Stratta; Wynn, Las Vegas

Stratta: A Casserole? A Quiche? A Bread Pudding? A Pretentious, Overrated Not-So-Goodtime-Fun-Eatery? You be the Judge!!

A last ditch effort for a final cheese plate led me to ask Jay if we could stop here for a drink and a snack one night. We'd had such great success doing this at the now defunct Boulud's that I, for one, just assumed that great food, service, and atmosphere would be waiting for us again.

Welcome to disappointment.

Population: Us.

Stratta is billed as an Italian-style eatery; they are open for lunch and dinner, as well as late night, and maybe that explains why we thought their menu was so boring. The restaurant itself seemed rather small to us and it is open on all sides to the casino and main hallway that leads from the Wynn to the Encore. Their bar struck us as small and cramped - just a bar and nothing more. While there are tables all around the area that might make a person think that's part of Stratta's so-called lounge, we were informed by a rather snooty young lady that those tables were for paying customers.

Oh?

Do patrons at the bar eat and drink for free? 'Cause if they do sign us up and call us regulars!

She had to backtrack rather awkwardly then and explain that those tables were being used for dinner patrons and if we didn't have a reservation our only option was to sit at the bar ... where we unfortunately still had to pay for our food and booze.

View from the casino / lobby


The bartender was over-worked but tried his best - and he did make a pretty good drink. One of us ordered a Capri Cooler: Grey Goose Citron, Limoncello, Ginger Beer, Lemon Juice, and Basil leaves; while the other ordered a Pear Cosmopolitan: Absolut Pear Vodka, St. Germain, White Cranberry juice, and Lime. Both drinks were refreshing while packing a nice punch, but I preferred the Capri Cooler just a bit more because it wasn't quite as sweet as the Pear Cosmo.

Capri Cooler


Pear Cosmopolitan


The menu listed the cheese plate as a selection of artisan cheeses with a seasonal compote and warm cranberry-pistachio bread. We received a cheddar, a pepper cheese, and a blue cheese along with what looked like chunky applesauce and some very pretty, very nutty bread. So much for Eye-Talian inspired cuisine ... there's not a single cheese on that plate that can trace its milk of origin to Italy. This was, without a doubt, the lamest, least inspired cheese plate we tried during the whole trip.

Cheese plate with bread slugs ...


I honestly don't know what else to say. With the exception of Daniel Boulud's restaurant, all of our experiences with restaurant staff at the Wynn were mildly unpleasant to downright infuriating. We were amazed at the difference in staff demeanor between the Wynn and Encore considering that they are "sister" hotels and thanks to that noticeable difference the next time we are in Vegas we will not be frequenting any establishments at the Wynn. They may be under the impression that their shat don't stank, but I'm here to tell 'em different!

Terrace Pointe Cafe; Wynn, Las Vegas

When You're too Lazy to Leave the Hotel and too Cheap to Order Room Service, Terrace Pointe Cafe will Do in a Pinch.

Terrace Pointe Cafe is located pool-side at the Wynn - it offers indoor and outdoor seating overlooking the pool and gardens and serves breakfast and lunch daily. Jay and I stopped in one day after spending the morning at the pool - we were hungry but didn't want anything too extravagant or filling because later in the evening we had plans to dine at The Mansion. The cafe is very bright and welcoming and they must serve some of the best waffles in Vegas because even though it was lunchtime it seemed like someone at every table was chowing down on a monster serving of Belgian's with a can of whipped cream on the side.

We ordered hummus and pita bread to start and then had some cheese sliders and fish tacos, all of which was washed down with a couple of beers. The food was plain old fine - nothing spectacular and nothing awful - and the service was terrific. There's not much else for me to say about this location - it's convenient if you happen to be visiting or staying at the Wynn or Encore, but we wouldn't go out of our way to dine there again. Maybe we would feel differently if one of us had ordered waffles!

Humina, humina, hummus!


Slip sliding awaaaaay ....


Generous serving of fries that neither of us wanted.


Fish tacos, with Mahi to be specific.

The Eiffel Tower Restaurant; Paris Hotel, Las Vegas

A Jazz Brunch without Jazz at the Eiffel Tower not in France - We're Through the Looking Glass Here, People ...

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!

Lagasse's Stadium; Palazzo, Las Vegas

The Day After, or We're Suffering From a French Food Hangover of Epic Proportions!

