Recipes

This is the third post in the series titled An Exploration of Asian Food in Vegas. Other posts in this series include Red Rock Casino and Resort.

The Bromberg brothers are well known in New York City, where over the past twenty years they have grown their empire to cover all sorts of different restaurants concepts. These include everything from a French brasserie and a bakery to a fried chicken joint and even a bowling alley! All of these restaurants bear the Blue Ribbon brand, which was inspired by Le Cordon Bleu, the culinary school both brothers attended in France.

The Vegas location of Blue Ribbon Sushi Bar and Grill was the Bromberg brothers' first foray outside of New York. It opened in 2010 together with the opening of the Cosmopolitan. Blue Ribbon Sushi Bar and Grill combines several of the concepts from the smaller New York restaurants into one large restaurant. The combined "Sushi Bar and Grill" serves everything from their famous "Blue Ribbon Style" fried chicken (with wasabi and honey) and various types of grilled steaks to a full sushi and sashimi bar, thanks to a partnership with Chef Toshi Ueki.

The menu consists of several sections.  The full sushi bar menu includes all different types of maki, including many creative rolls. There are fun sushi platters, with most people recommending "Toshi's Choice" ($100/person) as the best way to enjoy a variety of the day's best fish.

The menu also has a lot of really creative appetizers ($10 - $22.50), many of which have Japanese influences. There are also cooked entree dishes that are Asian-inspired ($19.50 - $38), as well as a "Tempura & Fryer" section (hello "bucket o'wings") and a substantial "Steak, Chops, and Lobster" section (which is more reminiscent of a steak house).

It was tough to choose between so many things, but we managed to sample several items across the menu, including Toshi's Choice (we split one), several Wagyu-inspired dishes, and some other fun appetizers.
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This is the second post in the series titled An Exploration of Asian Food in Vegas

We flew into Vegas around 3PM on a surprisingly windy and relatively cool Friday afternoon. “This is unusual weather” we kept hearing from everyone. Apparently the weather had been the typical hot and sunny desert climate just a few days ago.

We were picked up in style by Presidential Limousine Company. Our driver, wearing black suit, took our luggage and drove us to Red Rock Casino and Resort, a really elegant casino located about a 20-25 drive from the Strip (and conveniently, about 5 minutes from the entrance of Red Rock Canyon).

We were floored when we saw our room, a suite that even came with a butler! Ha ha, just to be clear, the room pictured below is not our room. It was one of the higher level suites.  I forgot to take a photo of our room.

Apparently, our suite was the lowest level suite, and we soon got a tour of all the other suites (there are 27 in total). The larger suites are stunningly beautiful, over-the-top luxurious, and are often booked by dignitaries (e.g., Condoleeza Rice), celebrities (hello George Clooney!), and rich families.

Our butler told us that it’s his job to make sure the people staying at the suites are happy. He and his colleague (there are two full-time butlers on the property) are available 24/7 and will help you with whatever you ask, whether it be to recommend activities, book restaurants, pick up medication, or deliver coffees to your room in the morning.

I must say, it was *very nice* having a butler during our entire stay. It’s definitely something I’ve never experienced before and I found it extremely helpful. We had him help us with all sorts of stuff, like recommending a hike at Red Rock Canyon, arranging transportation to the canyon for us when all the cars in the city were booked (he ended up letting us use Red Rock’s private black car), personally delivering cappuccinos to us every morning, and much, much more....

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This is the fifth and final post in the Winter in Vegas series. Other posts in this series include B&B Burger and Beer, Harvest by Roy Ellamar, Lago by Julian Serrano, and Chada Thai and Wine.

Alain Ducasse.

That name alone, associated with any restaurant, instantly brings respect and credibility. Chef Alain Ducasse is the second most decorated Michelin starred chef in the world with his 21 Michelin stars (only Joel Robuchon has more - 25 stars). I can personally attest to the quality of his art. We had an exquisite dinner at Alain Ducasse in London back in June 2015. It was beautiful, memorable, and all around flawless.

Alain Ducasse only has two restaurants in the U.S.: Benoit in New York City and the newly opened (in 2015) Rivea and Skyfall Lounge at the top floor of the Delano (formerly THE Hotel at Mandalay Bay) in Las Vegas.

We decided to treat a friend for dinner here, after she graciously offered to let us stay at her house for the weekend in Vegas (thanks Emily!)....

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This is the fourth post in the Winter in Vegas series. Other posts in this series include B&B Burger and Beer, Harvest by Roy Ellamar, and Lago by Julian Serrano.

Only in Vegas would the terms "Thai" and "Wine" automatically make you think of this new genre of restaurants: relatively inexpensive Thai restaurants with impressive wine collections offering wine at ridiculously reasonable prices with hardly a mark-up.

For years Lotus of Siam was the flagship restaurant. It was known for its excellent Thai food, considered by some - like Jonathan Gold of Gourmet Magazine - to be the best in America. It had an amazing selection of wine, especially rieslings, and it hardly marked up the wine prices. It was one of the few off-strip places that we would regularly visit.

