The triumphant, if slightly inconspicuous, return

When you’re a busy law student who has the bright idea to start a blog with your equally busy law school friend, a lot can happen over the course of a year. You can both graduate. You can both spend months on end studying for, and ultimately pass the bar. You can both get jobs, and then one of you can move away. You can swear that you’re going to make this blog work as one that specializes in both Northern and Southern Nevada, and maybe even those smaller cities in between. Despite all evidence to the contrary, I still hold out hope that we’ll be able to work something out. 

In the mean time, last night I had a dining experience that was so incredible that I was compelled to dust off the old keyboard and log in to the blog. Frankly, it was a good thing that I had my password saved, because I’m not sure that I would have remembered it off the top of my head.

Yesterday marked my 33rd birthday, though I don’t feel a day over 32. The last week has been amazing – my wonderful friends treated me to lunch on two separate occasions, I got a free latte from one of my favorite coffee shops, my manicurist gave me a discount…this really has been a wonderful week.

The culmination of this great time was my birthday dinner. For years, I’ve been hounding the Hubster to take me to Sage at the Aria Resort Hotel & Casino, and last night I finally got my way. After being seated and selecting the four-course Signature Tasting Menu, we were presented with a complimentary amuse bouche – artichoke puree, lamb tartar, and parsnip crisp.

Small bite with a huge flavor.

The puree was lush and creamy, the lamb was distinct and flavorful, and the parsnip was the perfect counterpart to the smooth textures of the underlying components. It was the perfect introduction to the spectacular meal that was yet to come.

 

Almost too much to handle – almost.

For my first course, I ordered the wagyu tartar with slow poached egg yolk, crushed caper aioli, pickled mustard seed, and crispy chocolate. This was one of the most decadent, rich, incredible dishes I’ve ever tried. It was served with buttery toast points, as if I needed more reason to start looking for a good cardiologist. Everything about this dish played into my love of creating the perfect bite, with the combination of fresh radish and chocolate being the perfect punctuation to a complex dish. 

The Hubster ordered what I thought might be a boring beet salad, but not only was it (a) surprisingly delicious and interesting, and (b) beautiful to look it, it was also (c) gone faster than I could take a photo. Honestly, for the rest of this post, just insert (c) for everything the Hubster ate.

The second course was something my friend recommended – scallops with braised oxtail, wild mushrooms, and salted caramel reduction.

Objects in the photo are actually as large as they appear.

Those gigantic scallops were perfectly seared and wonderful, but no joke, as the Hubster surmised, they were nearly an impediment in the dish. I’m not ashamed to admit that I would have taken a big bowl of the sauce with some bread and been perfectly content. That’s how amazing the sauce was. I practically licked the plate.

Before I can even talk about the third course, I have to explain something about my upbringing. My grandmother is German, and therefore, I am no stranger to sauerkraut. In fact, one dish that was a staple in the house was pork ribs or chops in the slow cooker with sauerkraut. It may be a long time staple of my childhood, but it is also one of my least favorite dishes of all time. 

So imagine my surprise when our third course, bacon wrapped Iberico pork loin with celery root panna cotta, asparagus, and smoked apple slaw had me immediately thinking back to childhood, and my hated dish. 

The childhood impostor.

The pork was sweet and luscious, with just the right salty note from the bacon. The celery root panna cotta was the upscale callback to to the mashed potatoes we would have with grandma’s pork chops. The smoked apple slaw was a sophisticated take on traditional sauerkraut. This dish was everything I grew up with, nothing like I had ever tasted, and it was incredible.

Sometimes, with a meal this good, dessert is an afterthought or a disappointment. Not the case here. Chocolate-Earl Grey panna cotta, scalded milk gelato, crisp madelines, and blackberries – good to the last painstakingly designed perfect bite.

Whoa. Just…whoa.

As if we hadn’t been spoiled enough over the course of this meal, we were presented with a hot white chocolate basil soup to complete our experience. The combination may have sounded strange, but it was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever tasted.