We were out very late the previous night eating everything but the place settings at The Mansion for the hubba's birthday celebration. Jay and I slept in and by the time we were ready to brave the cold and windy world outside, it was really too late for breakfast and we wanted something a little more substantial on our stomachs for the afternoon ahead of us. We wandered over to the Enrique Palazzo and were tantalized by the meaty aromas wafting from Carnevino, a Mario Batali steakhouse that some friends of ours had recommended. The restaurant was offering a great lunch special that included two drinks and a couple of different sandwich selections for $30 per person - in Vegas that's a steal and the hostess was talking it up and just as friendly as could be until we asked to be seated. And then she informed us that they didn't open until noon.

But we're hungreeeee now!

So we moved on, eventually finding ourselves at Lagasse's Stadium which is a mega sports bar and sports book that bears Emeril's name. Jay and I have always enjoyed Bam Bam's cuisine and we thought this would be the perfect way to bring us out of our waking food coma. This place is huge with more than 100 televisions scattered around the restaurant; the main area has a 9 foot by 16 foot television and the seating around it is designed to resemble plush stadium boxes. We were given a table right away, which made us very happy and we proceeded to order the first drinks of the day. Jason kept his simple and paid homage to the Most Interesting Man in the World by choosing a Dos Equis.

The Second Most Interesting Man in the World


I went with the Grand Slam: tequila, cointreau, lemon sour, and fresh lime. It was quite refreshing but I was definitely not prepared for the serving size, which was big enough for two people ... at least on this day it was!

This is a very big drink ... for a very thirsty girl!


Maybe we were both feeling sluggish due to all the food and drama from the previous evening - it seemed like we had a difficult time figuring out what to order, especially me. And I ended up being happiest with our appetizer selection: Cheesy Beer and Warm Soft Pretzels. Name me one food-drunk that doesn't come alive with a creamy, three-cheese dip spiked with beer and served with slightly salty, soft pretzels.

Yep; that's what I thought.

Delicious - that's what these were. I should have ordered another round for lunch.

Thank you sir, may I have another?


Jay was smart ... as he often is ... and ordered the Kobe / Angus Beef Burger and for good measure he asked them to add some Nueske's bacon to it. There's not much to say about this entry - it was tasty and it hit the spot and the man was happy ... 'nuff said.

Who doesn't enjoy eating two animals at once?


As for me ... looking back on it now I think my lunch choice was a special kind of stupid. The only reason I must have ordered what I did, rather than tomato soup and wee grilled cheese bamwiches, was that the gutworm was getting restless. He had not been happy the day before and he was unsettled and unpredictable for the remainder of the trip. And that's why I ordered a cheese pizza for lunch?

I know ... it makes about as much sense as a rubber crutch.

And it didn't taste much better, either.

Mozzarella, parmesan, & cheddar cheese pizza


To be frank, we should have waited for Carnevino to open and had lunch there instead. Having lunch at Emeril's version of a sports bar was a bad idea - our taste buds were still reeling from 16+ courses of food ala Robuchon and this just couldn't cut through that. Additionally the food just didn't live up to our expectations based on past Emeril experiences - it was pretty mediocre sports bar food designed to soak up lots of alcohol while patrons spin out the hours watching and betting on just about any sport you can think of, including dwarf tossing. Had Jay and I dropped in to watch a game I think we would have enjoyed it much more; as it was, Lagasse's Stadium was an overpriced disappointment. And that's not something I thought I'd ever say about an Emeril establishment.

Daniel Boulud; Wynn, Las Vegas

Mexican ... Japanese ... French ... I don't Care, Just Gimme a Cheese Plate!!!

Let me tell you all a story 'bout a chef named Boulud,
had a bistro at the Wynn serving really tasty food;
We stopped in for a drink just to scope out the place,
and the next thing we knew we were stuffin' our face!

With food that is - cheese plates and seafood platters ...

And now it is my sad duty to inform you that Daniel Boulud's restaurant at the Wynn is no more - they closed their doors the first week of July. So while I will gladly share the lounge-love with you that we unexpectedly discovered there one night, there will be no more Gingerly Sage, Basil Gimlet, Indochine, or Blueberry Lavender Lemonade to sip in the dim, comfortable bar with its deep cushioned leather seats and comfy pillows. There is no artisan cheese plate waiting to be ordered - three cheeses ... no, five ... wait, seven ... hold on; we are famished, precious, gives us all sixteen of them!! And there is no shellfish plateau left to ascend ... no hungry hordes to sweep the seas clean. Gone, gone, gone ... all of it gone.

Ahem.

We did not have plans to dine at Boulud on this evening - we actually had a reservation for Dos Caminos, a Mexican place with a skull wall over at the Enrique Palazzo. But when the time came to leave, in a supreme gesture of laziness, Jay and I decided that we really didn't want to leave our hotel complex and brave the elements by going outside. We were jonesin for seafood and so decided that we would visit Okada, a Japanese / sushi place over at the Wynn. Turns out the staff at Okada didn't want to seat people who weren't hotel guests or who didn't have dinner reservations ... imagine their surprise when we flashed our room key. The look on the hostess's face was priceless: "they let people like you stay at Encore???"

