Welcome to Ogdenville, Home of the Spoon Push!! Population: Confused.Let's get right to it. We booked this dinner because it was the least expensive of the four Master's Series Dinners being offered through Vegas Uncorked and the menu promised to be the least likely to set off an intestinal temper tantrum in yours truly. Jay and I didn't know squat about Bradley Ogden aside from the fact that friends of ours said he offered a tasty cheese plate at a reasonable price and his Maytag Blue Cheese Souffle was da' bomb. Well, that was good enough for us to move forward and book an expensive event dinner with a chef we knew nothing about at a restaurant we'd never dined in!
Happiness and Hungriness
Jay and I took the path of least resistance to get from the Encore to Caesar's Palace, where Bradley Ogden is located, and waited in the taxi line like good little do-bees; when we clean up purty the last thing we want is to sweat through the nice and flowery before we even get to where we're going. Unfortunately our driver was really annoyed with the heavy traffic, which made me wonder why he was driving a cab on the Vegas strip in the first place. Although we had asked him to drop us at the casino entrance he forgot and dropped us at the Forum Shops. And to be quite honest, Jay and I were too fuzzy brained from the long travel day to realize what had happened until we were standing outside the hotel in the absolutely wrong place.
Perhaps in some Vegas hotels this wouldn't have been such a pickle, but Caesar's is a huge resort - 85 acres to be exact - and it can be a very confusing place to navigate even when you aren't starving for your dinner and haven't been awake for 18 hours straight. There are restaurants and shops hidden all over the Caesar's Palace complex and we have thrown up our hands in frustrated exasperation in the past trying to locate some of them. Thankfully we were familiar enough with Caesar's to know that the restaurant was in the casino near Mesa Grill so we trudged past valet and through the parking lot, getting sweaty and windblown while dodging taxis and limos dropping their fortunate passengers at the casino entrance. So much for looking and smelling presentable!
Couldn't come up with a better name?
The Vegas Uncorked crew had a table outside the restaurant where they were collecting tickets and crossing attendees names off the master list; once we checked in we were instructed to head to the back of the restaurant. It looked like we might have missed a cocktail party but it was really hard to tell. There were people milling about with drinks in hand and there were long tables set up that looked as though they may have supported some snackables, but that was our only evidence. We were able to snag a specialty drink about five minutes before everyone was seated - it was called the Repo Man and tasted like a cross between a margarita and sangria. It was a very good, refreshing drink that packed quite a wallop!
Before I dive into the dinner, which overall was pretty good, I do want to mention that one of our biggest issues with Vegas Uncorked as an event was the lack of communication with guests. If you visit their website, information for all of their signature dinners and lunches indicate a specific start time with no mention of cocktails or receptions. Yet something was obviously taking place at Ogden that we knew nothing about and the following day we stumbled into a reception at Wolfgang Puck's that we once again knew nothing about. Uncorked had phone numbers as well as physical and email addresses for all attendees - if the cocktail parties for these events were added at the last minute they still had means to contact everyone but all I know is that we never received any communication from them at all. For the amount that they charged for these experiences there was no excuse to have guests in the dark about the event extras that were included with the price of admission.
I will take it one step further and make the comment that aside from Andrew Knowlton, who co-hosted the lunch at Wolfgang Puck's the following day, the Vegas Uncorked VIPs at the other events we attended did not appear to be very friendly. They didn't mingle with the hungry masses and didn't seem very interested in event feedback - aside from introducing the chef for each event, the "hosts" were non-existent which struck us as very ungracious.
This event had assigned seating and Jay and I found ourselves sharing a table in the middle of the dining room with two other couples - one from Arkansas and the other from San Diego. They were all very nice and sharing dinner with them made for an enjoyable evening - we spent a lot of time talking about different Vegas restaurants we'd all dined at and the San Diego couple gave us some great insight about past Uncorked events they'd attended. The evening was even more fun when we discovered we all have a food porn habit!!
Chef Ogden made an appearance before the dinner to talk with everyone about his approach to cooking and the menu he'd prepared and then it was time to eat ... finally!
Bradley Ogden preaches to the foodie faithful
The Repo Man!
Dinner started with the Amuse Bouche: Osetra Caviar, Potato Cake, and Citrus Creme Fraiche served with Iron Horse Bradley Ogden, Cuvee, Sonoma 2004. This was really a lovely beginning to the meal - a fluffy, crispy little potato pillow sprinkled with caviar resting on a dollop of refreshingly tart creme fraiche. We thought it was a fun interpretation of a more traditional caviar presentation which usually includes blini (potato pancakes), hard boiled eggs, chive, and plain creme fraiche. Everyone at our table seemed to enjoy the amuse; the only thing I heard was that people wished there was a second serving because it was so tasty!
Oh, happy mouth!
First Course: Charred Yellow Tail with Scallion Puree, Caramelized Hearts of Palm, and Rice Cracker served with Illumination, Sauvignon Blanc, Napa Valley 2008. From a chef who promotes simple foods prepared simply this presentation threw me because it was really busy. The tuna was wonderful and fresh, although not a bit charred from where I sat. The rest of the stuff on my plate was pushed to the side - I really felt that there were too many flavors warring for attention rather than serving to compliment the fish as they should.
Tuna minus char?
