there was a cake for Jay's birthday ... I had mentioned that we were celebrating his birthday but I didn't know if the restaurant would actually do anything special. Silly me for ever doubting them. They brought an entire ice cream cake for us to demolish - one layer of pistachio ice cream and one layer of passion-fruit sorbet. It was beeee-you-teeee-full!
Birthday surprise!
Sixteen courses later ... and we still have room for more?!
Ice cream cake!
Yum!
After the staff sliced and served the cake for Jason they promptly informed me that I was not allowed to have any ice cream cake because it included nuts; our server said that I was going to receive something special just for me. I was served a creamy chocolate tart and a lemon tart with gold leaf in lieu of ice cream cake and that suited me just fine - both were delicious.
My birthday cake ...
As if all of this wasn't enough, the meal was capped off with a visit from the candy cart - a masterpiece of confection that the pastry chef creates on a daily basis. It's an amazing, overwhelming sight. The nice thing is that the staff will let guests choose as many pieces of candy as they'd like and then will package them up so they can be enjoyed at a later date.
Candy Cart ...
Candy Cart ...
Yes ... I said Candy Cart!
Once again the staff informed me that I was not allowed to choose anything form the cart due to all the nutty goodness it contained. The pastry chef created a plate of wonderful, tasty candies just for me and they were almost too pretty to eat. I asked if the staff would box them up for me so that Jay and I could enjoy them on another day since we were both on tilt at this point. They graciously agreed to do so, not only for me but for Jay as well.
My personalized candies from the pastry chef!
Must make room for one more course!
Jay's candy selections ...
Once the meal was over ... for some reason I think we may have had coffee but I can't remember for sure ... we were escorted back through The Mansions where an MGM gold limo was waiting to take us back to the Encore and the real world. Skeletor and her whipping boy aside, it was truly an amazing dining experience with beautifully prepared and plated food and exceptional service. Jay and I both think it was worth the expense, although Le A'telier, Robuchon's more casual and "affordable" dining establishment located next door to The Mansion, is more to our taste and budget. Some day we hope to try Joel Robuchon again ... perhaps in Paris on our 15th wedding anniversary?! Until then, we're more than satisfied with the birthday dinner provided by the chef of the century and his amazing staff.
Courtyard in late evening
So pretty ...
A parting gift from the restaurant
Handmade raspberry and peach marshmallows!
1 comment:
wow, wow, wow, wow, wow! What amazing service and food! I am so glad your special evening turned out special in the end. I hate that it started out so badly with such badly behaved people!
I am in love with the staff and the chef for what they did for you two! Making sure your goblin didn't accidentally get any nuts! LOVE!
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