Saturday Dinner @ Picasso

Epicurean Exploits - Food and Recipes
1

Last night we had a 6pm rez at Picasso in the Bellagio. Ken again drove us in and dropped us off. We were seated at our favorite table, by the window with a good view of the dancing fountains. We got out our first wine, a 2002 Coche-Dury Meursault, and selected the Menu Dégustation. When the wine had chilled appropriately, it was served and we got our amusée of a small cup of cream of red pepper soup with smoked salmon & quail egg w/osetra caviar. it was enjoyable with the rich, complex Meursault. Robert Smith, the head sommelier, came over to see us. So we ordered our subsequent wines - a 375ml of 1989 Ch. Suideraut Sauternes for the foie gras course and possibly dessert; and another 1964 Rioja Viña Bosconia, for the lamb course. The Meursault was also very good with the first course of a Maine Lobster timbale topped with micro greens dressed with an Apple-Champagne vinaigrette, and garnished with halves of red & yellow cherry tomatoes and orange & green melon balls. It was very pretty and tasty. We finished the Meursault with a nice grilled scallop on potato mouselline and a red wine veal jus. The Meursault was full-bodied and rich enough in complex fruit to work with the rich red wine sauce under the scallop.

Then it was time for the Sauternes and the foie gras. The Sauternes wasn’t very sweet, but the rich fruit was delightful with a nice slice of foie gras with figs poached in spices and port and topped with toasted, crushed almonds. This was the first time we’ve had toasted almonds with foie gras. It made a delightful combination. We had a little less than half the bottle of Sauternes left, so we kept it for dessert.

Next was a tasty roast loin of lamb, medium rare, with diced turnips, carrots, and Yukon potatoes and slices of chanterelles in a nice red wine sauce. The Rioja was a bit younger than last night’s - no lightness in the edge, slightly darker in color, and took a little longer to open fully. The Rioja (Picasso’s last bottle as well, and our third one there), after it was open, was perfect with the lamb. Rioja and lamb are a match made in heaven.

Dessert wasn’t specified on the Dégustation menu; they brought us their dessert menu to choose from. Carollee decided just to finish with the Sauternes, while I had a good dark cherry-chocolate dessert - a dark cherry tart with chocolate sorbet, that was ok with the Sauternes.

We finished with petit fours and two intense double espressos. It was an enjoyable meal. We then took a taxi back to Henderson.

Most of Picasso’s tables were full by 8pm; Alex still had empty tables at that time. Last night’s dishes weren’t as complex as the ones at Alex; there were a few service issues, when they began to fill up (water and wine service deteriorated). Alex wins on both food and service, but it’s about half again as expensive as Picasso. Alex is definitely added to our list of favorites.

2

Before reading your concluding paragraph, I was thinking to myself that this did not sound as good as the previous night’s dinner. And I agree that crushed almonds served atop foie gras does sound different - not sure I would go for that, but I guess I shouldn’t judge before I try. Still, it sounds like the Krueger’s did not go hungry on their weekend trek to Vegas [welldone.gif] .

3

have eaten here twice and was twice underwhelmed.

4

Glenn- What places do you prefer in Vegas?

5

My feelings about Picasso are rather mixed. While I thought the food was generally quite good, it did not blow me away. The service was also quite spotty. Truth be told, I have had much better meals for far less money.

6

@ Bellagio i enjoy Prime. was in Vegas for golf a few years ago with a close friend who is past president of Cali Restaurant Association and a 12-step guy. we used his connections to secure a great table at Prime. so we hear the specials and start on the bread. somme comes over and my buddy excuses himself. i explain i’d like to hear about 375’s as i love great wine with steak but my buddy doesn’t drink anything. somme understands immediately but tells me they have no real 1/2 bottles on the list other than dessert wines, even goes to the cellar to check. comes back and tells me, within reason, he’ll open any bottle on the list and pour it for me with apropos wine-by-the-glass pricing. think i had a 91 Mondavi Reserve Cab for $30-40/glass. had two glasses and loved my meal there. so i ask him what do they do if they can’t sell the rest tonight and he tells me he isn’t doing his job properly if he can’t sell off the rest of this bottle within an hour (which he did) and even if we were the last table in the joint he would just take the rest to taste with selected staff in a educatory fashion.

always go to LoS too as i adore white wine, as i know you know do, and i do like getting off The Strip.

while Alex is the headliner @ Wynn goodness i loved Wing Lei when i was there! just thought the food and presentation rocked and i did love the dresses on the plethora of sexy ladies working that joint.

CraftSteak didn’t rock me when i was @ MGM last year for SuperBowl but i did like the sushi place there very much - Shibuya. Nobhill Tavern was forgettable IMO.

just for lobster i’ll still go to Rosewood Grill though it’s not as cool a place as when they were across the street from Mirage. wine list very reasonable there for buttery companions to lobster!

i avoid Del Frisco’s Double Eagle as i once had a very confrontational meal there with a buddy of mine who is about my size. we nearly threw down with staff there over the charge for horrific stone crabs and a flawed bottle of Cos d’Estournel.

7

My wife and I had a phenomenal dinner at Picasso two years ago. The foie dish back then incorporated walnuts and it was stunning. Service was top notch; especially from the sommelier.

Alex is definitely on the top of the list for our next trip.

8

My wife and I also had a great dinner at Picasso last winter. It helped that it was a special truffle dinner but everything was very, very good. Been to Alex twice. Once was outstanding. The second time the food was equally as good but the service faltered, just a bit, as the evening progressed. I’d go back to either anytime.

JD

9

Picasso has been our favorite restaurant since the early days of the restaurant. Julian Serrano was the only name chef who lived in Las Vegas and was in the kitchen most of the time. We have yet to have even a close to mediocre meal there in our seven or eight visits. Service there has always been good, betterThis trip we decided to try Alex after Alan Weinberg suggested it over Picasso. Alex was was step or two better than Picasso on both food and service this time. Alex is now at the top of our list, with Picasso in a close race with Ateliér de Jöel Robuchon, which we very much enjoyed a couple years ago.

We don’t usually go to steak places, since we can get great steaks with good age (40-45 days) and to our specs from Bryan Flannery to have at home or at friend’s places. When we eat at resturants, I generally prefer to eat something that I don’t regularly do at home.

10

once for me at Picasso was enough, but have been to Alex about 6 times and loved every meal.
alan

11

wow! Somebody actually read something I wrote! And, to top it off, agreed! I’m skipping around the house now! Made my day.
alan