Second Course: Butter Lettuce Salad with Walnut Crusted Goat Cheese, Shaved Fennel, and Herb Vinaigrette served with Flowers, Chardonnay, Sonoma Coast 2007. Welcome to what we like to call the throw-away offering! We don't bear any ill will towards salad in general, but it did seem like something that didn't require much effort on the part of the kitchen staff. The goat cheese that was included with the salad was fabulous, though, and the staff were very kind to me: at the start of the meal they'd inquired about allergies and food restrictions and when I mentioned my issue with nuts they brought me a little plate of nut-free goat balls (hee hee hee) along with my salad.
You don't win friends with salad!
Here is where the evening became a little discombobulated and it's all due to the wine pairings and the lack of variety we were provided. Beginning with the salad and continuing through the next two courses we were served chardonnay as our wine pairing. I don't care how good it is supposed to be, and we all agreed that these three wines were not to our tastes and didn't seem to pair well with the food, three chardonnays in a row is boring. And it was downright lazy on the part of the sommelier who must have forgotten that there is a wonderful world of white wine out there that would have worked really well with the food we were served.
Third Course: Roasted Zucchini Soup, Zucchini Pearl Salad, Zucchini Bread, and Sundried Tomato served with Flowers, Chardonnay, Andreen Gale 2006. Now this is what we wanted - simple and subtle and downright scrumptious! There were chunks of zucchini hiding at the bottom of the bowl and the soup itself had a creamy, almost rustic flavor that was really enhanced by the slice of fresh zucchini bread topped with sundried tomatoes.
Zoup!
Bread and 'maters
Fourth Course: Seared Atlantic Diver Scallops with Basil Puree, Pepper Relish, and Lemon Foam served with Flowers, Chardonnay, Camp Meeting Ridge 2006. The scallop was melt-in-yer-mouth wonderful with a lovely light sear; it was so tender I didn't even need a knife to cut it. Once again, however, I felt that there were too many sauces and flavors vying for my attention. I'm also not personally a fan of flavored foam that looks like someone hawked a mouthful of lung butter onto my plate - it does not do wonders for my appetite.
Scallop with the dreaded spoon push
Fifth Course: South Dakota Bison Tenderloin with Fava Bean Agnolotti, Spring Onions, and Ramp Vinaigrette served with Quintessa, Meritage, Napa Valley 2006. We were all surprised by the size of this serving, which was quite generous, and while we liked it everyone agreed that it needed some fat to lend it some flavor. Buffalo is so lean that it needs something to really make it sing ... I don't know exactly what that something is, but I definitely notice when it's missing! And while meritage might have been a great wine to pair with buffalo, making the jump from three chardonnays to a meritage was downright unpleasant. What happened to progression?
Bison or Buffalo?
Sixth Course: Hot and Cold Strawberry Shortcake with Mascarpone Cheese, Vanilla Ice Cream, and Field Rhubarb Sauce served with Flowers, Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast 2007. I don't know exactly what I was expecting, but when this dessert was placed before me I knew real disappointment. We each received a piece of strawberry waffle covered with gloopy strawberry halves and some vanilla bean ice cream on a strawberry meringue ... along with a double spoon push!
We were all wondering where the cheese portion of the dessert was, so I actually asked our server where the mascarpone cheese had disappeared to; she was nice enough to check with the kitchen staff and they supposedly baked the cheese into the waffle. What a tragic waste of mascarpone cheese. And as a side note: following a heavy wine like a meritage with a lighter, fruity wine like pinot noir, especially with dessert ... BLECH! It was a horrible pairing and the person who suggested it should be drummed out of their wine club for life and pummeled with stinky old corks.
I'm confused...
Once the tables were cleared, Jay and I waited about 15-20 minutes for Chef Ogden to make a final appearance and thank everyone for attending - we fully expected him to circle the dining room to greet guests and take pictures or autograph menus but he never re-emerged from the kitchen. And although we didn't need more food, we were also waiting for a plate of friandise to be presented to each table as an extra "thank you" for attending. We've been on the receiving end of small plates of yummies at other Vegas restaurants, as well as at restaurants in other cities, just for having a "normal" dinner so it didn't seem unreasonable to think something might be forthcoming at a more formal event.
But there was nothing: zilch; nada; bupkis.
No official "thanks for joining us this evening;" no wee, sweet plate o'love from the kitchen; no pictures or autographed menus; no turkey sandwiches; no turkey salad; no turkey gravy; turkey hash; turkey ala king; or gallons of turkey soup!!! It made for a very jarring and uncomfortable end to the meal and did not leave us with a favorable impression, especially when we would receive all of these courtesies and more the following day at a slightly less expensive luncheon event ... without turkey.
I've no doubt given the impression that we didn't enjoy the evening but nothing could be further from that. Jay and I had a very good time and the food was tasty, although it did seem like the kitchen was trying too hard to impress with certain courses; the service was also very good and our team in particular was quite attentive. But there is no denying that certain aspects of the evening were, for lack of a better word, off. The wine pairings in particular were not enjoyable and there just wasn't an excuse for the lack of formal conclusion / thanks at the meal's end. Jay and I ranked the Bradley Ogden dinner solidly in the middle of the three Uncorked events that we attended during the weekend - not great and not awful; it was decent, but not impressive enough for us to consider booking a second Master's Dinner at this restaurant.
