Steve
10-02-2005, 07:36 AM
Mix-ed bag
Alain Ducasse's new dining spot in THEhotel offers so-so food, subpar service
BY AL MANCINI
When world-renowned chef Alain Ducasse opened his eponymous New York City restaurant several years ago, it seemed to many New Yorkers that he was more concerned with keeping out the riff-raff than with creating the city's best meals. With dinners starting at $140 to $150 without drinks, and tasting menus priced well above $200, the place was at least twice as expensive as any of the city's finest restaurants. As a result, regular folks who might save up for months to enjoy a special occasion at a great restaurant were pretty much shut out, reserving the place for the true money-is-no-object crowd. So when I heard Ducasse was setting up shop here in Vegas, opening Mix at the top of Mandalay Bay's new tower, I was determined to bum-rush his show.
Mix is a bit less cost-prohibitive than Ducasse's New York snob-a-torium. And when Mandalay Bay recently invited members of the press to sample the food at three of its newest fine dining establishments, everyone at Mix was extremely polite to me, despite my Mohawk, facial piercings and tattoos. But while chefs Hubert Keller of Fleur de Lys and Rick Moonen of RM Seafood were both on hand to meet and hang out with journalists that evening, Ducasse was conspicuously absent, further convincing me that he's a man who considers himself too good for the likes of me. So I was curious to see how I'd be treated if I spruced myself up a bit and returned, without the minimal cover that my CityLife gig at times provides. What I found among the great view and striking décor were exorbitant prices, hit-and-miss food and poor service.
My visit began with a backup at the reservation podium that left me waiting for five minutes or more before anyone took my name, and another five before I was seated. The room is decorated to resemble a more whimsical version of the Korova Milk Bar in Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange. Shiny white surfaces abound, standard tables sit next to semi-enclosed pods that seat parties of up to four and strings of hand-blown glass spheres hang from the edges of the round second-floor dining area, vaguely reminiscent of a giant overflowing champagne glass. It's a busy motif that somehow manages to steal attention from the phenomenal view that Mix has to offer.
The diverse menu ranges from contemporary to classic French and American dishes accented with various ethnic touches. It offers a handful of high-end comfort foods such as shrimp cocktail ($22) and winter fruits and vegetables with pork belly ($18) in the appetizer section; an entrée of pork en cocotte served with grits, barbecue sauce and corn bread ($29); a side dish of elbow pasta in gruyere cheese with ham and black truffle ($10); and desserts like the Mix candy bar ($9). They sit alongside more exotic options like beef Thai salad with mango and green papaya ($20); seafood youm koumg hot and spicy soup ($22); and a pressed chicken appetizer served with black truffles and foie gras ($28). It's the price column, however, that's most likely to grab your attention at first glance. We're talking $55 for roasted lobster "au curry" with coconut basmati rice, $48 for bison tenderloin au poivre and $32 for fricassee of guinea hen with couscous.
I began with bluefin tuna tartare ($20) and progressed to striped bass over spinach and white mushrooms in a champagne reduction ($32), while my wife started with shrimp cocktail and moved on to the beef tenderloin Rossini ($55). My starter was above average but unremarkable, while my main course was phenomenal. But my wife's large shrimp (served over greens with a horseradish and tomato syrup) had a strong fishy taste that was so overpowering she finished less than half of them. Her steak, however, was the most delicious and decadent piece of beef either of us has ever tasted, topped with a monstrous piece of foie gras and shaved black truffles and coated in a rich reduction. Our shared side of elbow pasta was nothing more than below-average mac 'n' cheese.
We never got the chance to alert anyone that the shrimp were less than fresh, however, because nobody ever asked us how our meal was. That was the tip of the bad-service iceberg. Servers forgot our drink orders throughout the night, and when it was time to leave, our waiter never thought to return the coat my wife had checked when we sat down, rushing off with the credit-card receipt before we could ask.
Apparently, my money was considerably more welcome at Mix than I was. Having parted with plenty of it to sample the Alain Ducasse experience, I can assure you that neither of us will return.
