Sage; Aria, Las Vegas

We Should Have Known Better Than to Expect Lightning in a Bottle Two Years in a Row.

Last year our evening of lounge hopping ended at Sage with fabulous service, amazing food that included the digestive epiphany that was foie gras brulee, and sooper-booze on fiyah. The entire experience was so memorable that Jay and I made it a priority to book dinner at Sage on this trip so that we could properly wallow in glorious gluttony. We chose a Thursday night for dinner, assuming that the dining room wouldn't be as crowded as on a weekend - that was the first mistake.

There was a wedding party celebrating in a private dining room and a large group of business travelers taking up space at a round table in the main dining room - no big deal, these things happen all the time in Vegas and we weren't bothered by them. Unfortunately the serving staff looked to be a little short that night and our server in particular was not very friendly or helpful ... obviously he was bothered by all the activity. I will refer to him from this point forward as Surly Joe.

The Lounge


The bar in the lounge


The dining room


We were at something of a disadvantage because we'd met up with my parents and Jay's aunt and uncle for an early dinner; while we didn't eat a full meal, we did share some appetizers and sucked down a few monster margaritas. I know that this early "snack" affected my appetite to the point where I was unable to order Chef McClain's tasting menu as I'd planned. Jason, however, was still up for the challenge and he went with the four-course tasting paired with beer rather than wine.

Once we made our choices for the evening a pretzel roll and a bacon roundie showed up at our table with some delicious hand-made butter and a cellar of Murray River Sea Salt. We were also presented with an Amuse Bouche for the evening, unfortunately I have no longer have any recollection as to its composition. It looks like a spoonful of celery and beans and the fact that I didn't find it memorable tells me that it must have been on the dull side. As Jay would say, "It was real average!"

I'll eat bread and butter like this all day long!


Amuse ... it's a mystery now


Because I knew that Jay would be receiving foie gras brulee with his tasting menu, I selected something different: Chilled Dungeness Crab Salad with Lemon Chili Marmalade, Frise'e, Confit Fennel and Garlic. This was quite good; the sweetness of the crab was offset nicely by the spicy tartness of the lemon chili marmalade, and I loved the fennel and garlic cracker straw wrapper which tasted great, provided some much needed crunchy texture, and was just plain fun.

Chilled Dungeness Crab Salad


Jay's first beer arrived with my Manhattan - it was Dogfish Head Midas Touch which the brewery describes as a smooth, sweet, dry ale that falls somewhere between wine and mead as far as taste is concerned. I wish I could tell you that Surly Joe provided us similar information but he didn't and he seemed put out every time we asked for an explanation as to why certain beers had been selected for each pairing. I had to badger him for the names of the beers all night long because they weren't listed on the tasting menu and we didn't want to forget what we'd tried.

Midas Touch Brew in Manhattan


As I may have already mentioned, Jay's first course was Sage's Foie Gras Custard Brulee with Blood Orange, Toasted Cocoa Nibs, and Salted Brioche. We tried this last year and it was so amazingly good that we talked about it for months. Sadly, this time around it just wasn't as tasty as our first experience. The texture wasn't nearly as smooth or light, the orange seemed to overpower the foie gras' delicate flavor, and there was too much salt from the brioche.

Foie Gras Brulee


For Jay's second course he was poured a Sierra Nevada Ovila Dubbel. This was apparently the product of a project Sierra Nevada is involved in with Ovila to bring Belgian-style ales to the poor deprived peoples of North America. This brew had a deep copper color with a lot of malt and some spicy sweetness - it was one of the more enjoyable beers that he tried that night.

Sierra Nevada Ovila Dubbel


His food choice was Maine Dayboat Scallops with Braised Oxtail, Wild Mushrooms, and a Salted Caramel Reduction. The scallops were really tasty with a nice sear and the caramel reduction was lovely - this was a smaller portion of the same dinner entree, which I think would have made for a great meal.

Dayboat Scallops


Jay's third beer was Ommegang BPA, which is Ommegang's interpretation of what they term a true Belgian-style Pale Ale. It was fruity and hoppy and bitter and I didn't care for it. Actually the bitterness of this brew kind of reminded me of Surly Joe who seemed equally bitter as the evening progressed.

Ommegang BPA


Jay selected Iberico Pork Loin with Milk-Braised Cannelloni, Green Asparagus, and Creminelli Mortadella and he said it was fabulous - easily the best dish of the menu. And how often does a Stinktown resident have a chance to order Iberico Pork anyway?