Pad Hed $8 - Shitake and shimeji mushroom stir fried with Brussels sprouts and lotus root

In 2012, the general manager and sommelier of Lotus of Siam, Bank Atcharawan, decided to leave to open his own restaurant, Chada Thai and Wine. Chada Thai and Wine adopts a similar concept: great Thai food + excellent wines.

So far, it's been a hit. Bon Appetit included Chada Thai and Wine in its Top 50 New Restaurants list in 2013. Sommelier (and chef!) Bank Atcharawan was crowned one of ten "Top Sommeliers" by Food & Wine Magazine.

We decided to visit after a restorative and beautiful day of hiking in Valley of Fire State Park.
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This is the second post in the Winter in Vegas series. Other posts in this series include B&B Burger and Beer.

It's always exciting to try a new restaurant, especially when it's from a chef that I've known and respected for quite some time.

I first met Chef Roy Ellamar at the Saveur Food Blog Awards ceremony in New York. I had traveled to the Big Apple to celebrate winning Saveur's Best Food Blog Award in the Restaurant and Dining category. It was a whirlwind experience of meeting well-known bloggers, celebrating such an unexpected win, and chowing down on delicious bites prepared by Chef Ellamar and his staff.

A few months ago (Christmas Eve, 2015, to be exact), The Bellagio unveiled its newest restaurant: Harvest by Roy Ellamar. They had poured over $800 million into a stunning renovation of the old Sensi space. Better yet, they gave Chef Ellamar free reign to make this his restaurant.

Harvest is a restaurant firmly guided by farm-to-table principles with an eclectic mix of food that reflects influences from all around the world. Chef Ellamar is very dedicated to sourcing sustainable and seasonal ingredients, relying on relationships that he has formed with various farms throughout his years both at Sensi and L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon.

Chef Ellamar injects many aspects of his unique background into the menu, everything from his Hawaiian roots (hello ahi poke!) and Asian culinary bent to his command of classic French techniques.

The menu consists mostly of small plates, divided up by category: Garden (salads, grilled or roasted vegetables); Ocean (raw bar and cooked seafood); Ranch (anything focused on meat); Boards (a variety of charcuterie and flatbread); Grilled (classic cuts of steak); Stone Oven (oven-cooked meat dishes); Rotisserie (porchetta and chicken); Vegetarian/Vegan (various rotating options); and Sides (potato, beans, kale, and the like).

Definitely try one of their cocktails! We tried the Bellagio Harvest Beets Cocktail ($17), which was fantastic! I typically don't order cocktails because I almost always find them too sweet for my tastes. This cocktail, however, hit the perfect balance of just a touch of sweetness and just enough tartness to balance it out. It even came with a tiny dried beet cone filled with goat cheese. All in all, it was really, really good.

The bread is elegant, a mix of a cheesy cracker-like flatbread and Italian breadsticks. I loved the light-as-air flatbread, which had a nice, savory, Parmesan flavor.

We ordered a bottle of 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon, Columbia Valley, Pere de Famille from Betz Family Winery ($138).

One really, really fun aspect of the restaurant is the Snack Wagon. Similar to the Asian dim sum concept, servers walk around pushing a cart filled with small bites. Snack Wagon "delights" are $8 each and are great for curbing your appetite when you first sit down and begin perusing the menu.

I was immediately drawn to this beautiful plate of ahi poke.

"Yes please. We'll have all of them. One of each kind."

I guess we were hungry!

Hawaiian Ahi Poke (source: Kona, Hawaii) came tossed with red chili, cilantro, and yuzu. Chef Ellamar is from Hawaii, so I was not surprised at all that he included this classic Hawaiian dish on his menu. Bryan and I became nostalgic as we ate this: it totally brought us back to our phenomenal trip to Hawaii and the excellent poke we enjoyed there. It's quite good here, and Chef Ellamar uses the real-deal Ahi tuna straight from Kona, the same place where we enjoyed so many poke bowls.

Kalbi Filet Mignon (source: Painted Hills, Oregon) came served in skewer form. The marinade was classic kalbi, and the meat was unusually tender. The flavors were excellent. The skewer is served cold, which is fine, though you might be disappointment if you were expecting something warm.

Spicy Steak Tartare (source: Painted Hills, Oregon) came topped with mustard seeds, oyster aioli, and toast. It had a bit of a kick, was slightly tart, and was overall quite creamy due to the mayonnaise.

The Eggplant Caviar (source: Life's a Choke, California) was one of my favorites. The creamy dip made from eggplant, tahini, and garlic blended together was phenomenally flavorful. The caponata was delicious and I just loved the light, crispy flatbread, which reminded me of Indian pappadam.

