 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
Medici Café and Terrace at the Ritz Carlton By: The Lady of The Night Out Why should you eat at the Medici Cafe? With such a wealth of fine dining options in LVNV, I know you’re going to ask me why you should drive 30 minutes in the heat out to Lake Las Vegas for a meal. The answer is simple: the food is worth it. The Ritz Carlton hotel knew it had to offer over-the-top food and stupendous service to entice us locals to make the trek. And that’s just what it does. The fare is not experimental or edgy. Instead, the hotel’s fine dining room, the Medici Café and Terrace, serves the usual suspects, just ratcheted up a notch. For example, I’ll guarantee you won’t find ribs whose meat is as tender and flavorful as a filet anywhere else in town. Who Should Eat at the Medici Cafe?
Who shouldn’t eat at the Medici Cafe?
Ok, so what’s the food like? The cream in the lobster risotto was still bubbling when it reached our table. Parmesan and Bel Paese, a buttery Italian cheese, added the requisite cheesy gooiness to the rice, which was as crunchy as nuts. And the lobster: luscious. Only meat from the claws. Perfectly chewy—just like the rice. This risotto had a secret ingredient: vanilla! Who would have thunk it! The halibut, rolled into a log, flaked like French pastry. Tap it with a fork and it falls apart into delectable squares. The light-as-air fish was brought down to earth by flecks of ham and truffles. The chef’s signature dish is beef ribs. But you’d never guess this meat came from a rib. Chef Jeremy cooks these babies over a slow fire to make them as tender as a brisket. Chanterelles – those musky fancy mushrooms -- tell you this ain’t no barbecue. The rich dark brown sauce, with cascading depths of flavor, is sauced with red wine. The heirloom tomato salad with goat cheese looks like a Matisse still life. The yellow tomatoes were the size of eggplants. The restaurant makes its own goat cheese – fluffy cloud-like balls of white with just a winch of tartness. Lines of balsamic vinegar drizzled down the sides made the goat cheese look like a zebra. The salad was a refreshing way to wake up the taste buds. The crab salad only uses the meat from the females because the meat is sweeter. (I wonder if the male crabs would agree.) The pearly meat was shaped into a cube, then topped with slices of grapefruit for a new take on sweet and sour. A lovely sauce Louis – the classic cold seafood covering made from mayonnaise, chili sauce, and lemon juice, added an orange outburst. Dessert in the desert: The restaurant serves a pre-dessert to cleanse the palate. Ours was an exotic lichee and mango sorbet that was as refreshing as a mountain stream. Don’t miss the three layer mound of chocolate cake. The foundation is a cinnamon cookie and the mortar is raspberry vanilla. A snowfall of cocoa left a light dusting. Cinnamon, chocolate and raspberry – the three flavors acted like a well-cut diamond – different flavors kept bouncing off the facets. Even the coffee was unusual. No need for a sugar bowl. There were two cubes already on the spoon – one brown, one white. A toothsome biscotti kept the java company. History: The history of the Ritz Carlton goes back to legendary hotelier Cesar Ritz, who opened the Ritz in Paris and the Charlton in London in the late 1890s. The first Ritz Carlton in America was in Boston, the first hotel in America to have a private bath in every room. Every Ritz-Carlton features the signature blue cobalt goblets in its dining room. Blue glass was considered a status symbol in 1920s Boston. Glass imported from Europe turned blue thanks to the chemicals in the Boston air. Blue glass meant you had enough money to import it. The Lake Las Vegas property is the newest in the luxury hotel chain. It’s No. 50. The last word: The Medicis were a wealthy and powerful family in Florence in the 13th century who could afford to “put on the Ritz.” Fortunately for LVNV, you don’t have to be a Medici or have a bank account like one to feel like royalty at the Medici Café and Terrace. As for the food – one bite will melt away the miles. Where is it? Medici Café and Terrace is located at the lower level of the Ritz Carlton Hotel at Lake Las Vegas. The telephone number is 702.567.4700. The address is 1610 Lake Las Vegas Parkway in Henderson.  By: The Culinary Curmudgeon One of the great things about casinos – other than the fact that they have gaming – is that they allocate a good portion of their real estate to that other important pleasure in life: food. Station Casinos alone must have150 restaurants under its roofs. Living in LVNV means you never have to drive for days to enjoy a great meal. Which is why I couldn’t believe Miss B asked me to drive to Lake Las Vegas to eat some fancy ribs! The only reason that would entice me to drive half way to Arizona is the possibility that Celine Dion and her family might be at the next table. I know she has her own chef, but hey, you’ve got to get out of the house every now and then. The Lady of the Night Out also kept saying the name “Daniel” over and over in that reverential tone. I couldn’t understand what the star of “The Last of the Mohicans” and “Gangs of New York” had to do with the Medici Café. Britney had her own restaurant, so why not Daniel? It turns out Daniel is some famous chef in New York City. Once again I was cheated out of a glimpse of the glitterati. Do catch a glimpse of the entertainment in the lobby after your fine repast. When we were there, George Bugatti was performing up close and personal. No stage or anything. Singing right there in the middle of the chairs. Maybe Sir Paul can be the next entertainer. If you’ve been married a long time, the only day to take the Hausfrau to the Medici Café is on Mother’s Day. Waiters there like Jacques bowed deeply and kissed her hand before pulling out her chair. She expects that kind of treatment on Mother’s Day, knowing you’ll forget the niceties on Monday. But if you go any other day, she’ll expect you to soak up some of that Gallic charm and do that stuff at home. No way! The nicest I get is driving forever so she can sample some homemade goat cheese. And just how old do you have to be to order from the kid’s menu? Forget all that fancy stuff like heirloom tomatoes. I haven’t had a professionally prepared s’more in ages. Aired 09 May 2003
Night Out Las Vegas' Other Reviews - |
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Copyright © 2003, Night Out Las Vegas, All Rights Reserved |