Iberico Pork Loin


I ordered the Grilled American Kobe Skirt Steak with Smoked Eggplant Puree, Garbanzo Bean Pesto, and Roasted Treviso. The portion was ridiculously generous and the first few pieces I ate were very good - tender and flavorful. Unfortunately the remainder of the beef was in turns over-cooked, chewy, or salty. There were definitely issues in the kitchen this night as the quality of our meal was quite uneven; given the level of expectation we had this made for some real disappointment at our table.

Wondering what the heck treviso is, by the way? I had to look it up because Surly Joe didn't linger long enough for me to inquire. It is an Italian vegetable - a red radicchio that is often used to lend bitterness to a dish.

Kobe Skirt Steak


Our final drinks of the evening included a glass of Royal Tokaji Aszu 5 Puttonyos, or as I prefer to call it The Mad Hungarian, and Young's Double Chocolate Stout. I have been in love with the Tokaji since we first tried it a number of years ago at Victoria and Albert's at Disney World - it's a wonderful dessert wine with hints of honey and apricot that somehow manages to be not too sweet. And it tastes fabulous with foie gras!

Booze and a surly Bendy


Jay's double chocolate stout paired really well with his dessert selection which was Crunchy Chocolate and Peanut Butter Tart with a Blackberry Sphere and Toasted Marshmallow Sauce. This could have been a mind-blowing dessert but there were too many flavors warring with each other and we could only assume that the blackberry sphere was supposed to remind us of jelly and make us think we were eating a fancy-schmancy PB&J sandwich. It didn't work.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Tart


I ordered Panne Cotta with fresh fruit, meringue cigarette butts, and an unfortunate sauce that ruined the whole thing. The panne cotta on its own was wonderful - light and delicious with just a hint of vanilla bean. In my book all you need with cooked custard is fresh fruit, but when Surly Joe poured cold fruit soup into my dish I knew it was all over. My meringue smokes were soggy and my custard was gloppy - they ruined everything, those ruiners!

Looks like a fruity ashtray


At this point I did the only thing I could do - I played with my food.

Smoke 'em if you got 'em


Interestingly enough we were also given an end of meal amuse - in this case a wee cup of warm chocolate soup. This was great; I would have ordered something like this for dessert if it were available. And if you ask me it should be - the chef and his staff seem to be suffering from an overwhelming need to impress everyone and I actually think they and their guests would be better served in the long run if they simplified some of their dishes. And I hope they remove the fruity ashtray from the dessert menu immediately.

Chocolate Soup


This was a really hard review to write because I wanted this full dining room experience to meet or exceed the one we had in Sage's lounge last year. It just wasn't our night, however, and while some courses were quite good others suffered from too many ingredients or not being properly prepared. Jay and I agreed that there seemed to be too many ingredients in some of the dishes resulting in muddled flavors. And the service was just not good.

Would we return? I think the answer is yes but it would be the lounge that we'd choose to re-visit rather than the dining room. I offer all of you a cautious recommendation to try Sage but be forewarned that quality may be uneven based on this most recent experience. Here's hoping that your evening is a better overall one than ours!

Rooster; St. Louis, MO

Rooster - It's Crepetacular!

Rooster is a great little place tucked away in downtown St. Louis that serves one of the best breakfasts in the city. They specialize in crepes but have other offerings including sandwiches and brunch items; they also make some of the tastiest bloody marys and mimosas on this side of Ol' Man River. This was our second visit in about six months and it was just as good this time around, maybe even a little better since we were coming off not much sleep after a Harry Potter double feature that included a midnight showing of Deathly Hallows Part II.

This needs no explanation


Once we were settled at a table I promptly ordered one of Rooster's signature mimosas - the Mimo which is orange juice and champagne layered with pomegranate juice. It tastes as pretty as it looks and the pomegranate juice actually minimizes the harsh acidity of the orange juice and makes for a smooth, drinkable late-morning beverage.

Mimo


Jason is a bloody mary man all the way and he ordered the Bloody 'ell which the restaurant describes as "scorchin hot". As spicy as a normal bloody mary can be, let me just say that this one is hot enough to burn your nose hair if you're not paying attention. Rooster also offers fancy schmancy stuffed olives for drinkers who like such abominable things - two for one dollar or three for a buck-twenty-five - and the choices include blue cheese, bacon and cheddar, and chipotle cream cheese.

Bloody 'ell


Later during the meal I was feeling adventurous and ordered a small Bloody Pirate, which is a bloody mary made with dark rum. According to the menu it was supposed to make my eye squinty ... since I squint so much anyway I'm not sure it worked but I really enjoyed the way in which the sweetness of the dark rum offset some of the spice of the bloody mary; it made for a delicious twist on an old favorite with the added benefit that my mouth didn't burst into flame.