I don't know if we stumbled into one of those Vegas places that requires their clientele to be young, hip, gorgeous and anorexic or if we encountered a hostess having a really bad night; either way it was their loss. We eat and drink well on vacation and tip generously for good food and service - Jay and I could have done some serious damage at an upscale sushi joint; instead we did serious damage and had a lot more fun at a French bistro operated by an award winning chef who just happens to have his own private label caviar. Who knew?

Boulud's was located on the Wynn's lower level just to the right of the Parasol Down bar. The cafe had both indoor and outdoor seating that overlooked the Waterfall, Lake of Dreams, and the giant frog. Yes, you read that correctly: giant frog. The hostess gave us our choice of seating locations and we opted for the lounge which was cozy and much less busy.

Some day we would like to install a bar like this in our house ...


We thought the cocktail menu had some really interesting drink options, and after a few moments of discussion with our server, Jay and I were ready to take an alcoholic plunge into the deep end of "I've never tried anything like that before." Jay started off with a Basil Gimlet, which was made with Fresh Basil, Right Gin, Lime, and Sweet and Sour.

Gimlet? Giblet? Just add Gin and we're fine!


I opted for a drink called the Gingerly Sage - Tru Organic Gin, Harvey's Orange Sherry, Yellow Chartreuse, Sweet & Sour, Sage, and Ginger Beer. This could have been a complete and utter mess, but their bartender was a magic-man and I thought this was the best mixed drink I had over the span of our week in Vegas. It was one of those "sneak attack" drinks that are so smooth and delicious you don't realize how much alcohol is in them until you order three more and enough food to feed a small family for days.

Gingerly Sage ... so so so good!


Do you know what I love the most about Frenchie restaurants? They always have cheese plates - with lots and lots of fromage to choose from. And Boulud was no exception. The thing that we really liked about their set-up was the number of options provided cheese-loving guests. We could create our own plate of 3, 5, or 7 cheeses or choose from a pre-selected offering of cheeses. Had we been more bold ... or more drunk ... we would have ordered Le Royale of Cheese: a sampling of every cheese offered at the restaurant for the bargain price of $85. Granted, that's a lot to pay for a cheese plate, but it included sixteen different types of bacterial joy! Knowing that the restaurant has since closed, I have a poignant sense of opportunity lost when I recall how close we came to ordering the Royale and getting drunk on cheese.

Considering that we'd inhaled a lot of fromage the previous night at Robuchon when his cheese trolley made an appearance at our table, I suppose we can be forgiven for creating our our own plate at Boulud with a mere seven cheeses. They were predominantly French and ran the gamut from soft and creamy to firm and crumbly - our accompaniments included fig bread, fresh fruit, dried fruit, compote, sunflower honey, and candied nuts. This was honestly the best cheese plate we tried all week - a nice mix of cow, sheep, and goat's milk cheeses with tasty sides that was large enough for two Stinktown piggies to share.

Best. Cheese. Plate. Of the week.


You'd think this was enough for two people who had already inhaled lunch and afternoon tea within the past eight hours, but Jay and I are remorseless eating machines while vacationing. We joked several times before leaving for Vegas that we would order a massive seafood platter similar to the one that Anthony Bourdain enjoyed while filming No Reservations in Brittany. It's just not possible to find huge, yummy crustacean platters like that in Stinktown - we're landlocked except for the rivers and I, for one, don't want a platter of mudbugs although they can be tasty if prepared correctly.

But I digress. There we were ... all heady with the fabulousity of our cheese plate, somehow still hungry, and with a pretty fine bar buzz, when we took a second look at the menu and spotted it ... The Shellfish Plateau: east and west coast oysters, lobster, shrimp, littleneck clams, peekytoe crab, mussels, tuna tartare, and ceviche.

It was amazing.

And delicious.

I wish we were all eating one right now.

This is all Tony Bourdain's fault ...


Look at these two pigs ...


We don't know the reason behind Boulud's closure - not enough traffic; a possible decline in food quality; too many Frenchies in Vegas - what we do know is that we received wonderful service from a personable, accommodating, and very generous staff. The food and the drinks were very good and our visit to Boulud ended up being one of our favorite evenings in Vegas - completely spontaneous and worth every penny we spent. This restaurant was on our short list and we're sad to know that it won't be an option on our next trip. So long Danny; we hardly knew ye.