Bouchon. Very French, oui? That’s the brilliant thing about Las Vegas…it literally has a little of everything. And thanks to the extraordinary culinary mind of Thomas Keller, one of the most renowned chef’s in the world, Vegas has a touch of French class with delicious bistro food.
I knew little about French food coming into this restaurant. What captured my attention was the name attached. Thomas Keller. Foodie nerd…that’s me. Pair that with an episode of Anthony Bourdain’s “No Reservations” where he visited Las Vegas and ate at Bouchon, raving about the frites (fries)…and I knew…next time I was in Sin City, I had to try this place out.
My friend and I were seated immediately upon our arrival for our reservation. Our table was beautiful. Simple. Understated. But illuminated by the natural light of summer in Las Vegas. Nothing was overdone. And that was part of the beauty of it. Our server came over and poured us water. As he did so, he inquired if we would be interested in any wine. Neither of us are wine drinkers, and while the experience would have been amazing, we passed. He unfolded our menus for us (they are paper and guests are allowed to take them with them upon leaving) and told us of the specials that night. It was then that we alerted him of my food allergies and dietary restrictions, and he assured me that I would have no problem finding something. That being said, he pointed out that the soupe du jour that night was vegan – roasted potato leek soup with a black truffle oil. The very description of the soup was enough to win me over, so both my friend and I unexpectedly ordered the soup as a starter.
The rest of our order was taken and we eagerly anticipated our first taste of food from one of Thomas Keller’s restaurants. The food nerd inside me was squeeing with delight. As we waited, we were brought homemade bread and a small bowl of roasted pistachios to wet our appetites while we waited. My friend threw herself on the bread, and I enjoyed the nuts.
And then…the soup arrived. It look fantastic. Most soups with any sort of potato base are heavy, but not this one. It was light and the swirl of truffle oil added just the right about of flavor without overpowering the essence of the root vegetables in the soup itself. In fact, the truffle oil made the soup the perfect trifecta of seasoning and taste. One spoonful and Thomas Keller and his restaurant won my heart. Each ingredient melted on my palate and I soon polished off the bowl. My friend used the bread to mop up every last drop. Yeah…it was that amazing. And that was just our starter!
Since I am a vegetarian, there was only a few items that I could order on the menu. Pair that with a gluten-intolerance, and quite a bit more got knocked out of the running. Never fear though. Restaurants normally have a salad that will work and that held true for Bouchon. My entree of choice that night was the Salade Maraîchère au Chèvre Chaud, which consisted mixed greens with red wine vinaigrette, warm goat cheese and herbes de Provence. I ordered it with a side of the much raved about Pommes Frites…because whenever Anthony Bourdain says the fries are better than the ones from his restaurant, Les Halles, you know they have to be amazing. I certainly wasn’t going to miss out on trying them. My friend, following Bourdain’s lead, ordered the Steak Frites, which she has henceforth deemed one of the best medium-well steaks ever made for her (it was still juicy, while being cooked to an actual medium-well) and topped with a shallot-butter that she wants to baptize her children in. Apparently, it was mind-blowing.
When the entree was brought out, I already knew that, despite being a salad, it was going to be a good one. The thing with salad is, they don’t always have to taste alike. Salads can be a mishmash of amazing flavors that tantalize and tease taste buds. Or they can be bland. While this salad was minimal as far as ingredients go, the flavors were WOW! The goat cheese practically melted in my mouth. The herbes de Provence provided a bit of flair to what would have otherwise been a rather bland pile of mixed greens. And the red wine vinaigrette was the right hint of tart to marry the flavors together. Salads can be boring, or they can take “rabbit food” to the next level. Bouchon takes it to the next tier.
As for those much-raved about frites, Anthony Bourdain was right on the money. Thomas Keller trained his chefs at Bouchon right. Because fries are fries…in most cases. They can either be really good…or really bad. Most of the time it has to do with the cut and the how they are cooked, or how long for that matter. I do not like mushy fries. Steak fries are not my favorite cut. Neither are curly, nor crinkle-cut. Shoestring fries are generally my favorite because they come out with a crisp crust on them that lends bite to the potato. At Bouchon, the Pommes Frites were above and beyond any other fries I have ever eaten in my life. And I LOVE my fries. Bourdain is one of my culinary heroes for a reason. He has good tastes in deep-fried potato-y goodness. Bouchon doesn’t just serve up a sizable portion of frites on the side, they do a damn good job of cooking them to perfection. The waiter thought there was way too many frites on the table between my friend and I, but we polished them all off. Not one went to waste. Normally, I don’t finish my fries because there are so many of them…but that wasn’t the case here. I almost wished I had more. You think you’ve had fries…then you eat at Bouchon and you realize they set the bar for french fry standards and those waffle fries from Chick-Fil-A will never equal what you just consumed. Considering the paragraph on the Pommes Frites is now longer than that on the soup and the salad…just believe me. Try it for yourself and no other restaurant fries will ever compare. Nowhere. No way. No how! It isn’t a pompous French thing to call them Pommes Frites and serve up average fries. No…these have every right to be pompous and French. They earned it.
Despite being full, dessert was a must. The dessert menu was presented to us and after a bit of discussion, my friend and I decided that we would split Marquise au Chocolat, a dark chocolate mousse with burnt orange cream. The dessert won my heart with dark chocolate. The orange cream was an added bonus. And when it arrived, we couldn’t have been happier with our decision. It looked like a slice of cake, laid out and surrounded by dollops of edible-orange goodness. Picture-perfect. And the taste…manna from heaven. Everything paired perfectly. The citric bitterness of the orange cream paired with the smooth dark chocolate and the melt-in-your-mouth texture of the mousse. It was fantastic. Down to the last bite, which was smeared through the last of the burnt orange cream so that nothing went to waste. I finished off the evening with an after-dinner cup of tea that just polished off the perfect meal.
There is French bistro food and then there is Bouchon. Thomas Keller set out to do something amazing in Vegas, and he succeeded. Bouchon, tucked away in the Venezia Tower of The Venetian in Las Vegas, is one of those must-go places. When I return to Vegas, I will be making another reservation for a dinner there. Despite all of the culinary treats that are hidden away in Vegas, I can’t help but think of what new treats might be served up on the menu here. And I can’t wait to sink my teeth into those Pommes Frites once again. Make a reservation. Dress up. Dine. It’s a feast so pleasing to the any palate that there is literally something for everyone. Even this gluten-free vegetarian. Amazing food outweighs the celebrity name and the Michelin stars any day. From the moment you step into Bouchon, you feast upon great ambiance, great service, and great food. How can it get better than that?
It can’t.
Take it from this vegetarian foodie.
The Celiathlete 