For New Years 2011, my parents wanted to go to Vegas. I have already been to Vegas to ring in the new year before, but I figured they wouldn’t go unless I agreed to it. So off we headed in the most horrendous traffic there and back. There were definitely ups and downs during the trip, but the major highlights were Jersey Boys – absolutely fantastic, by the way – and the restaurants. To start off, we had to make a stop at the Oyster Bar in Palace Station. This is a must on all our Vegas trips. Of course, we had to have brunch at Bouchon. Just in case, I’ll remind you that I love Thomas Keller. Amazing, amazing food! And another place that was, by far, outstanding was Lotus of Siam. It is off the strip, but definitely worth the short drive to have some amazing Thai food. Jonathan Gold and Kris, you were both right. Best Thai food. Ever.
Oysters at Palace Station before we headed over to the Wynn.
New Years Eve out on the strip:
Brunch at Bouchon: Bloody Mary and Sourdough Waffles with bananas, toasted walnuts, maple syrup, and Tahitian vanilla bean butter
I had the Chicken and Waffles – roasted chicken, bacon and chive waffle, Tahitian vanilla bean butter, and sauce chasseur – which was delicious! It doesn’t compare to the Duck and Waffles I had at Ad Hoc, but this was pretty tasty. My dad had the Omelette Du Jour.
Last, Taro had the Croque Madame – toasted ham and cheese on brioche with a fried egg and mornay sauce served with French fries. It was just beautifully plated and melted in my mouth.
We checked out the glitz and glam of the new hotel, Cosmopolitan, which has beautiful decor, before we headed over to see Jersey Boys.
And finally, Lotus of Siam. We had Nam Kao Tod - crispy rice mixed with minced sour sausage, green onion, fresh chili, ginger, peanuts, and lime juice – and a soup to start off with, but I completely forgot to take photos of the two! The Nam Kao Tod was very different, a saltiness balanced with the cabbage, while the soup we chose was extra spicy. Shortly after we received th Khao Soi - egg noodle served in curry sauce and coconut cream garnished with sliced red onion, lime, and pickled vegetables – and Crispy Duck on Drunken Noodle – pan fried flat rice noodle with crispy duck topped with homemade fresh chili and Thai basil.
Last was the Crispy Duck with Panang - Thai style red cream curry sauce with cognac – which was highly recommended by Kris. Everything lived up – and exceeded – our expectations.
Crazy. Fun. Very straightforward, even when you don’t want her to be. Honest. Loving. A hug whenever you need one. The person who can drive me crazy, but someone I can rely on. These are all the ways you can describe my mom. She knows that she can drive me crazy, but I know I can do the same to her. And maybe that is why we get along so well, yet can easily drive each other mad. I am a mirror image at times and really, that isn’t so bad. Without my mom, who else would I call and tell a stupid, random story to? Who could I openly complain and whine to? She is my rock, the person who calls me simply for no reason, and the one who has raised me to become the person I am today.
So for this Mother’s Day, I wanted to treat her to something extra special. I wanted to share my love of food with her so I had to take her to Bouchon. I made reservations weeks in advance and was absolutely giddy that I was able to get us a table with little to no trouble. I was anticipating the day and when Sunday came along, I was ready for my palate to be surprised and overwhelmed with aromas and flavors. Did Bouchon disappoint? Of course not! With six of us there, we each ordered a different entree and shared pieces with each other. It was a treat to pass along a fork and sigh and smile to the wonders of Thomas Keller. Oh, Thomas Keller, I love you and your splendid pastries and dishes.
Dinner was absolutely amazing – even my dad said he would go back to Bouchon and he is a difficult man to please – and I was happy that my mom enjoyed the night out. It was fun to share in a dining experience with my parents and be surrounded by family. Afterall, what makes a meal even better is the company you keep. Happy Mother’s Day again, mom, and who knows where we will end up next year!
I started off with the Soup du Jour, which was fennel, while Vivian and my mom ordered Soupe a l’Oignon – French Onion Soup. The French Onion Soup was very rich; between the two, I would have to say the fennel was a bit more outstanding – rich in flavor as well, but lighter.
Taro, Vivian, my brother, and I absolutely love oysters. Vivian and my brother can easily eat a dozen each easily so we had to order some for dinner. We settled on 1 1/2 dozen. We had four different types and even though I cannot remember them off the top of my head, they were all fantastic.
My mom ordered the Thon Grillé à la Niçoise – grilled big eye tuna with pole beans, fingerling potatoes, arugula, hard boiled egg & radish (left). She really enjoyed the tuna, although I thought there were far stronger dishes that night on our table. The dish that my dad ordered, Gigot d’Agneau – roasted leg of lamb with herb scented panisse, artichokes à la barigoule & lamb jus – was actually very good (right).
My brother ordered the Steak Frites – pan-seared prime flatiron served with maître d’hôtel butter & French fries. The steak was perfectly medium-rare and the maître d’hôtel butter was definitely something different!
