Jeffrey's Steakhouse

When I saw the ad for Jeffrey's Steakhouse in the paper, I was excited that there might be another nice dining choice in Moab, especially after our last, not-so-good meal at Zax. I figured from the ad that they were trying to be upscale so I realized that it would probably be a bit pricier than Zax and the Moab Brewery but every once in a while that can be ok.

Only not in this situation.  It was pricier alright, it just wasn't ok.

A dry, stringy 8 oz filet for $30.  A so-so New York strip for $37.  A $6 up charge for a salad substitution that was only a $1 more on the menu.

To be fair, the calamari appetizer was good, light and crunchy with a tasty crushed tomato dipping sauce.  And the beefsteak tomato salad (the one with the $6 upcharge) was quite yummy, with a high quality balsamic vinaigrette drizzled over chunks of bleu cheese.  The decor was well done and the ambience inviting.

But the service was very slow and the food not worth the cost.

Brexi

Another new restaurant opened in Aspen.

Brexi Brasserie opened Saturday night, February 7, 2009 and Steve, Suzannah and I stopped by for dinner on our way to a concert at the Wheeler.

Brexi is owned by Craig and Samantha Cordts-Pearce who also own Wild Fig and Lulu Wilson (where, coincidentally, Steve and I ate on Friday night). It's located on the northwest corner of Monarch and Durant in the new Dancing Bear.

It's billed as a traditional French brasserie and its decor is warm and welcoming. We loved the mismatched but coordinated light fixtures (although the lighting was a bit dim and we had to use our cell phones to shed additional light on our menus in order to read them).

When we arrived at 6:15 pm, it was about half full but by the time we left at 7:45 pm, it was packed. Lots of locals came out to support the Cordts-Pearces on their opening night. We also saw Peter Berg, who was in town for a screening of Aspen Extreme, at the next table.

The staff was all very welcoming, friendly and professional. The sommelier, Jim, who, as Steve pointed out, resembles Chip from My Three Sons, was personable and knowledgeable.

The food was stellar. I had the lemon sole, Steve had the New York steak and Suzannah had the chicken and we all cleaned our plates.

Brexi is Aspen a little over middle of the road price wise. It's by no means inexpensive with most entrees in the low to mid $30 range which is basically par for the course in many (but not all) Aspen restaurants.

The Terrace Bar at the Little Nell

Steve and I ended up at the Terrace Bar at the Little Nell this evening to have a quiet drink before heading home after work. We first headed to 39 Degrees at the Sky Hotel but it was packed and loud and not really what we were looking for. Much more of an apres ski crowd which often is what we're looking for but not tonight.

Since I really wanted a glass of Riesling which many bars don't serve, our options were more limited than they might otherwise be. As we walked by the Little Nell, we popped in to peruse the bar menu and were in luck. They serve a Betts & Scholl Riesling by the glass and weren't too crowded so we stopped.

We sat in the window overlooking the pool area which was nicely lit with steam rising from the various pools and fountains. Good ambience.

The wine? Not so much. It was too dry for my taste. I prefer a sweeter taste with a finish with a nice acidity for complexity.

The yellowtail tuna crudo however was heavenly.

And my followup drink, the Rossini, strawberry puree, St. Germain and Prosecco served in a champagne flute, went down quite nicely.

Eh.

The Wienerstube in Aspen, an Austrian restaurant, is a long standing institution. It's gone through a few different owners and permutations. Since I've been in town for the last 10 years, they've tried dinner in the past but it's never seemed to work out.

There's now another new owner, Harald, and he's trying dinner again. He's very enthusiastic and seems very interested in making it work.

However, we went last night and I'm in no hurry to go back.

The food was good, if overpriced. But, it's Aspen, so this is not unexpected.

The service was pleasant although she did forget to bring my second glass of wine. Again, not a big deal.

But, at the end of the meal, when our little party of four received our check, we were shocked to see that the gratuity had been added. On the way out, I double checked the menu but there was no mention of adding gratuity for any size party.

Aspen does have a fair number of foreign visitors who are less than familiar with our customs regarding tipping so a number of restaurants do have a statement on their menu that they reserve the right to add gratuity for large parties or for foreign guests.

During Christmas week, we took a party of nine to the Steak Pit and I so appreciated the fact that the server didn't add on the gratuity that I tipped him 20+%.

But I have never had a gratuity added on for a party of four.

