The Dish With Dean Explores Las Vegas

From Thursday, September 19-22, 2013

The Dish had the opportunity to share a very good friend's birthday along with six other of his closest friends. 

A very Happy Birthday goes out to 

Mr. Dym. 

We will always remember this special birthday!

Thanks for inviting us to share it with you!

Flying into Vegas from NY was a long drawn out flight. I had a window seat and had the pleasure of sitting next to "Leo" from Bayridge, Brooklyn. Turns out Leo is the owner of an Italian restaurant in Brooklyn. 

At a later date I will be there to sample his specialties. 

The trip began late Thursday night as we had a reservation at Mesa Grill.

 Starting off with cocktails this was a great place to start the trip. The birthday boy had a Ribeye Steak. I asked why he ordered this when we were clearly going to be visiting a steak house at some point in our journey. 

He said he was "hungry."

The steak was as expected marbleized and served at just the right temperature.

 Our server recommended the Halibut.

Some of us ordered this and the fish was so flaky, it just fell onto the fork and melted in your mouth. It was served with a blue corn crust accompanied by a warm salsa, Sweet tomatoes and olives. 

This dinner was clearly a blur to me because we were traveling for so many hours. I do know that the wine chosen for this meal was a Russian River Pinot Noir.

 The one downside of the Mesa Grill was that Mr. Yelly ordered the Mango and Spice crusted Tuna Steak.

 

This dish came out exactly as it should have been served except that Mr. Yelly wanted it more rare than "black and blue".

Needless to say the dish went back to the kitchen and after not returning to the table during a 30 minute wait, we asked the server to forget it. He apologized and said they would make a new one which was declined.  

Mr. Yelly did not eat dinner this evening.

My personal assumption of Mesa Grill Las Vegas is typical of Vegas. The food is great and that comes from the executive chef. 

Bobby Flay always pays special attention the the quality and design of his dishes. Not being present at all his restaurants is always an issue with the service. Although our server was attentive at first, in a place like this you are only a number and there is no personal attention. Even in a place as large as this, put a smile on your face and fake it. Make believe that the people you are serving are the only people in the place. A little sugar goes a long way.

On to the next dinner adventure!

Enjoy from

"The Dish With Dean"