Daniel Boulud Brasserie in Las Vegas

Every year a select group of friends and I try a new nice restaurant together. Given our shared love for food and each others' company, it makes for a perfect holiday gift to one another. This year, continuing on my Daniel Boulud kick, and since we were all going to be together in Las Vegas during the holidays (for a second or third year in a row), I convinced them to try Daniel Boulud Brasserie.

And everything was stellar (in contrast to the Manresa fiasco of '07, and the lukewarm Bradley Ogden dinner of '08).

We were seated promptly, per our reservation, with a fairly good view of the water feature outside the floor-to-ceiling glass windows, so we were entertained the entire evening. The service was just attentive enough, and well-trained, but unpretentious.

And then there is the FOOD. All my worries that maybe this umpteenth Daniel Boulud restaurant wouldn't live up to original Daniel standards went out the window when we dug into our first courses. The seared foie gras wasn't the best I'd ever had, but it came pretty close and was a beautifully large, plump portion with yummy veggie fixings wading in a shallow pool of light broth/sauce. Indeed everything was generously portioned, from the Caesars salad down to the well-known Daniel Boulud braised short ribs (which was melt-in-your-mouth perfection paired deliciously with my favorite winter veggie, brussel sprouts, on a bed of parsnip puree). The ribeye-for-2 served along side bone marrow (both out-of-this-world good), two sauces and greens was too much for even two grown men with above average appetites! The combination of lobster with apple, celery and hearts of palm was a tasty success, as was the scallops with cauliflower three ways.

And definitely save room for dessert. Great choices include the apple tatin (or anything tatin, I'm sure, since his tatins change seasonally), and the chocolate-peanut bombe.

What made it all the better was how we were welcomed with smiles by everyone, and made comfortable by the staff. Maybe it is just the nature of Las Vegas (versus NY, see below), guaranteeing a much more diverse clientele, but it didn't appear that anyone was treated differently or that there were two classes of diners. Or maybe it was because I and most of my party were in cocktail attire, slightly dressier than the business casual Mark and I had donned for Cafe Boulud (NY) a couple months earlier. In any case, it was a great meal.

These days, it seems you can spend $100/person, following the Michelin guide recommendations, and still be disappointed. (Don't get me started on the Michelin guide, but I will say just this - always cross reference Michelin guide recs with something more reliable, such as Chowhound, NY Mag or even Zagat.) So, it's nice to know there are places like Daniel Boulud Brasserie, that are worth every penny.