Despite the lengthy rambling nature of this post, I hope that it will be the first of many moving forward. And, because I’ve basically taken over the blog, I hope that L will chime in as soon as inspiration strikes.

Once upon a time…

…there were two students who both liked food.  And when I say “liked” food, I mean really liked food.  L. has made it a point to visit every hole-in-the-wall, highly rated restaurant in the greater metro area, and I have Restaurant Week marked as a holiday on my calendar.  Eventually we realized what we had in common, and after a brilliant blog-title suggestion from another friend, L. and I set out to write a food blog.  After all, we reasoned, L. has journalism experience, and I (much to the Hubster’s chagrin) document practically every dining experience I have.  What could possibly be a better idea than a co-written dining blog?  So off we went to WordPress, registering the blog name and gearing up for the great summer of posting ahead.

And then we remembered another important thing we both have in common – we’re not really regular students.  We’re law students, meaning that every time we think we have free time, we’re sorely mistaken.  That free time is quickly filled with assignments, reading, work, family, or friends.  And so, the great blogging summer of 2012 came and went with nary a blog entry, as Arbitrary & Delicious sat empty.

Until now that is.  Yes, that’s right, what better time to actually write the blog we’ve started than during our third and final year of school?

Before I get started, let me just apologize in advance for my crappy photography skills.  As I mentioned, the Hubster is not fully on board with my need to document awesome meals, so I don’t drag a camera when I go out – I surreptitiously sneak out the phone to try to stay inconspicuous…or not, when the flash is required in super-dark places.  But yeah, no pro photos here.

Unfortunately (though fortunately for my bank account), I’ve only had the chance to hit up two Restaurant Week places this time around.  If you don’t know, RW is a time when a variety of places create special three- and four-course menus for certain price levels, usually between $20.12 – $50.12/person.  If you dine at one of these establishments and select these special menus, a portion of your cost is donated to Three Square Food Bank.  Honestly, it’s a great way to try new places, and especially to try places that you wouldn’t normally be able to afford.

This was the first time I was able to do a breakfast menu, at the suggestion of my supervisor, no less!  Instead of meeting at the office, we met at Morels French Steakhouse & Bistro at the Palazzo hotel.  Morels offered a $20.12 three-course breakfast, starting with a fresh fruit plate, and ending with house-made jelly donuts.  You were able to select your second course, which was essentially your main breakfast: All-American (eggs, bacon/sausage/ham, hashbrowns, & toast), Banana-Mascarpone Stuffed French Toast, Classic Benedict, or Huevos Rancheros.  Forgetting this was a French restaurant, I went with the Huevos Rancheros.

Fresh Fruit Plate at Morels

Let’s be honest here…it’s hard to screw up a fruit plate.  If you serve seasonal fruit that’s ripe, you’ve got a winner.  So this was a great plate.  Fresh, sweet, and a little tart, it was a great way to wake up the palate.  I didn’t anticipate there being yogurt with the fruit, so that was actually a nice surprise.  Even better was the flavor – not too tart, not to watery, just perfectly vanilla.

When the second course came out I was super-excited.  I’m a Texas girl, so Huevos Rancheros are old hat, and one of my favorite breakfast entrees.  I love the classic interplay of the spiciness of the sauce, creaminess of the eggs, and earthiness of the beans.  Morels is definitely a more up-scale version of what I’m used to, and I missed the normal heat you get in most places.  That’s not to say this version wasn’t delicious, because it certainly was.  The perfectly poached (not over-easy) egg laid on a bed of creamy and delicious black beans, smothered in a nice tomato sauce, topped with sour cream, micro greens, avocado, and crispy tortilla strips.  The whole thing was bedded atop a thick and crisp tostada shell, and it was a great plate overall.  Just not quite what I was expecting.

Huevos Rancheros…French-style.

I had kind of forgotten, amidst the fruit, egg, and coffee-goodness that I had donuts coming!  When they came out I was kind of excited, but mostly relieved that “donuts” actually meant donut holes.  I’m not sure I would have made it through the whole thing otherwise…though I would certainly have tried. 😉

Jelly-donut holes of awesomeness

Do you see those little holes of deliciousness?  And that whipped cream of awesomesauce?  Holy crap is what I’m trying to say.  Those were seriously amazing, and I would have licked that serving dish of cream clean if I could have figured out how to do it in a way that wasn’t crass and how to fit my head in it.