We were extremely impressed with the Charcuterie B0ard, which comes with foie gras torchon, housemade pâté de campagne, head cheese, rillette, and Broadbent ham. The pâté de campagne, or "country terrine", was excellent and reminded me of a recent one I had enjoyed at Daniel Boulud's restaurant in Boston. The pork rillette was also very flavorful. All in all, it was on par in quality with charcuterie boards that I've had at high end French restaurants.

Next was a small plate of Ahi Tuna with Green Tea Ponzu ($17). The fish was very, very soft and overall the dish was solid.  "I liked the jalapeño on it" said Bryan.

The Charred Brussels Sprouts ($13 - source: Rutiz Farm, California) came highly recommended and they did not disappoint!  Tossed in a mixture of maple syrup, mustard seeds, bourbon, and soy sauce, the Brussels sprouts had a lovely crispy edge and an intense yet balanced flavor from the sweet maple glaze and the savory umami.

Another excellent dish from the Vegetarian section of the menu was the Farro Porridge ($22), which consisted of farro cooked with foraged wild mushrooms, a slow cooked farm egg, and black truffle. Since it had not been too long since white truffle season, white truffles were still on the menu, and Chef Ellamar generously gave us white truffles on this dish instead of black truffles.

It was awesome.

We had the choice to top our 6 oz Hangar Steak ($38 - source: Angus Painted Hills, grass fed and finished) with white Alba truffles (additional $60), which Bryan really wanted to do (heh, I guess he was feeling nostalgic for the white truffles ever since we left Alba!). The steak was very good, just the right size, and pretty amazingly decadent with the white truffles.

The Braised and Grilled Pork Cheek ($14 - Source: Becker Lane, IA) were marinated in a way that reminded me of Korean bulgogi. The rich, savory, and super soft, pork cheeks were nicely balanced by the roasted apple puree, apple kimchi, and Brussels sprouts "chips". All in all, it was a very good dish and a nice way to end the meal.

But first, we mustn't forget the Dessert Wagon! Similar to the Snack Wagon, there are other servers who walk around pushing a cart full of sweets. You get three different items for $8.

If you don't feel like getting a full dessert, this is a great option.

I believe this was some sort of yuzu cream filled dessert, but I honestly can't remember!

And yes, we also ordered a proper dessert (!).

Sticky Toffee Pudding (with maple bacon!) ($12) is one of the most popular desserts on the menu, and it's not hard to see why.

The toffee "pudding" (it's more like a dense cake), is doused with a maple bacon caramel sauce and is wonderfully decadent, crazy rich, and not for the faint hearted! It's quite good (the crispy bacon adds a nicely, salty counterpoint), but it's super dense and heavy. Share with several people if possible!

Overall Thoughts
We really enjoyed our first meal at Harvest by Roy Ellamar. Considering that it had only been about two weeks since the restaurant opened, we were extremely impressed with how well the kitchen was executing everything for such a busy crowd (all those CES conference goers!).

Chef Roy Ellamar is very talented and he has created a great menu with influences from all over. My personal favorites include the Brussels sprouts, farro porridge, the charcuterie, and the eggplant caviar from the Snack Cart. Bryan really enjoyed the steak, but honestly, everything was good.

I think it's great that Chef Ellamar is really prioritizing sustainability and putting the farm-to-table concept front and center on the Strip (a place where steakhouses, burger joints, and buffets reign). He sources excellent ingredients, and it shows in the food.

Prices can add up, and they start high (typical "Strip prices"). Most small plates run between $15-$20 each, and larger dishes go even higher (our small 6 oz Hangar steak was $38). Add on some snacks and desserts, side dishes, plus a cocktail and some wine, you can easily spend well over $100 per person.

Still, it's a great place for groups to visit to sample many different types of dishes. If I came back to Vegas, I would definitely return.

Harvest by Roy Ellamar
Spa Towers, Bellagio
3600 S Las Vegas Blvd
Las Vegas, NV 89109

Disclaimer: I did not pay for this meal.  All opinions are my own.

This is the first post in the Winter in Vegas series.

I'm not a huge meat person.

Sometimes I think I could get by perfectly fine without eating any red meat. But then occasionally, I do find myself craving a good burger. More often than not, I find that my favorite burgers come from steak houses. I think it's because steakhouse burgers typically use much better quality meat (it's probably made from all the trimmings from their gorgeous steaks).

Plus, if I'm not in the mood for a whole 16+ oz steak (and face it, most steak houses only have larger cuts of meat), I like getting the burger because it's a much more manageable amount of meat, it's usually delicious, and it costs a lot less.

For a long time, my favorite burger in Las Vegas was the burger at Carnevino, Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich's steakhouse in the Palazzo. Their steak is phenomenal (in fact, their special 9-month dry-aged Riserva steak is one of Bryan's favorite steaks in the world). Their burger is also excellent, and one of my favorites.

In 2013, Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich opened B&B Burger and Beer, a casual burger spot right inside the Venetian. The best part? B&B Burger and Beer uses exactly the same proprietary brisket and chuck blend served at Batali and Bastianich's steakhouse, Carnevino, but with lower prices and many more creative options....

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