Well Fed On the Town

Business brought me to Vegas recently, but a genuine passion for the culinary genius of Thomas Keller brought me to Bouchon Bistro, in The Venetian. When the group of business associates hosting my team asked me where we might want to dine on that Tuesday night, I offered up Bouchon and kept my fingers crossed.

Just getting to Bouchon is something of an adventure. A series of three moving walkways/escalators gets you into the front door of the The Venetian. From there, a jaunt through the Casino, down a long, intricately decorated marble hallway with very high vaulted, painted ceilings, up 10 floors in an express elevator and down another long, marble corridor with flickering, hooded gas lights and large display windows offering a view of the Las Vegas Strip, eventually brings you to a small domed crossroads. Immediately to your right is the open but elegant Bouchon Bistro.

Having reservations, highly recommended, we were seated within minutes. I knew that Bouchon carried a very well-stocked bar. I also knew that a number of my business associates were gin drinkers. Upon hearing my cocktail order, most of the group jumped on board with an “I’ll have what he’s having” response. Cadenhead’s Old Raj gin was stirred in a three to one ratio with premium Extra Dry Cinzano Vermouth and garnished with two Spanish Olives, to make one of the finest Martini’s I have ever had.

Cocktails in hand, we set about perusing the one-page, but far from simple, menu of faire offered that evening. While deciding on what to order, bread arrived. It was amusingly presented as a series of “turnover” shaped (triangular) segments of bread, all connected end to end, so there was a logical place to tear off each piece. After orders were taken, one member of the waitstaff produced a crumber, or Butler’s Knife, to make quick work of the crumbs we had accumulated from the crusty French Bread.

Several of our group started with Soupe à l’Oignon, while I chose to order from the specials menu and went with a Sweetbread Ravioli. I will admit that the French Onion Soup looked superb. Served in a tall, crockery style container, it was crusted with a thick, very melty cheese that was capping a crouton and by all appearances was perfectly prepared. However, I would not have given up my ravioli for even the greatest of soups. Three, delicately prepared, savory, sweetbread stuffed ravioli were sitting on a small bed of spiced, thinly slivered baby carrots, which themselves were resting in a cognac-enriched veal broth. And yes, the taste even beat the description.

Entrees were had by all…well, almost. Sidenote: In many, fine, Prime Steakhouses, sides are ordered a la carte and generally come in a serving portion fit to serve two to three people. This is true of Morton’s, Fleming’s and numerous other Prime Steakhouses. It should be noted that Bouchon is not a Prime Steakhouse and as such, is not in this category. A side order, while a la carte, is really just a side order, intended for one person. So the well-intentioned member of our group who ordered a side of Butternut Squash, hoping to go lightly that evening, was indeed served a small tourine of butternut squash…a very small (in comparison to our entrees), side order portion of squash.

As large, lavish plates were set before us all, we kept coming back to his tiny boat of squash and asking, “Is that all you ordered?” In his defense, he did expect that it would have been larger. At our insistence he augmented his squash (which with great dignity he defended as being perfectly prepared, caramelized in butter and brown sugar) with an order of their Soup du Jour, a celery soup puree with a dollop of Creme Fraiche.

Two members of our group went with the lamb, a few more with the Steak Frites. Since they were all going with red meat, they settled on a nice Syrrah that was warmly received. Being the lone seafood eater that evening, I simply went with a glass of granache blanc, delicate enough for seafood but fortified enough to compliment the bold flavors of my order.

A large, deep oval bowl with a basket in it, was set before me, containing my Moule au Saffron. Along side in a standing cone were my frites. The Moule au Saffron were Maine Mussels that had been steamed in a Saffron Mustard broth, which itself filled the bottom of the bowl and was mixed with the liquor from the mussels. The frites themselves were perfectly prepared, crispy on the outside and silky on the inside. I will admit that after I had depleted my count of mussels, I did employ the French Bread to scoop through the Saffron Mustard broth in search of any mussels which had escaped the terror of my tiny fork.

After dinner drinks and desserts were ordered next. I enjoyed the Creme de Caramel and it was, as expected, exquisite. My after dinner drink was an old standby of mine, though it won’t be found on any drink menus, equal parts Godiva Chocolate Liqueur and Drambuie were topped off with half and half, shaken and served on the rocks in a lowball glass. One friend described this as “dessert in a glass”. The thick, sweet, spicy mixture makes for an excellent after dinner drink. If you can overcome the need to have to describe it precisely to the waiter, I highly recommend it.

While there are dozens of restaurants in Las Vegas that I would love to enjoy some day, if each visit to this desert food oasis involved a trip to Bouchon Bistro, that would be just fine with me. And, if you can’t manage to fit them into your evening dining plans, well, it should come as some relief that Bouchon is one of the few, very fine restaurants in Las Vegas that happens to be open for Breakfast or, on the weekends, Brunch.

Bouchon Bistro
3355 Las Vegas Blvd S
Las Vegas, NV 89109
(702) 414-6200