Blake Makes

Spice is a food, right? Loyal Blake Makers, please forgive the non-food post. There’s a little food stuff at the end, but mostly this post is about the fun we had in Vegas last weekend.

Bridget and I met some friends in Vegas for the Spice Girls concert. This is their reunion tour, and they’re making a few stops in the U.S. When Bridget heard this, she was determined to get tickets by enlisting everyone she knew to submit their e-mail addresses for a chance to buy tickets. We got our chance, and bought four.

Spice Girls Vegas 2007 from Blake Killian on Vimeo.

The Spice Girls peaked when I was in high school, and although I knew a few of their songs (Wannabe, Say You’ll Be There), I wouldn’t say I was a huge fan - Not like Bridget and Patrick. Going into the concert weekend, I was excited to be in Vegas, but thought the concert would be just a good time. It was a lot more than that.

Let me rewind for a moment. We got into Vegas on Friday, and we had reservations that night at Bouchon, Thomas Keller’s restaurant in the Venetian (our hotel). More about Bouchon later.

Saturday morning we went to the Liberace museum. If you’re going to Vegas and you’ve never been, GO see Liberace. It’s a very good time (very Vegas), or at least what I imagine Vegas used to be (gaudy, cheesy and over-the-top). It’s way off the strip, and I thought it was funny how in the same complex there’s a 24-hour strip club right next to a Korean mission. Like I said, very Vegas.

Spice Girls Saturday Night

I had a general idea of where our seats were when we bought them months ago, but was shocked to see how close we were to the stage when we got there. We were just to the right of the stage, and literally ten feet from it. At several points, one of the ‘Girls’ would perform on the section of the stage nearest us. It was a blast.

Speaking of blast, we were all deaf by the time the concert was over, but we wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. It was loud, over-the-top and we never sat down. A fan or not, you really missed out if you weren’t there.

The Bouchon Restaurant Review

I’ve been excited about eating at Bouchon for weeks since I bought Keller’s cookbooks, the French Laundry and Bouchon. Bouchon (the restaurant) was…ok. Parts of the meal were great, but others were just mediocre.

I got the venison pate (with blueberry gastrique, en croute) to start, and it was amazing. Keller talks a lot in his book about leaving diners wanting more after each course, and the pate did that for me. Bridget ordered the salmon rillettes. I think we liked the rillettes at Mila better. These were good, but the portion was massive. Bridget couldn’t finish it, and then the waiter made a comment about Bridget wasting the rest. I don’t think he meant it badly, but we felt like crap.

Bridget got the roasted chicken for her main, and it was good. I got the monkfish special, and it was great. I had always wanted to try monkfish, and was surprised to find it tasted like lobster (or maybe scallops). The fish I had at Le Jolifou in Montreal is still the best (Skate poached in lobster bisque) I’ve ever eaten.

The caramel custard for dessert tasted like simple flan, and the mushroom-shaped Bouchons (brownies) tasted like, well, brownies. Neither was very special.

Bouchon is supposed to have the best breakfast in Vegas (we went back Saturday morning). It wasn’t the best.

The next time we’re out there, we may go back to Mesa Grill (Friday’s lunch). We were hungry and it was there, so we stopped in. I expected it to taste “touristy” like Wolfgang Puck’s, but it was amazing. I got the raw tuna nachos to start, and the spicy chicken hash for my main. I’ll try to do a proper review later. For now, this post is running a little long.