Vegas - Day 1

Just went to Vegas this past weekend for two nights of A Perfect Circle (playing Mer de Noms and 13th Step in their entirety). Had some awesome food and drinks while we were there...

Started off with a cocktail at Red Square. It's a USSR-themed restaurant/bar in the Mandalay Bay. I've wanted to go for a while, as I was fascinated with Soviet history in college, but it seems totally un-"p.c." to have a USSR-themed bar. Anyway, I went...

You can't really go to a Russian bar without getting vodka. I think you can even visit a fancy ice-cold vodka room (with parkas and all) if you buy a bottle. I went for the house-infused pineapple vodka martini. Pretty good considering I don't really drink vodka or vodka martinis. Bar had a pretty good vibe. Bartender was performing some fancy bar tricks. Definitely would check it out again if I was over that way.

Followed that up with a return visit to Charlie Palmer's Aureole. We visited Aureole last December on a whim prior to a Metallica concert at the Mandalay Bay. We'd seen the restaurant on Top Chef and found the "wine angels" to be quite hilarious. You should research that if you are unfamiliar.

Our experience last time was, well, really bad to say the least. The food was good, but the service was jaw-droppingly poor - especially considering they had a Michelin star. I mean BAD. I decided not to bitch publicly (not that anyone would really care) and (out of character for myself) sent a note to the general manager about our experience. He responded about a week later apologizing for our experience and offered us to visit as his personal guests in the future. I had no interest in taking him up, not wanting to waste my time the next time I was in the city considering all of the other really awesome options (even if it was free), but given the fact that this trip was not anticipated (I never would have imagined APC would tour again), we figured a free dinner wasn't a bad option. I mean, if we were their personal guests, you'd assume the service would be exceptional. Well, that was not the case....

Again, it was disjointed. Too many different servers not communicating. Too rushed. Wine list without a food menu. No information on wine pairings (again, because there was no food menu). (I say this because Aureole is supposed to be one of the best "wine restaurants" in the country and good service is perhaps half of being an excellent fine dining restaurant.) Too much service then no service at all. Just completely all over the place. And then after basically disappearing for the last half hour of the meal, one of the servers comes over and says "You are done here." WTF? I am? I didn't know that. I think there was a bit of a language barrier, but I think what he could and should have said was, "We really appreciate you coming back to Aureole and trying the restaurant again. Our general manager will be taking care of you bill this evening. I hope you had a pleasurable experience and we hope to see you again in the future." Not "you are done here." I almost fell out of my chair. I felt like I was slapped in the face. "Just get out of here, please!," is what they meant, I think. You know what Aureole? I'd so much rather go spend money I don't even have at another restaurant than sit and waste my time in your shitty, pretentious restaurant.

I suppose there were a couple of good things that came out of the time we were there. Each of our first courses were excellent. Brandy had a salad with poached egg, pork belly, and foie gras. The description was much better than that and the flavor and texture were excellent. I had a shortrib ravioli in a truffle celery soup (I think). It was also very excellent. I also got a bottle of 2006 Larkin Cabernet Franc which was, well, unbelievable. Larkin makes excellent wine and this was no exception.

After this generally crap-ass experience, we decided we needed to go to a really awesome place. Something that just couldn't be wrong...The Peppermill Fireside Lounge. This might be the greatest place on earth. It's old Vegas-style down near the Wynn. The bar and restaurant are open 24/7. The lounge is filled with mirrors, pink neon, pink velvet, fire pits, and old music videos...and awesome cocktails with proper glassware. I had one of the best old fashioneds I've ever had. Brandy went for the Scorpion. If you've ever seen the No Reservations episode about Vegas, you'll know what I am talking about. It it huge. And awesome. Big straws, too. They've got really good nachos, too, at the Fireside Lounge, but didn't hit them up this time. I could have stayed there for hours, but that would have gotten ugly...