August 20, 2003
Vegas, Part 3
Uncle's friend went back to LA with his sister after we all hit the brunch for the buffet. Always tough to decide between the cheesecake and the carrot cake for dessert. Wasn't in an icing mood so I went with the big cheese. Didn't feel like trekking over to the Mirage in the midday heat, so I stuck to blackjack. Flushed $150 down the drain for the afternoon. It wasn't as if I won some and then squandered the winnings. It was a steady parade of 14s and 15s, pushing 20s, and even two blackjacks in a row by the dealer. Did tilt a little bit here, as I tried to make up the losses with bigger bets. Tried to justify it to myself with the thought that with all the low cards being played that we were due, but with five decks of cards and constant shuffling by the stupid shuffling machine any card count was totally worthless anyway.
Lasted long enough to just run out of afternoon and have a couple of bucks left to toss the dealer's way. Went upstairs to clean myself up a bit before meeting up with the uncle and aunt in the lobby. Stopped by at the sports book on the way out to put twenty bucks on the A's and Mulder. Caught a cab to Mandalay Bay for our reservation at Aureole, which is suppose to have the best wine selection in Vegas, displayed in a completely impractical four-story tall tower. Uncle was interested in the wines and the tower, of course, but the Bellagio VIP folks were a little too efficient and booked us into the Swan Court, which is a separate small room from the main restaurant with a view of a small fountain and some (duh) swans, who seemed a little wilted in the heat. It was for the best, really, since the main restaurant is a large, modern room with many hard surfaces, hence rather loud. They partitioned the main room into sections to make it appear less huge, but it just adds to the echoing surfaces.
Aureole's other schtick is their wine list, which is delivered via a Flash presentation on a wirelessly networked Tablet PC. Except it didn't work. The interface was pretty, but the wine lists wouldn't show up on the screen. We made it easy on the waiters anyway, since we went with the tasting menu and the accompanying wine flight.
Aureole nominally features creative American cuisine, which basically means it's French, but it's okay to have some pseudo-Asian or Southwestern dishes. A tiny version of a Caprese salad served as the amuse bouche, then an Italian sparkling wine went with the peach and fois gras first course. Wine was quite sweet, almost like a wine cooler, but not cloying. The second appetizer was tuna sashimi, with two scoops of a ground beet salad made from two different colored beets. Actually, it was more like a single piece of sashimi sliced up into little strips with some microgreens sprinkled on top. It was paired with an extra-dry Reisling. Frankly, I think we prefer our raw fish in large slabs with lots of soy sauce and wasabi. Actually, the aunt doesn't like raw fish at all, which we always forget at the Japanese restaurants.
The fish course was halibut on top of thyme-flavored zucchini strands and a tomato-puree sauce. Not the most exotic dish, but very tasty. Came with an Italian white that was the perfect balance between the sweet sparkling wine and the dry German white. The waiter said it was between a chardonnay and a sauvignon blanc and he was right on.
Okay, time for the rich meat and red wines just when we're getting full. Auntie was shipping at least half her wine over to the uncle, and I gave him a fair share, but even then I was getting plastered. The fowl course was a seared pheasant leg lying on a mushroom au jus, with a little phyllo dough spring roll filled with pheasant confit and fois gras. The wine was a southern Rhone, a blend of mostly Grenache and some Syrah. The lighter Grenache makes it work well with the bird while the stronger Syrah complements the gaminess. Didn't know Syrah was a Rhone grape originally, since one usually sees it in Aussie wines, at least in the cheap part of the aisle.
The final meat course was a veal medallion with artichoke-olive relish and a chive mashed potato cake. I'm not hugely PC about it, but I usually avoid veal anyway, and this didn't inspire me to get over my squeamish-iness about baby cows. The veal was a little dry, I thought, and the relish wasn't the best accompanying flavor for it. The Burgundy Pinot Noir was good, but I couldn't really drink more than a sip at this point.
The cantaloupe granita was light and cleansing, but the cookies, candies, chocolates, and the final triple-layer triple-chocolate mousse-y thing was just way too over the top. At least we could take the candies with us, and I don't think we were the first people who had to skip most of dessert at the end of the tasting menu.
I think it was the blue cheese and poached pear tart that pushed me over the top. I'd like to think of myself as having a fairly adaptable palate, but some things just don't work with my upbringing and stinky cheeses is one of those things. Was a little wobbly going up the stairs (which wrap around the wine tower) leaving the restaurant, just in time to catch one of the "wine angels" get hauled up on their wire-fu contraption reaching for a bottle off the wine tower. So we got the whole show after all. Stop-and-go traffic down the Strip didn't help me any, and when I got out of the cab I had to decide whether to make a break for it, or stay still and hold it in. I'm stubborn like that, and let's just say some poor schmuck had a nasty clean-up job to do out on the curb. On the other hand, spewing in the Bellagio lobby probably would've been even uglier. I think I would've been okay if I were really full or really drunk, but being drunk and full was more than I could handle. At least uncle was understanding. I doubt it's the first time he's dealt with dinner companions who drank too much.
Actually, throwing up was probably better than trying to hold it all in all night. Felt surprisingly decent after:
- Rinsing my mouth out with mouthwash.
- Pop a Tums tablet or two.
- Take an Advil with lots of water.
So I actually woke up early since I got lots of sleep. Usually have good luck on getaway day and doubled up my hundred bucks in short order at the blackjack table. The dealer was a grumpy lady with good reason since she'd been working the late shift with a bad back, just coming back from a car accident. On the other hand, the people at the table were cool and she was handing out the goods at the table. Had the funny, talkative dealer the day before and she kicked our asses and took our money, so there you go. One more trip around the buffet and then it was time to pack up and go home. Lost about $200 all in all, which was fair enough for the "free" room and food. Now if only one of these places would only get themselves a decent Chinese restaurant.
Posted by mikewang on 06:21 PM