Vivian ordered the Magret de Canard – herb roasted duck breast with fennel bulb, citrus confit, red radish, mizuna & duck jus. When the waiter said that the duck breast would be moist with a crispy skin, he was not kidding! It was juicy and tender and one of the memorable dishes of the night. I have to say that the duck was the dish that stood out amongst the rest. However, everything was good! Bouchon never ceases to amaze me.
I ordered one of the specials for the night, which was an 11 ounce veal. I loved the presentation of it; my dish came in an All Clad cookware! If you know me well, you know my obsession with cooking utensils, cookware, my love of William Sonoma…I savored the truffles with each bite of the veal and loved having the corn mix in with the flavor of the veal.
Taro recently has been obsessed with chicken so naturally, he steered towards the chicken dish, Poulet Rôti – roasted chicken with riz rouge, Michigan sour cherries, wilted spinach & chicken jus (left). Similar to the duck, the chicken was so tender! It nearly fell off the fork and what Taro enjoyed most about the dish was the complementing flavor of the sour cherries. Of course, we could not end the night with entrees alone. We had to get dessert because the last time we were in Napa, I thoroughly enjoyed the pastries we bought from the bakery. We ordered some ice cream, chocolate and orange, (right) to go with the Chocolate Bouchons. I really enjoyed the orange ice cream and am considering picking the oranges off our tree so Taro could experiment with our own ice cream machine!
Chocolate Bouchons, which were simply delightful.
Our waiter was awesome. He told us that since we waited a while for our entrees to come out – seriously, I did not even notice a long gap between our soup and oysters to our entrees – he brought out three additional desserts! I was so surpised because really, we were too busy talking and enjoying the bread to notice an excessive amount of time passing. Regardless, the additional desserts were amazing. We really were in dessert heaven. Everyone really enjoyed the Crème Caramel (left) and I thought the other custard (right) was pretty delicious, too.
The last dessert was a Mousse au Chocolat Noir, which my dad devoured. He loves chocolate so he was happy to finish it off.
It was another great experience at Bouchon and I cannot wait to come back. The service was impeccable, the food was flawless, and I am just simply in love with all things Thomas Keller right now. Sigh…
To celebrate Taro’s birthday, we are actually going up to San Francisco for the weekend. However, I still wanted to do something on the actual day of his birthday and the first thing to pop into my head was steak. Taro loves steak and I have been dying to try Mastro’s Steakhouse. So I thought, “Why not?” and made reservations. I think I was far more excited by it than he was. So when Wednesday approached, I hopped onto the Metro and Taro picked me up from the Wilshire/Western stop and we headed off to the restaurant.
When we were seated, Taro already knew what to order. He talked to his coworker, Kevin, who once claimed Mastro’s had the best steak before he discovered Cut. Kevin always ordered the Double Cut Porterhouse, a whopping 48 ounces of USDA Prime meat. For one person to eat it and finish it is beastly. However, Taro and I were sharing it. We also ordered oysters on the half shell, French Onion Soup, which is a must whenever we see it on the menu, and we were sold by our waiter’s description of the signature Lobster and Garlic Mashed Potatoes.
Our starter of oysters was a mix of Northern Pacific Oysters and Blue Point Oysters. Taro and I love oysters and these were not too bad, although Taro made the comment that Vegas really does serve top-notch seafood. It still just doesn’t compare to the oysters from Mon Ami Gabi or Bouchon. Despite that, the Blue Point Oysters were much better than the Northern Pacific Oysters. There was a hint of cucumber flavoring to them and with a dab of Tabasco and cocktail sauce, they were quite delectable. After this, the rest of the food came out, but Taro and I were not prepared for the enormity of the Double Cut Porterhouse. It was massive! The chef sliced the meat off the bone, dividing the filet and the New York cuts. And when the waiter said that it was going to be pink on the inside, he was not kidding. We love our meat medium-rare and this was the rarest we have ever had our steak. I definitely don’t mind since I am a carnivore; even though I love eating meat, I could not conquer this cut of steak. After just eating two slices, I was done. I felt stuffed, but it was oh so good. The French Onion Soup was also very good – not too salty, but still full of flavor. It is definitely one that has stood out amongst the french onion soups that I have tried recently. Last but not least, the Lobster Garlic Mashed Potatoes. Can I just say amazing? There were chunks of lobster mixed in with creamy, buttery mashed potatoes. Granted the mashed potatoes could have stood alone, but with lobster? Heavenly.
Even though I was stuffed, I had to get dessert. I have heard so many things about Mastro’s Signature Warm Butter Cake. When it came out, the aroma was just so warm and savory. I even told our waiter that the smell alone was fantastic and he just said, “Wait until you actually eat it.” Was it good? Yes. It was a little bit heavier than I thought it was going to be, but it was not overly sweet and it went well with the ice cream and cream on the side. The Butter Cake was a good way to end our dinner and it was nice to treat Taro (and myself) for the night.
I would definitely recommend Mastro’s Steakhouse to people just because the dishes we got were very good and considering the size of the porterhouse, I felt we got value for our money. It was definitely a treat and I can only imagine what Cut must be like. But that is for another day…
Happy birthday again, Taro, and I hope you enjoyed your monster steak. Here’s to our adventure in San Francisco this weekend!
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