Bloody Pirate


Our niece was with us for breakfast and she ordered Rooster's Chocolate Chip Pancakes. She said that they were really good but the portion size was too big, especially for a youngster. I tend to agree with her - there were three platter sized flapjacks on her plate and I think many of us would be hard pressed to eat them all. I know I couldn't have eaten all of them and neither could she. We're not knocking the generous portion size, but if there were a half order or a child's portion size then she might not have left so much of this behind once the meal ended.

Chocolate Chip Pancakes


In a bold departure from expectation, Jason veered from a crepe at the last minute and selected the Rooster Slinger, which included andouille sausage, breakfast potatoes, fried eggs, and sausage gravy over thick-cut toast. This may have been the best item on the menu, and Jay actually said he thought it was better than the crepe he tried on our last visit, but it looked vile. Honestly, I thought someone in the kitchen tossed their cookies on his breakfast plate. It was the most visually unappealing breakfast mish-mash hash I've ever had the misfortune to share table space with. I can't argue with my man when he says it's a fabulous dish, but maybe the chef could start serving the gravy on the side so that it doesn't look as though a mighty pile of puke has been delivered for the morning meal.

Rooster Slinger


We ordered a side of bacon to share around the table because, as everyone knows, bacon makes everything better - and this was beautiful bacon with lovely flavor.

Good pig!


I ordered a savory crepe - Roasted Ham with Emmenthaler and Fontina Cheeses. The serving size was quite generous and the crepe was filled with thick slices of tasty country ham that paired really well with both cheeses. It was a simple and entirely satisfying crepe - I could eat this every morning for breakfast and never grow tired of it. The savory crepes all appear to be served with some kind of sweet-n-spicy mayonnaise; I didn't like it and I don't think the crepes need it. This tasted good enough on its own that no additional flavor or moisture of any kind was necessary.

Savory Ham & Cheese Crepe


Inside the Crepe


Did I mention that Rooster offers dessert crepes? Shame on me if I didn't because they do and they are really tasty and you need to order one ... like yesterday. We didn't really have room for dessert but I insisted and thus the Peanut Butter Cup was ordered. It tasted wonderful - smooth, creamy, melted peanut butter was spread inside the crepe and then chocolate was drizzled over it. I would have liked some chocolate drizzled over the top of the crepe as well because it did get a little dry with all that peanut butter but I have to reiterate: the taste was simply wonderful. A scoop of ice cream would likely do the trick as well but we didn't think about that until it was too late.

Peanut Butter Cup


Inside the peanut butter cup


Rooster's reputation for best breakfast in St. Louis is well deserved - they are creating some fabulous morning food using locally sourced products. It's a small cafe with good service and a creative menu - pay them a visit when you have some time on your hands and treat yourself to something special. You won't regret it!

American Fish; Aria, Las Vegas

We Only Wish to Catch a Fish ... So Juicy-Sweet and Good to Eat!!

American Fish is yet another Michael Mina restaurant in Las Vegas and his first at the Aria. I lose track of how many dining establishments he actually has in Vegas, but surely by now it's enough that he probably owns the city. And somehow Jay and I never managed to dine in one of his restaurants before this trip, probably because they tend to the pricey side and most of the menus we've looked at just haven't resulted in much excitement. However, American Fishies, supposedly inspired by the bounty of America's great lakes, rivers, and coastal areas before over-fishing and industrial pollution laid waste to them, features seafood galore utilizing four signature cooking methods: salt-baking, wood-grilling, cast-iron griddling, and ocean-water poaching.

Once I saw that the menu included weird and scary items like geoduck clam, shabu shabu, branzino, and tasmanian devil trout I knew we had to dine there; with food names like those, how could we not?

Vertical Fish


Dining Room with Flying Fish!


After placing our drink orders - Remember the Maine for me and a Clockwork Orange for Jay - we all got down to the serious business of food. Three of us at the table ordered the exact same appetizer: Ruby Red Shrimp & Grits which included jalapeno cream, aged white cheddar grits, and serrano ham. I wavered between this and the appetizer that included scallops and foie gras and this was so good that for once I didn't regret not ordering the meat butter. The shrimp were perfectly cooked and very tasty but to my mind it was those creamy, cheesy grits that were the star of the dish. And when one forkful included jalapeno cream and a bit of serrano ham, it was like a little piece of heaven unfolded in my mouth with a delightful spicy, creamy, crunchy taste treat.

Jay opted for the Geoduck Clam which was served sashimi style and tempura style with Australian Finger Lime. I don't do clams and so cannot speak to how these tasted, but the hubba said they were really good and he would order them again. By the way, for anyone out there who is culinarily challenged like me, Geoduck is pronounced Gooey-Duck as opposed to Geo-Duck. Just thought you might like to know so you don't embarrass yourself like I did!

