What Happened in Vegas

It all started, really, with a black-and-white floral print bar chair. Anne Marie ducked into Restaurant Charlie at the Palazzo in Vegas and bestowed upon it a 5-star decor rating. Lorri and I, both of us eager to check out a beautiful eating space and Lo eager to find a bathroom, popped in for a look-see. What we were not expecting was a personal greeting from the genteel GM, Nicholas, who offered us a tour of the restaurant and kitchen. I had never seen a professional kitchen before, off-screen anyway, and we were ushered through the etherially white and suprisingly congenial space and then up the stairs to the exclusive "loft" table for 8, which I understand goes for $350 a head. Back in Bar Charlie, Nicholas continued to tell us about the creative pairings of food and beverage offered at RC and introduced us to the expert mixologist, Kerri (whose name I am probably mispelling). I really enjoyed learning that new word: mixologist. Two steps up from bartender, and with good reason as we were about to find out.

This is when things got really fun. Nicholas asks if we're free for the next 15 minutes. Oh, yes! How about a signature coctail? A sparkling melange of champagne, lychee, and something delightfully floral. Might be my favorite drink ever. Eventually we are seated in those floral bar stools for a parade of appetizers and complementary drinks that lasts well over an hour and 15 minutes. Our new best friends Nicholas and Kerri serve us the following (to the best of my memory, plus a little online consultation of the RC menu):

1. Some sort of fish... wish I could remember. Accompanied by a carrot coctail that included something lightly fruity and a saltwater soda.
2. Warm salad of heirloom beets with pickled egg and chrysanthemum, with a tasty, pretty, beety beverage.
3. Cucumber water to cleanse the palate.
4. Dungeness crab salad with sake and rice milk (the sake was in a sorbet) perfectly paired with sweetened rice milk served in a nut-rimmed shot glass.
5. Tuna tartar, imported daily from Japan. No kidding. Framed beautifully by a green pepper puree, mango puree, and yellow puree. (That's the best I can do. Don't remember what the yellow stuff was.) It was salty and rich and complex, and a tango to the tastebuds. Accompanied by a watermelon and basil coctail, refreshingly mellow and a perfect counterpoint to the tuna.
6. Steamed cacao nib cake (translation: chocolate) with sour candied kumquats plus cacao ice cream and tangerine sorbet. Rounded out with a delectable chocolate liqueur. Never again will I pair chocolate with raspberry. Citrus is definitely the fruity queen to chocolate's king.

And this, dear reader, is how three 40-year-old, food-loving, bargain-hunting, non-gambling women hit the jackpot in Vegas. Geeks that we are, we sat at the bar eating, drinking, giggling like schoolgirls, and taking pictures of our food. Photos below. Did I mention that we each received "Spa Cuisine" cookbooks as parting gifts? Viva Las Vegas.

Beet coctail, sweet rice milk, cucumber water, carrot coctail

Anne Mo, Kerri, Nicholas, Lo, Me

Tuna tartar, a feast for the eyes

Lush

Chocolate and citrus, my new fave