Sorry, Harald, but I doubt that I'll be back for dinner.

LIttle Annie's? Not so much . . .

They have good ribs.

Otherwise, not so much.

I don't know why I keep bothering. The service is surly, it's crowded (why?), the food just doesn't speak to me.

It's one of the less expensive places in Aspen (remember, everything's relative so it's not cheap) so the other night when we were doing the usual "Where do you want to go to dinner? I don't know, where do you want to go?" thing for our party of five, I actually suggested Little Annie's. Mistake. I think it's kinda like childbirth, the bad memories fade too quickly.

They had a blackened ahi special and as you might remember, I love ahi. But, like most everything, I'm kinda picky about my ahi. I really only like it rare. Best way to ruin a nice piece of ahi? Cook it past rare.

So when I ordered, I ordered it rare. The server immediately objected (I should have been paying attention). But she checked with the kitchen and they assured her they could prepare it to my liking (how hard can it be?), so I blindly plunged forward.

Wrong.

The ahi came out cooked completely through. Grey, grey, grey. And the rice pilaf was really dry.

After much thought since I didn't want to order something else after having returned something (worried about kitchen staff retaliation), I handed the full plate back to the server and asked her to take it off our check.

Which she did. With apologies.

And then proceeded to add an automatic 18% gratuity to our check.

Zocalito Latin Bistro

My mom was intrigued by the menu so we had dinner here tonight.

I'd eaten at their no longer extant location in Carbondale years ago and had enjoyed it but had yet to eat at their Aspen location.

Latin cuisine? Not sure how to characterize it.

Think upscale Mexican or Mexican crossed with Spanish with maybe some other South American influences . . .

We had a cheese and chorizo dip, Peruvian ceviche, portabello mushroom with red peppers and chorizo, scallops and chorizo, flank steak with mozzarella, rib eye steak and potatoes with shitake mushrooms and chorizo.

Wow, that list is pretty heavy on the chorizo, more due to the choices of the diners than due to any lack of selection on the menu.

All plates were cleaned and no leftovers were to be had.

I'd say that's four thumbs up.

Alex

Tasting Menu

Marinated Yellowtail and Osetra Caviar with Coconut-Cucumber Custard
Charles Ellner, Cuvée Prestige, Champagne, Epernay, France 1998

Roasted Sea Scallops with White Asparagus, Pink Grapefruit and Sea Urchin
Domaine Morey-Coffinet, Bâtard-Montrachet, Grand Cru, Burgundy, France 2004

Seared Foie Gras with Sweet Onion Compote, Savoy Cabbage and Black Truffle Consommé
Weingut Zilliken, Saarburger Rausch, Riesling, Auslese, Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, Germany 1983

Daurade ‘Royale’ with Rhubarb, Caramelized Endives and Spiced Red Wine Syrup
Oriel, Alma de Llicorella, Priorat, Spain 2001

Japanese Wagyu Beef with Fava Bean Purée, Candied Shallots and Bordelaise Sauce
Tua Rita, Giusto di Notri, Tuscany, Italy 2003

Passion Cheesecake with Graham Crumble

Strawberries and Mascarpone Cream with Brown Butter Cake and Strawberry Sorbet
Klein Constantia, ‘Vin de Constance’, Muscat de Frontignan, Constantia, South Africa 2001

The Restaurants at Wynn Las Vegas feature signature items based on seasonal availability.

For Restaurant Reservations, please call 702.770.wynn or 888.320.7110

Chef Alessandro Stratta

Jenifer Witte, Pastry Chef

Steve and I went from low end to high end today.

After visiting the Carpinteria Bluffs, home of the Carpinteria Seal Preserve, this morning, we flew back to Las Vegas. We drove straight from the airport to the Fremont Street Experience and what an experience.

It's a sort of mall that's located on Fremont Street, the location of the original strip in Las Vegas. It's a fairly innovative way of saving what would otherwise be abandoned old casinos and the slot machines in the casinos themselves were crowded with chain smoking, leisure suited middle aged to elderly. At one end of the deal, it's a basic ghost town of a shopping center with empty storefronts. As you walk into the center of the old strip, things get a bit more lively but not more upscale.

We went to see all the old neon and since we arrived just at dusk when the lights were all being lit, our timing was good. We sat outside upstairs at the Golden Nugget and had a drink where we could watch all the neon do their dances. There's also a light show on the new dome but we didn't stay long enough to see that.

