Image
  • Writing
    • Andy Gavin: Author
    • About my Novels & Writing
    • All Writing Posts
    • The Darkening Dream
      • Buy the Book Online
      • Sample Chapters
      • Reviews
      • Info for Reviewers
      • Press Coverage
      • Awards
      • Cast of Characters
    • Untimed
      • Buy Untimed Online
      • Book Trailer
      • Sample Chapters
      • Reviews
      • Info for Reviewers
      • Press Coverage
      • Awards
      • Cast of Characters
    • Scrivener – Writer’s Word Processor
    • iPad for Writers
    • Naughty Dark Contest
  • Books
    • Book Review Index
    • Favorite Fantasy Novels
    • Andy Gavin: Author
    • The Darkening Dream
      • Buy the Book Online
      • Sample Chapters
      • Short Story: Harvard Divinity
      • Reviews
      • Info for Reviewers
      • Press Coverage
      • Awards
      • Cast of Characters
    • Untimed
      • About the Book
      • Buy Untimed Online
      • Book Trailer
      • Sample Chapters
      • Reviews
      • Info for Reviewers
      • Press Coverage
      • Awards
      • Cast of Characters
    • Naughty Dark Contest
  • Games
    • My Video Game Career
    • Post Archive by Series
    • All Games Posts Inline
    • Making Crash Bandicoot
    • Crash 15th Anniversary Memories
    • World of Warcraft Endgames
    • Getting a Job Designing Video Games
    • Getting a Job Programming Video Games
    • Naughty Dark Contest
  • Movies
    • Movie Review Index
  • Television
    • TV Review Index
    • Buffy the Vampire Slayer
    • A Game of Thrones
  • Food
    • Food Review Index
    • Foodie Club
    • Hedonists
    • LA Sushi Index
    • Chinese Food Index
    • LA Peking Duck Guide
    • Eating Italy
    • Eating France
    • Eating Spain
    • Eating Croatia
    • Eating Vietnam
    • Eating Australia
    • Eating Israel
    • Ultimate Pizza
    • ThanksGavin
    • Margarita Mix
    • Foodie Photography
    • Burgundy Vintage Chart
  • Other
    • All Posts, Magazine Style
    • Archive of all Posts
    • Fiction
    • Technology
    • History
    • Anything Else
  • Gallery
  • Bio
  • About
    • About me
    • About my Writing
    • About my Video Games
    • Ask Me Anything
  • Contact

Las Vegas – Guy Savoy

May08

Restaurant: Guy Savoy

Location: Cesar’s Palace, Las Vegas

Date: April 14, 2012

Cuisine: French

Rating: Spectacular

_

A good friend’s bachelor party brought me back to Las Vegas and that meant: extreme food. On my last trip I sampled  é by José Andrés and Twist by Pierre Gagnaire so this time it was time for Guy Savoy. Guy himself is one of the few and proud Parisian Michelin 3-star chefs (even if he’s originally from Burgundy). The Vegas outpost is overseen by the older chef’s son. It’s tucked  away in a quiet section of the main Cesar’s Palace, near the wedding chapels.


True to its Michelin form, the place has a lot of carts. First to greet us is the champagne and aperitif cart. I’m not really that big a champagne fan, and done off the cart for the table often results in some serious financial hike. But, as you’ll see, you don’t come to Guy Savoy to keep the budget under control!


This first pre-amuse is fois gras and brioche on a stick. Can’t complain about that!


Then I crack open the wine tome. Even though I have recently become an “Italian Wine Specialist” there was very little vino from the boot, so I had to go French.


Jadot is usually very reliable and I have a soft spot for Clos Vougeot. “Charred meat, black currant, and wet stone characterize the bouquet of Jadot’s Clos Vougeot. Savory, salty, brightly-fruited and invigoratingly juicy on the palate, this displays more energy and acidity than I would have expected from the appellation. For all of the clarity and juiciness of this wine’s fruit, grilled meat and stony earthiness combined with the emergence of formidable tannins and subtle but persistent cyanic and iodine notes to turn its formidably long finish somewhat austere.”