Mix
3950 Las Vegas Blvd. South
In THEhotel at Mandalay Bay
702-632-9500
http://www.lvcitylife.com/articles/2005/03/25/dining_out/dining.txt (http://)
Alain Ducasse's new dining spot in THEhotel offers so-so food, subpar service
BY AL MANCINI
When world-renowned chef Alain Ducasse opened his eponymous New York City restaurant several years ago, it seemed to many New Yorkers that he was more concerned with keeping out the riff-raff than with creating the city's best meals. With dinners starting at $140 to $150 without drinks, and tasting menus priced well above $200, the place was at least twice as expensive as any of the city's finest restaurants. As a result, regular folks who might save up for months to enjoy a special occasion at a great restaurant were pretty much shut out, reserving the place for the true money-is-no-object crowd. So when I heard Ducasse was setting up shop here in Vegas, opening Mix at the top of Mandalay Bay's new tower, I was determined to bum-rush his show.
Mix is a bit less cost-prohibitive than Ducasse's New York snob-a-torium. And when Mandalay Bay recently invited members of the press to sample the food at three of its newest fine dining establishments, everyone at Mix was extremely polite to me, despite my Mohawk, facial piercings and tattoos. But while chefs Hubert Keller of Fleur de Lys and Rick Moonen of RM Seafood were both on hand to meet and hang out with journalists that evening, Ducasse was conspicuously absent, further convincing me that he's a man who considers himself too good for the likes of me. So I was curious to see how I'd be treated if I spruced myself up a bit and returned, without the minimal cover that my CityLife gig at times provides. What I found among the great view and striking décor were exorbitant prices, hit-and-miss food and poor service.
My visit began with a backup at the reservation podium that left me waiting for five minutes or more before anyone took my name, and another five before I was seated. The room is decorated to resemble a more whimsical version of the Korova Milk Bar in Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange. Shiny white surfaces abound, standard tables sit next to semi-enclosed pods that seat parties of up to four and strings of hand-blown glass spheres hang from the edges of the round second-floor dining area, vaguely reminiscent of a giant overflowing champagne glass. It's a busy motif that somehow manages to steal attention from the phenomenal view that Mix has to offer.
The diverse menu ranges from contemporary to classic French and American dishes accented with various ethnic touches. It offers a handful of high-end comfort foods such as shrimp cocktail ($22) and winter fruits and vegetables with pork belly ($18) in the appetizer section; an entrée of pork en cocotte served with grits, barbecue sauce and corn bread ($29); a side dish of elbow pasta in gruyere cheese with ham and black truffle ($10); and desserts like the Mix candy bar ($9). They sit alongside more exotic options like beef Thai salad with mango and green papaya ($20); seafood youm koumg hot and spicy soup ($22); and a pressed chicken appetizer served with black truffles and foie gras ($28). It's the price column, however, that's most likely to grab your attention at first glance. We're talking $55 for roasted lobster "au curry" with coconut basmati rice, $48 for bison tenderloin au poivre and $32 for fricassee of guinea hen with couscous.
I began with bluefin tuna tartare ($20) and progressed to striped bass over spinach and white mushrooms in a champagne reduction ($32), while my wife started with shrimp cocktail and moved on to the beef tenderloin Rossini ($55). My starter was above average but unremarkable, while my main course was phenomenal. But my wife's large shrimp (served over greens with a horseradish and tomato syrup) had a strong fishy taste that was so overpowering she finished less than half of them. Her steak, however, was the most delicious and decadent piece of beef either of us has ever tasted, topped with a monstrous piece of foie gras and shaved black truffles and coated in a rich reduction. Our shared side of elbow pasta was nothing more than below-average mac 'n' cheese.
We never got the chance to alert anyone that the shrimp were less than fresh, however, because nobody ever asked us how our meal was. That was the tip of the bad-service iceberg. Servers forgot our drink orders throughout the night, and when it was time to leave, our waiter never thought to return the coat my wife had checked when we sat down, rushing off with the credit-card receipt before we could ask.
Apparently, my money was considerably more welcome at Mix than I was. Having parted with plenty of it to sample the Alain Ducasse experience, I can assure you that neither of us will return.
Mix
3950 Las Vegas Blvd. South
In THEhotel at Mandalay Bay
702-632-9500
http://www.lvcitylife.com/articles/2005/03/25/dining_out/dining.txt (http://)