From there, we went back to Paris Las Vegas and checked in again. After watching the Bellagio Fountains from our window and changing for dinner, we walked up to Wynn Las Vegas for our reservations at Alex, the Wynn's premier restaurant and winner of the Mobil Travel Five Star Award 2007, AAA Five Diamond Award of Excellence 2007, Best New Restaurant 2005 - Esquire Magazine, and Best American Chef - Southwest, James Beard Foundation.

And Alex is the high school buddy of one of Steve's friends and co-workers.

Wow.

Spendy it was.

But, oh my.

We did the tasting menu which varied only slightly from the one above.

Wow.

A special invitation

They're opening a Ruth's Chris Steakhouse in Aspen, like tomorrow.

Last night and tonight, they were doing a little dress rehearsal.

By little, I mean that they filled up the restaurant with invited guests and fed them all for free.

Feeding a restaurant full of patrons Ruth's Chris cuisine at no charge is quite a proposition.

Last night I was one of those invited guests. Actually, I basically rode in on the coattails of a friend who really was an invited guest.

It was awesome! There were four of us, all women, and we had a great time. They had a New Orleans band (I don't mean New Orleans style, I mean a band from New Orleans) parading around the restaurant while we waved our handkerchiefs in the air in the style of the Second Line. We ate something like $350 worth of food and it was all fabulous.

We started with the Barbeque Shrimp, Seared Ahi Tuna and Sizzlin' Blue Crab Cakes.

We moved on to the Sliced Tomato & Onion Salad and Caesar Salad.

Next we had the Filet and Shrimp, Grilled Portobello Mushrooms, Petite Filet and T-bone, with a side of Sauteed Mushrooms.

We finished with the Warm Apple Crumb Tart, Chocolate Sin Cake and Creme Brulee.

Quite the marketing event.

Market to me like that anytime!

Thumbs down (for now)

Since it was redeveloped 6 or so years ago, Aspen Highlands Village has been known as the DarkVillage. While Aspen Highlands itself draws quite a following of loyal local skiers, the village mostly functions as a pass-through with little to entice those mountain bound to stop and dwell. Most of the storefronts have never been rented and the main restaurant space at the base of the mountain is now in its 3rd incarnation (The Commonwealth Pub, Iguana's and now ZG Grill)

It is in this atmosphere that Crust operates. Crust is a new pizzeria which opened in May, filling the space previously occupied by the long-shuttered Thunderbowl Deli. As Aspen is devoid of any place where a former Chicagoan can procure a deep dish pizza, the advent of Crust and its Chicago style deep dish pizza was met with anticipation.

We ventured in for dinner for the first time last Wednesday and our experience was less than stellar.

We walked in a little after 5 pm to a basically empty restaurant. The server who greeted us asked us where we wanted to sit so we indicated that we wanted to be in the back room. As we were walking that way, the manager (owner?) quickly approached and gruffly told the server that she could not seat us there as they were setting up for a large party. So we relocated.

We then ordered two deep dish pizzas, fully understanding that they would take 30 minutes. We would have ordered an appetizer such as garlic bread or the like but there were no options on the menu but soup or salad. We were not in the mood for soup or salad.

30 minutes later, our server approached and apologetically informed us that there had been a problem in the kitchen and our pizzas would be another 30 minutes. We were dismayed to say the least. Our server offered us a small pizza while we were waiting which we accepted.

Only when it was time to pay our check did the manager (owner?) offhandedly throw out an apology for our long wait. He only approached our table at all because we were waiting to pay and he had a party waiting for the table.

While the small pizza was comped, there was no accommodation on our bill for the two pizzas for which we waited an hour. The manager was less than friendly and when we left, even after our extremely long wait, the large party for whom we had been so unceremoniously booted from the back room had yet to arrive.

The only bright spot of our evening was our server who was unfailingly polite and attentive.

Ironically, although we ventured in solely to try the deep dish pizza, we all enjoyed our thin crust pity pizza more.

I must say that, as of now, I'm not eager to repeat my dinner experience at Crust.

Let me also say that I had been in with my husband for breakfast on Christmas morning and was pleased with my experience then. The coffee was quite good and the breakfast sandwich was tasty and gooey.

For now, I've got to go thumbs down on the dinner experience at Crust but I'm open to another try.