Then another amuse, this cheesy “parmesan waffle.”


And the menu. Check out the prices. Because we must, we took out a mortgage, and ordered up the Inspiration Menu.


The amuse was this artichoke soup with black truffle and toasted mushroom bread. A nice start.


Then the bread cart comes around. Just a few varieties. When we failed to remember the 14-16 different types we could choose from on the first recitation the bread boy (who was just a tad creepy) offered to create a “bread tasting” for us, pairing various breads to each food course. How could we refuse?


A few samplings include on the right, bacon brioche!


“Concasse of oysters, seaweed, lemon granite.”


The granite itself is added later. Truthfully, this dish was a revelation. The flavors were pure and intense. Briny oyster and this potent cold lemon thing.


One of our party doesn’t like oysters, so he got this avocado and chickpea variant.


“Santa Barbara Spot Prawn caught in sweet and sour fishnet.” Mostly this just tasted like a very good shrimp with some interesting vegetable texture stuff going on. It was pleasant, but not one of the best dishes.


The shellfish hater got this pea and egg salad. Twice peeled English peas, pea gelee, pea puree, dressed in chive oil. It was then topped with greens some bread and a quail egg.


On my way to visit the elegant little boys room I photoed the “smaller” of the two private dining rooms.


It’s white asparagus season! “White Asparagus and Caviar, Smoked Sabayon.” The sabayon was in the egg. You pour it over the dish.


Voila. A “simple” but spectacular dish. The asparagus and sabayon is similar to the classic Dutch version, but the caviar took it up a notch.


This was a long meal and so we quickly exhausted the Burgundy. This Barolo by old school producer Giacomo Conterno was a bit “underpriced” (if anything in the tome could be called that). Parker 94+ “1999 Barolo Cascina Francia—Medium red. A classic in the making, the 1999 Cascina Francia offers a quintessentially pure expression of Nebbiolo in it aromas of roses, licorice and tar. It is powerful and potent on the palate, where endless layers of sweet fruit blossom with exceptional length. Though I expect it to be relatively accessible within a few years, it will also reward cellaring for several decades, and may ultimately be deserving of a higher score. A great effort. 94+/drink after 2009.”


“Marinated-Grilled Hamachi Aged Sherry Vinegar, Radish Gelee, Eggplant Puree.” The fish was nice but the really interesting bit was the jelly. It was made of radish (hence the color) and tasted somehow so Japanese. It was a very bright and intense flavor and I really liked it.


Next up, “Salmon Iceberg.” Scottish salmon.


“Cooked” on dry ice.


Then dressed with grapefruit bits, bockchoy, and little jelly cubes of something.


Then finished off with a consommé. Spectacular actually. Hot and cold in the same dish and expressed the flavor of the fish wonderfully.


This is the large private room, with a Krug theme. After you win $100,000 in the casino, you can blow it here.


“Seared Dices of Foie Gras with Horseradish, Braised-Grilled Celery Stalk Sepentines, Potato Chips Bouillon.”


Here with the Bouillon added. This was a very nice foie dish, extremely savory, but not overly heavy.


“Lobster Bordelaise, Raw and Cooked Hearts of Palm.” Wow, was this good. The lobster was great lobster, but it was that sauce in the middle. It was as complex as a fine wine!


“Wagyu, Cannellini Bean Puree, Saffron and Marjoram Crust, Sponge Cake.” A very nice beef dish.


Then one of my favorite parts of any serious French meal, Les Fromages.


Some closeups.


And more for good measure.


This is our humble selection. I can’t remember them all but it included Brillat-savarin, one of my favorites.


A relatively lightweight Sauternes. The 1999 Raymond-Lafon. “Aromas of honeyed pineapple/tropical fruit and toasty new oak, as well as an exotic, flashy perfume. The wine possesses an opulent, full-bodied, exotic, lavishly rich personality, and moderate sweetness.”


In the glass. You can tell from the color this isn’t a crazy sticky Sauternes.


This “sunny side up” isn’t actually an egg, but mango and cream! It was pretty great too.


Then this “exotic” tapioca, avocado, with lime sorbet. Really quite incredible.


