ChicagoRon
Distinguished Member
- Joined
- Jan 14, 2007
- Messages
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With food being a major part of my life, I've eaten at least 75% of the restaurants on any given "best" or "top X" list you can imagine. I can assure you that the restaurants in Vegas are as good as their flagship counterparts (at least what I've been to). I actually enjoyed L'Atelier in Vegas more than I did NYC. I also thought it wasn't a poor substitute for Paris. The Joel Robuchon in LV represents itself extremely well next to Toyko and Paris. Bouchon in LV is excellent, and I've been to the original, TFL and Per Se. Chefs who care about their operations put highly competent people in charge. These are all great restaurants and I frankly didn't see something worse than the original. Granted the Mesa Grill in NYC was visited while very drunk, but I still got what I expected. The only place that disappointed me (even with low expectations going in), was Spago. I think it should be bulldozed... But I always thought Wolfgang Puck ******* sucks, so what was new there? Seasoning isn't a big surprise. People in New Orleans are familiar with more authentic french cooking and obviously the homegrown style. They are more likely to appreciate stronger seasoning whereas the rich Left coasters visiting Vegas will find it odd. This is accounted for at the Robuchon properties and probably Savoy too.Originally Posted by SField
I should have said that I feel the quality of the vegas counterparts has improved vastly in the last few years. Also, if you read my review of L'atelier in NYC, I said the exact same thing... Paris is like 1/2% better than Vegas, probably just because of the ingredients they can access... but NYC is meh. I have not been to Tokyo. That said, I still find myself pushing people toward the places with resident Chefs (understand that the chef's name on the menu is always resident, I mean the one on the marquis) in Vegas like Alex, Picasso, the Kerry Simon places over the big celeb chefs like Lagasse, Puck, Battali, Flay. Now, I think at this point the reason I still do that is because I'm talking to people who will go to NY and Nola and LA some time as well, so I suggest... get something in Vegas that you can't get elsewhere. That said, Bouchon and L'Atelier are the two I follow up by saying ... if you're not going to be in Yountville or Paris any time soon... make sure you hit those. Bottom line ... we are very fortunate to be able to have this discussion and have eaten (you more than me) some of the best food in the world. Happy New Year