Duet of Geoduck


Ruby Red Shrimp & Grits


I ordered Diver Scallops poached in ocean water for my entree; they were served with a cucumber cream sauce that I could have done without, and a quail egg with caviar and purple potatoes. The scallops were melt-in-my-mouth wonderful and I loved the quail egg with caviar (is there anyone who doesn't???) but the cucumber cream was actually cool and resulted in my scallops growing stone cold before I had a chance to finish them.

Diver Scallops


Jason selected the other item that I considered ordering and I think it was the standout entree of the evening. He chose the Mustard Marinated Black Cod which was wood smoked and grilled, served with red kuri squash, celery root, and roasted mushrooms. The cod was flaky and tender and the mustard marinade imparted an absolutely wonderful herbed spiciness to it that really made the dish sing.

Mustard Marinated Black Cod


Fran ordered the Blue Prawns which were baked in sea salt and served with cippolini onion, black olive, and chickpea fritter. The name of this Hawaiian freshwater prawn is derived from the brilliant blue color of its tail, while the taste is supposed to be sweet and succulent.

Blue Prawns


Frank selected the Mixed Grill, which included shellfish and fresh ocean catch of the day wood grilled and smoked. I think I see shrimpies and scallops and clams and some mystery fish!

Mixed Grill


We ordered two sides for the table: Malt Vinegar French Fries because Michael Mina loves french fries and Green Asparagus with capers, lemon, roasted peppers and hazelnuts. Both dishes were very good and large enough to share with another party of four.

Addictive Malt Vinegar Fries


Beautiful Asparagoose


For dessert Frank and Fran shared the Valrhona Chocolate Custard which included red velvet cake, pecans, and cocoa nib custard. Jason and I decided to share the Apple Cobbler with vanilla ice cream. I liked the cobbler quite a bit but the ice cream really seemed to have an odd flavor - eventually we all decided that it tasted more like marshmallow than vanilla.

Valrhona Chocolate Custard


Apple Cobbler & Funky Ice Cream


All in all we thought American Fish was a wonderful meal and it was a terrific place to start our Vegas trip with two of our favorite peoples in the whole world. Next time, however, if it's just the two of us Jay and I are likely to hit up the lounge for some happy hour food and drink specials. That seems to be the best way to sample Michael Mina's offerings without draining the bank account!

Jilly's Cupcake Bar; St. Louis, MO

Ruin Your Diet with an Over-Sized Gourmet Cupcake ... You Won't Regret It!

Jilly's Cupcake Bar, Cafe, and Milk Bar (how very Clockwork Orange!) has been in business since 2007 and is the place to head in Stinktown to satisfy your cupcake crave. Over the years they've expanded to include breakfast and lunch items as well as an impressive Sunday Brunch but it's really all about those amazing, decadent cupcakes. Jilly's has a lengthy list of everyday delights - chocolate thunder and Reese's peanut butter are two of my favorites - as well as monthly specialties like the Space Monkey, a banana-toffee cupcake stuffed with toffee dulce de leche and topped with caramel cream cheese swirl and chocolate astronaut ice cream. Seasonal and holiday cupcakes are actually more impressive, if that's even possible, and include such fabulous choices as egg nog, pumpkin pie, cookies and milk, and death by chocolate cupcakes.

Is it any wonder that these folks won Cupcake Wars last month on Food Network? Take a look at the pictures below for a gander at Jilly's offerings and if you really want the lowdown check out their website for all sorts of drool-inducing pictures and details!

http://www.jillyscupcakebar.com/

Join us!


Chocolate Thunder


Pink Velvet


Missy-licious


Bee Sting


The Reese's


Monthly Specials!


Jay and I took our selections home to enjoy after dinner and they were both wonderful but I think his was the clear winner. I selected the Red Velvet cupcake which was a red velvet cupcake stuffed with caramel and topped with cream cheese frosting and caramel buttercream with a slab of praline candy stuck in the top like a sugary monolith. I loved the cream cheese frosting and the caramel inside the cupcake, but I found the cake itself a little dry and I didn't care for the taste that the praline imparted to the buttercream.

Red Velvet - Yum!


Jason selected the Reese's cupcake which was a dense chocolate cupcake stuffed with peanut butter and chocolate ganache and topped with a mix of peanut butter and chocolate buttercream frosting. This was pure chocolate-peanut butter perfection on a plate! The cake was rich and moist and the blended ganache stuffing was the richest, most satisfying chocolate-peanut butter blend we've tried in a long, long time. Hands down the best cupcake we've ever had!

The Reese's - More Yum!


Jay and I aren't normally big cupcake eaters, but Jilly's takes an old idea and turns it on its head, creating an adult treat that leaves you wanting more no matter how large your hips may end up growing from the indulgence!