Here it is with the sorbet.


Then the chocolate. This was just a simple scoop of incredibly intense and wonderful chocolate gelato.


And a bit of earl grey ice cream, which, even as a non-tea fan, was a subtle and lovely ice cream flavor.


I thought the cheese cart was heaven, but then this came. There are just oodles of little desserts here. When our waiter (a seven foot tall Gaul we nick named “French Lurch”) asked us what we’d like, we said, “yes.”


A different view. There are pots of creme, rice pudding, citrus shooters, homemade marshmellows, pate des fruits, frozen grapes, and all sorts of other yummys.


The pots were among my favorites, particularly the rice pudding.


Strawberry pate, coconut macarons, chocolate things.


Those spongy things on the spoon had a bit of passionfruit to them.


In case the heart wasn’t about to quit, the conac cart!


And finally, a triple expresso. I was worried about falling asleep when we went out clubbing (after this 6pm – midnight meal!) but this puppy kept me up straight to 9am. Given that I was trying to sleep from 5am on, that, perhaps, wasn’t ideal.

Overall, this was a spectacular meal. Much more substantive than é by José Andrés and much more focused and palatable than Twist by Pierre Gagnaire. It was classic “fancy french” updated with spectacular ingredients and very fine flavors. I’ve had a lot of opulent meals and I generally judge them by “consistency” and “impact.” This was highly consistent in that every dish worked. Perhaps the shrimp was the weakest, but it certainly worked. And more importantly, a number of dishes, such as the lobster, oyster, and salmon were mind-blowing and highly memorable. Bravo!

For more Vegas dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Vegas with a Twist
By: agavin
Comments (1)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Barolo, Bread, Caesars Palace, Clos Vougeot, Foie gras, Foodie Club, Guy Savoy, Las Vegas, Las Vegas Nevada, Lobster, Michelin, Nevada, Salmon
Watch the Trailer or

Buy it Online!

Buy it Online!

Find Andy at:

Follow Me on Pinterest

Subscribe by email:

More posts on:



Complete Archives

Categories

  • Contests (7)
  • Fiction (404)
    • Books (113)
    • Movies (77)
    • Television (123)
    • Writing (115)
      • Darkening Dream (62)
      • Untimed (37)
  • Food (1,484)
  • Games (100)
  • History (13)
  • Technology (21)
  • Uncategorized (16)

Recent Posts

  • Mes Ami - C'est Mort
  • Robo Eats - Szechuan Place
  • Providence Chef's Table 2022
  • OOToro Double
  • Robo Eats - Anarbagh
  • Fred loves N/Naka
  • Major Major Major
  • Far East - Beijing Tasty House
  • Home Sweet Spicy Home
  • Quick Eats - Bafang
  • Quick Eats - Peking Restaurant
  • Quick Eats - MK BBQ
  • Wolfing it Down
  • Big Night at Capital
  • Coche In at Brothers Santa Monica
  • Dirty Dozen semi Grand
  • Date Night at Addison
  • Date Night at AR Valentien
  • Camphor Cool
  • Not all Dim Sum are Created Equal

Favorite Food Posts

  • Food Home
  • Food Index
  • Foodie Club
  • Hedonists
  • LA Sushi Index
  • Chinese Food
  • LA Peking Duck
  • Eating Italy
  • Eating France
  • Eating Spain
  • Eating Croatia
  • Eating Vietnam
  • Eating Australia
  • Eating Israel
  • Ultimate Pizza
  • Margarita Mix
  • ThanksGavin
  • Foodie Photography
  • Burgundy Vintages

Tags

Andy Gavin Arts beef Book Review books Burgundy BYOG California Champagne Chinese cuisine Chinese Food Cooking Crash Bandicoot Dessert eating-italy Fantasy Fiction Food Foodie Club Game of Thrones Gelato George R. R. Martin HBO hedonists Italian cuisine Italy Japanese cuisine Los Angeles Naughty Dog pasta Pizza Restaurant Restaurant Review reviews Santa Monica Santa Monica California SGV side dishes Sushi Television ThanksGavin The Darkening Dream vegetarian Wine World of A Song of Ice and Fire

