?> {"id":869,"date":"2009-07-11T19:34:27","date_gmt":"2009-07-11T23:34:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.twofatbellies.com\/?p=869"},"modified":"2009-08-19T20:35:07","modified_gmt":"2009-08-20T00:35:07","slug":"vegas-reprise-day-1-fleur-de-lys","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.twofatbellies.com\/2009\/07\/vegas-reprise-day-1-fleur-de-lys\/","title":{"rendered":"Vegas Reprise Day 1 – Fleur de Lys"},"content":{"rendered":"
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I don\u2019t presume to know what Hubert Keller is like in real life, but if his guest judging stints on Top Chef season 1 and his own performance in the first episode of Top Chef Masters are any indication, I think he would have been disappointed to know how much Josh and I disliked the meal we had at his Fleur de Lys restaurant in Mandalay Bay. From beginning to end, it was one misstep after another. Granted, we had very high hopes for this dinner and perhaps our own hype brought greater disappointment.<\/p>\n
We arrived at Fleur de Lys promptly at 7 pm for our reservation, which Josh made on Open Table. We were dressed nicely, as the confirmation email Josh received stated that jackets are optional, therefore indicating that jackets are preferred, but not required, and implying that the dress code is more formal than casual. When we walked in, we were surprised to see people wearing jeans and tank tops and t-shirts, but we shrugged that off. So why, then, were we led to the furthest table in the back of the room, behind the wine service station and the server prep station? We were the only party seated back there, banished in Siberia where if they had drawn the curtain dividing the area we were in from the main dining room, we would be totally separated from everyone else. The kicker was that the main part of the dining room remained almost empty throughout our meal, only filling up toward the end of our four-course dinner. There were certainly more than enough empty two-tops to accommodate us, but somehow we were deemed unworthy to sit with everyone else.<\/p>\n
Alas, I\u2019m not one to make a scene so we chose to ignore the slight and accepted our seats without a peep. I tried to look at the bright side, literally, as the lighting in the back area was much brighter than in the main dining room so I could take pictures of our food more easily. And we were here for the food, after all. Surely the meal could only get better from this point on, right? Oh no.<\/p>\n
Our waiter dropped off several different menus, including the wine list, and gave us approximately two minutes to look everything through before he was upon us to take our order. There was an entire menu that I hadn\u2019t even gotten to yet, so I have no idea what was listed in it. We asked for a bit more time, as we were debating ordering a la carte or partaking in the four-course Elegance menu, and he generously gave us an extra minute before coming back again. He stood there listening as Josh and I tried to discuss our options, finally deciding on the $89 Elegance menu and the accompanying wine pairings. Except for the second course, which had three choices, all the courses in the Elegance menu only had two options, so we asked for one of each. For the second course, we asked his opinion about which two to order, and he kind of mumbled and hedged before recommending the salmon and the veal and potato raviolis, but without really providing a reason why. He didn\u2019t seem too familiar with the menu and had to read over my shoulder to see the descriptions.<\/p>\n
He then tried to dissuade us from ordering the wine pairings, his reason being that we had ordered different things from the Elegance menu so we would each be receiving different wines. Isn\u2019t that the point of a wine pairing? To match specifically with what you ordered? He suggested we simply order a bottle of wine, but since our meal ran the gamut from fish to red meat, one bottle of wine to cover all the courses didn\u2019t seem sensible to us. We pressed on, saying that we intended to swap plates during each course and would swap wines as well. Looking back, perhaps he knew that the pairing simply wasn\u2019t very good, but the reasoning he gave us for why we shouldn\u2019t do the pairing made absolutely no sense. If the pairings were no good, he should have been honest about it, rather than trying to offer a flimsy explanation. And what is a restaurant like Fleur de Lys doing offering bad wine pairings that don\u2019t actually match the food? The pairings weren\u2019t cheap either, at $60 a person. It was very disappointing, and I couldn\u2019t help but feel ripped off.<\/p>\n
First out was our amuse bouche, a piece of halibut tempura on top of potato salad, with a sauce of cayenne cr\u00e8me fraiche on the side. This was actually really delicious \u2013 crispy and creamy and spicy all at the same time. My mood lifted, if just for a second, thinking that we were in for a good meal.<\/p>\n
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