Restaurant News
Fleur de Lys...
Executive chef Hubert Keller opened this fine dining establishment in the Mandalay Bay Hotel during the fall of 2004. Chef Keller draws upon his lifetime of culinary excellence to make Fleur de Lys one of the most inviting dining experiences in Las Vegas. He learned his skills cooking as an apprentice under many of the greatest French chefs. He worked as high chef in France and South America, and in 1982 moved to San Francisco. There, he opened one of the best known French restaurants in that city by the Bay, Fleur de Lys. Aware of his reputation and excellence, Mandalay Bay invited him to open a Fleur de Lys in Las Vegas.
Another executive chef, Laurent Pillard, acts as chef de cuisine on a nightly basis. Chef Pillard grew up in France. He has extensive experience and background in preparing French cuisine, receiving training in the culinary arts from some of the finest French chefs. He has worked as chef at numerous Michelin star restaurants around the globe.
The pairing of these two culinary masters has resulted in a varied and intriguing menu that should satisfy even the most critical gourmet. The menu features three and four course meals, and a chef’s menu. All menus include an appetizer and a desert. The three course meal includes one entrée’, the four course two entrees’ and for the chef’s menu. The diner should acquire about the chef’s menu upon ordering, as I was informed it can change depending on the night. Some of the entrees available include oven roasted boneless quail brest, smoked salmon raviolis, Kobe beef Fleur burger, ribeye steak, filet mignon, and surf and turf.
On the night I dined at Fleur de Lys, I sampled the tuna and the lobster salad appetizers. A longtime fan of sushi, I found the tuna appetizer the best tasting cold fish dish I had ever tasted. I also sampled the prime ribeye steak and the turf and surf. The ribeye came with a red wine reduction sauce, plus a plethora of extras that you could apply to the meat at the table, such as home made mustard (delicious). The turf and surf includes a filet mignon, cooked to perfection, and a very small piece of lobster served upon the top of the filet. Both entrees also came with some very tasty side dishes, including some garlic potatoes cooked with leeks, and some tiny white mushrooms.
The chef capped the meal by serving some very creative and delicious deserts. Although Fleur de Lys does have a souffle’, on the night I dined there, we ordered the more healthy deserts. The menu seems to specialize in these, focusing on fruits, sorbets, and light pastries. The deserts should win an award for innovation. My desert included cubes of watermelon, decorated with whip cream to appear as gambling dice, in keeping with the spirit of Las Vegas.
For wine lovers, Fleur de Lys offers a dizzying array of possibilities from its wine list, which includes over 900 bottles of wine from all over the globe. As a French restaurant, it comes as no surprise that the list features some great selections of some of the finest wines from that country, including many vintages of Domaine de la Romanee-Romanee-Conti vineyard (always very expensive and very rare), wines from every major appellation in Bordeaux (including many first growths from better vintages), six vintages of Chateau Petrus, and a nice variety of red wine from the Rhone Valley and white wines from Burgundy and the Loire Valley. The list also includes some mind-blowing California wines, including the hard find Araujo, Harlan, Screaming Eagle and Bryant estates. Italian wine lovers may choose quality wines from Piedmont, Tuscany, and a nice selection of Angelo Gaja wines. For wine collectors hoping to enjoy a gourmet dinner with a bottle of wine from their own collection, Fleur de Lys allows carry-in bottles with a corkage fee of $35.00. This represents the standard policy of restaurants located on the Las Vegas strip.
Diners will also appreciate the stunning ambience created by renowned interior decorator Stanlee Gatti. Cultured stone lines the walls, which soar some thirty feet to the ceilings in the main dining room. The room design includes a live floral display of some 3,000 live roses imbedded in the largest wall area, in the shape of a giant leaf. The staff checks the roses daily to keep each individual rose fresh. Each rose is individually contained in a glass vial to keep it fresh, and guests may request a rose, complete with its glass vial, upon leaving the restaurant. Mr. Gatti located the wine cellar upstairs, behind glass and visible to the diner’s below. The cellar provides one table for customers who want a very private and exclusive dining experience. Diners opting for this table can enjoy food and wine perched above the elegant dining room below, while sitting among racks brimming with thousands of bottles of the establishment’s excellent wines. This table has seating for four, and a minimum charge of $500.00 for items ordered from the menu. Both food and wine apply to this minimum. One should reserve this table well in advance.
All this excellence comes at a dear price. Fleur de Lys offers the three and four course dinners at $79.00 and $89.00, respectively, and the chef’s menu at $120.00. Certain entrees on the three and four course options have a surcharge in addition to the base price. You may choose to order a la carte, but this does not really save much expense, and you miss out on the chef’s creative and delicious appetizers, deserts, etc. I recommend putting cost considerations aside and indulging in a meal of culinary delight in a superb setting. Call the Mandalay Bay at (702)632-7777 or go to their website at mandalaybay.com for reservations.
Sonoma Cellar Steakhouse...
Probably the premier restaurant of the Sunset Station Casino, the Sonoma Cellar Steakhouse offers a nice dining venue for steak or seafood. Tucked away from the gaming area, towards the rear of the casino, the restaurant provides a respite from all the nearby gambling action. It has a comfortable ambience, with soft lighting, elegant decor and a helpful, friendly staff.
The restaurant takes pride in serving a wide selection beef and seafood entrees. Their menu of high quality beef, all USDA prime and dry aged, includes filet mignon, porterhouse, pan-seared ribeye, and bone-in New York steak. Their seafood selections include king salmon, Pacific swordfish, Australian lobster tail, and Alaskan king crab legs. The steaks range in price from $26 to $48.00. The seafood entrees cost between $28.00 to $58.00. For starters, the menu features an array of appetizers and good selection of salads at reasonable prices.
Definitely a wine friendly restaurant, Sonoma Cellar has a comprehensive wine list that includes a very nice selection of red and white California wine at reasonable prices. For example, the wine list offers the 2000 Chateau St. Jean Cinq Cepages for $135.00 per bottle, and the 2001 Cardinale for $165.00. That’s only about fifty percent above retail, almost unheard of for restaurant pricing. Of course, they also carry less expensive wines, with chardonnays and cabernets beginning at $34.00. House policy allows patrons to carry in wine for a very modest corkage fee of $15.00, increased to $25.00 if the bottle appears on the wine list. This makes the restaurant a great fit for anyone who wants to enjoy a bottle of wine from his or her private collection with a great steak, but does not feel like firing up the grill.
Every month, the restaurant hosts a wine dinner where David Kellaway, a certified master chef, prepares a meal paired with appropriate wines chosen by a master sommelier, Larry O’Brien. Mr. O’Brien explains his choice of wines and remains present throughout the dinner to answer wine related questions. It makes for a unique and enjoyable evening, and at $95.00 for the dinner, including gratuity, quite a bargain as well. Not a common thing while dining out in Las Vegas these days...
The main dining room at Fleur de Lys...