Archives

  • March 2023 (12)
  • February 2023 (11)
  • January 2023 (14)
  • December 2022 (11)
  • November 2022 (13)
  • October 2022 (14)
  • September 2022 (14)
  • August 2022 (12)
  • July 2022 (9)
  • June 2022 (6)
  • May 2022 (8)
  • April 2022 (5)
  • March 2022 (4)
  • February 2022 (2)
  • January 2022 (8)
  • December 2021 (6)
  • November 2021 (6)
  • October 2021 (8)
  • September 2021 (4)
  • August 2021 (5)
  • July 2021 (2)
  • June 2021 (3)
  • January 2021 (1)
  • December 2020 (1)
  • September 2020 (1)
  • August 2020 (1)
  • April 2020 (11)
  • March 2020 (15)
  • February 2020 (13)
  • January 2020 (14)
  • December 2019 (13)
  • November 2019 (12)
  • October 2019 (14)
  • September 2019 (14)
  • August 2019 (13)
  • July 2019 (13)
  • June 2019 (14)
  • May 2019 (13)
  • April 2019 (10)
  • March 2019 (10)
  • February 2019 (11)
  • January 2019 (13)
  • December 2018 (14)
  • November 2018 (11)
  • October 2018 (15)
  • September 2018 (15)
  • August 2018 (15)
  • July 2018 (11)
  • June 2018 (14)
  • May 2018 (13)
  • April 2018 (13)
  • March 2018 (17)
  • February 2018 (12)
  • January 2018 (15)
  • December 2017 (15)
  • November 2017 (13)
  • October 2017 (16)
  • September 2017 (16)
  • August 2017 (16)
  • July 2017 (11)
  • June 2017 (13)
  • May 2017 (6)
  • March 2017 (3)
  • February 2017 (4)
  • January 2017 (7)
  • December 2016 (14)
  • November 2016 (11)
  • October 2016 (11)
  • September 2016 (12)
  • August 2016 (15)
  • July 2016 (13)
  • June 2016 (13)
  • May 2016 (13)
  • April 2016 (12)
  • March 2016 (13)
  • February 2016 (12)
  • January 2016 (13)
  • December 2015 (14)
  • November 2015 (14)
  • October 2015 (13)
  • September 2015 (13)
  • August 2015 (18)
  • July 2015 (16)
  • June 2015 (13)
  • May 2015 (13)
  • April 2015 (14)
  • March 2015 (15)
  • February 2015 (13)
  • January 2015 (13)
  • December 2014 (14)
  • November 2014 (13)
  • October 2014 (13)
  • September 2014 (12)
  • August 2014 (15)
  • July 2014 (13)
  • June 2014 (13)
  • May 2014 (14)
  • April 2014 (14)
  • March 2014 (10)
  • February 2014 (11)
  • January 2014 (13)
  • December 2013 (14)
  • November 2013 (13)
  • October 2013 (14)
  • September 2013 (12)
  • August 2013 (14)
  • July 2013 (10)
  • June 2013 (14)
  • May 2013 (14)
  • April 2013 (14)
  • March 2013 (15)
  • February 2013 (14)
  • January 2013 (13)
  • December 2012 (14)
  • November 2012 (16)
  • October 2012 (13)
  • September 2012 (14)
  • August 2012 (16)
  • July 2012 (12)
  • June 2012 (16)
  • May 2012 (21)
  • April 2012 (18)
  • March 2012 (20)
  • February 2012 (23)
  • January 2012 (31)
  • December 2011 (35)
  • November 2011 (33)
  • October 2011 (32)
  • September 2011 (29)
  • August 2011 (35)
  • July 2011 (33)
  • June 2011 (25)
  • May 2011 (31)
  • April 2011 (30)
  • March 2011 (34)
  • February 2011 (31)
  • January 2011 (33)
  • December 2010 (33)
  • November 2010 (39)
  • October 2010 (26)
All Things Andy Gavin
Copyright © 2023 All Rights Reserved
Programmed by Andy Gavin