Overall, Morels had a pretty great breakfast, all high-quality ingredients put together in tasty ways.  However, should you decide to partake in a Restaurant Week breakfast menu, let me give you some advice…do NOT, under any circumstances, do a three-course breakfast if you have to go to the office afterward.  I almost fell asleep at my desk at multiple points during the day, almost succumbing to a food coma as I worked on my assignments.

With Restaurant Week winding down, I knew I wanted to hit at least one more spot before it ended.  Hubster and I had tickets to the matinee showing of WICKED at the Smith Center, so I figured I would find a place for dinner after the show.  I happened upon the three-course dinner at Mood at the Artisan Hotel for $30.12/person, and when I mentioned the desserts, Hubster was totally and completely on board.  Given that he’s not a huge sweets fan, that meant something.

We had never been to the Artisan Hotel before, and I’m not sure what I was expecting.  The surrounding area is…not the best.  Put it this way; we parked in the “self-park” lot, across from the hotel, which was a dirt lot next to a Gentlemen’s “Cabaret” advertising in-house tattooing.  Once you cross over to the hotel, the entry is completely tree-lined, blocking out any view of the highways that surround the location.

The inside of the hotel and restaurant are very dimly lit, covered in oil paintings and prints of famous artwork.  My favorite part was being directed to the restaurant “just past the Mona Lisa in the corner.”  We were there fairly early, around 5:30, and I had the distinct impression that this was more of a late-night dining spot.  We were the only two in the whole restaurant for most of the meal, but the staff was friendly, the chairs were comfortable, and the wine was flowing.  We both started with the mixed green salad, which had a nice vinaigrette on it, and I ordered the blackened salmon pasta, while Hubster ordered the pork chops with purple potato mash.

Mood at the Artisan – Seriously…so good.

Apologies in advance for the photo quality.  The pics are going to belie the quality of food because of the crazy flash on the phone, and the super-dark atmosphere of the restaurant.  No matter how it looks. that was some of the best restaurant salmon I’ve had.  It was lightly blackened, and nicely moist inside.  The flavor was phenomenal, and not fishy at all.  And I don’t care what Scott Conant says…I LOVE cheese with my pasta, regardless of whether there’s seafood involved.  The interplay of the sweet red peppers, savory parmesan shavings, and lovely fish made for a dish that I finished before I knew what happened.  My intention to take some home promptly went out the window.

Grilled chops with purple mash

From what I could tell, the pork chops were apparently tasty, but I didn’t reach over for fear of losing a finger.  By the time Hubster offered me some purple mash (which he described as “pleasantly sweet”), I was stuffed full of pasta and waiting for dessert.  I’ll take his word for it that everything was awesome.

Dessert was what had decided our plan for dinner in the first place, so I was definitely looking forward to it.  The choices were Bourbon Pecan Pie and Ginger-Apple Crisp, and we ordered one of each.  The pecan pie disappeared so fast I couldn’t snap a pic, but I did get a bite.  Holy moly…that was a good pie!!

The apple crisp was amazing.  I love ginger, so the bite of ginger was a welcome addition to a homey dessert.  I think I’m going to try grating fresh ginger into the next apple dessert that I make because it just adds another layer of flavor that brightens up the whole dish.  I loved the crunchy crumb topping on it as well.  Overall, it was just a great meal in a slightly weird but enjoyable atmosphere.

Nomnomnom…

So after a slow start, I feel like I’ve written an epic novel of a post.  So sorry for that…hopefully future posts will be slightly more brief, unless they’re anything like the law school definition of a brief, which is never brief.  In the future we’ll have more restaurant write-ups, and probably some home-cooked meals and recipes along the way.  The real goal for now, however, is to make sure that a second post makes it up before graduation.

Until next time… -J.

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