Envious Eating at ALEX

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The point of this post is not to review the food of a recent over-the-top meal at ALEX. The reason behind the posting of these tasty snaps has nothing to do with recipe or technique analysis. There will be no vivisection of the vittles, nor any probing of the food/wine pairings.

No, the point of this post is to make you jealous.

And hungry.

Envious of ELV…and  his high-falutin’ lifestyle — eating the best food on the planet night after night? Yeah, that’s the reaction we’re looking for.

But read on.

We at ELV know how well we eat. We know what a privileged position we are in when it comes to enjoying such spectacular food. We understand eating a meal like this is a once a year (or once in a lifetime) proposition for most folks. We constantly fight the urge to take such specialness for granted, and resist becoming inured to the effort and expense it takes to put forth such a spread.

But enough about the solipsistic wars we fight in our little mind. Does this food look )#%&@*)&*^ delicious or what?

And that’s not the half of it. Because the kitchen (cranking on all cylinders with Stratta, Devin Hashimoto and Joseph Leibowitz at the stoves, along with super-sommelier Paolo Barbieri) was strutting its stuff for us this night, ELV and his dining companions (Bruce and Erica Bloch) were treated to three different dishes for every course served. In other words, none of us were ever served the same thing through a complete tasting menu comprised of at least eight separate dishes. That’s 24+ plates of food, cooked, plated and served with perfect timing to three different diners at the same table over a three and a half hour meal.

And did we mention Barbieri did the same thing with wines — matching every individual dish with a different wine for each course? Aye chihuahua! That’s 3x8x3=71 different combinations of food and wine for the table that these pros put out without missing a beat.

Think about that the next time some server can’t get the salad and the soup to the table at the same time.

How were those 71 combinations flavor-wise? Spectacular to say the least, but for once ELV took few notes, didn’t care to think about things too much, and let the beauty of the whole experience wash over him like a sybarite’s erotic dream.

A sybaritic, hedonistic, epicurean, sensualist pleasure-seeker? Yup, that pretty much sums up ELV in a nutshell.

Jealous? You oughta be.

Now excuse me while I finish tonight’s dinner of an overripe peach, an under-ripe banana, stale string cheese, six Oreos and a diet Coke while continuing to type on another Eating Las Vegas post.

ALEX

In the Wynn Hotel and Casino

3131 Las Vegas Blvd. South

Las Vegas, NV 89109

702.248.3463

www.wynnlasvegas.com

7 thoughts on “Envious Eating at ALEX

  1. Every once in a while the stars align (ELV interviews the chef at Alex, ELV owes Erica a dinner and I tell ELV I have never eaten at Alex) and you get to sit down to a dinner that will never be forgotten. This was not a once in a lifetime experience. I eat out a lot and have had amazing meals all over the world (many at the recommendation of ELV). But what I can say is that of all the amazing meals in my life our meal at Alex was one of the most memorable I have ever had. It was course after course of amazing recipes and perfectly executed preparations. Combine that with Paolo pairing amazing wines with each course, at times more than one option because of our slightest hesitation that the pairing might not be perfect and suggesting another and you end up with a truly unforgettable experience. One that I will never forget and by which all future meals will be measured. Oh, and probably the best cheese selection I have had anywhere. Thank you Alex, Paolo and Robert.
    Enjoy every sandwich!!

  2. I ate at Alex last week and had the tasting menu and wine pairings…absolutely unreal, probably the best meal I’ve ever had (very close between Alex and Per Se). I have to ask, how do you get them to make you a meal as ridiculous as the one you got, with different courses for all 3 people? I fear the answer is “you have to be a food critic”, but I figured it’s worth asking.

  3. I really need to find another way to have ELV owe me dinner again. It was truly an amazing meal. I feel extremely blessed to have been able to experience it. As a 21 year old I am sure many of my peers have never had the opportunity to have meal that amazing. I am truly thankful for all things I have been able to experience since I started hanging out with ELV and My Dad, Bruce.

    I would like to add that I started with the tasting menu with the raw oyster. I will eat a lot of things without batting an eye, especially when at dinner with ELV , but I just can’t swallow raw oysters. So I switched with my dad. The staff noticed and without a word switched the our entire tasting menus, not just the one course. Great Service.

  4. What about dessert? I love to hear about the food being served around town, but have quite a sweet tooth and am a little disappointed when a meal like that doesn’t include pictures or descriptions of the desserts.

  5. Ah, I figured, oh well. Thanks for the response. One other question, a bunch of my pictures from the meal came out blurry. It looks like many of the dishes they served you were directly from the tasting menu that I had. Do you have any more pictures from the meal than you posted and if so, would it be possible to get them via email?

  6. Simone

    If you look on ELV article about the cheeses at Alex there are also some pictures of the desserts. I can’t speak for ELV but I enjoyed the desserts.

    Hope that helps some
    -Erica

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