Yesterday morning–well, afternoon, really–my wife and I decided that we were going to take our friends out for a meal on our dime. We had originally hoped to dazzle them with Bouchon at the Venetian since they have never had the chance to try anything guided by Thomas Keller’s vision. Unfortunately, Bouchon is only open for brunch on the weekdays, so we just got to look around a little while before heading back to the lobby.
After a few minutes of discussion and looking at the directory, we settled on Emeril’s new restaurant at the Palazzo, Table 10.
“The name Table 10 reflects the modest table in a simple red warehouse in New Orleans where Lagasse began planning his restaurants. He reviewed blueprints, developed menus, interviewed staff and discussed plans at Table 10 as he prepared to open Emeril’s, his first restaurant. When the restaurant opened March 24, 1990, every evening ended at Table 10 with lively conversations and a creative environment for new ideas.”
And so when Emeril started working on opening his tenth restaurant, it had already be predetermined that it would be called “Table 10″ in honor of the original table 10.
We started off with some wonderful marinated goat cheese with Spanish olives, peppadew peppers and greens with herb vinaigrette. We realized as soon as it made it to the table that it was meant to be a starter for one, but in retrospect, splitting it four ways was a good thing.
I can’t remember the exact specifics of the special I ordered, so I’ll give you what I can recall. This is a dish of applewood smoked lamb with a reduced pan sauce with bits of truffle and a bacon and mushroom risotto croquette. It was superb, and I dearly wish I had another plate of it in front of me right now.
We were stuffed, but after looking at the desert menu we just had to order something. I selected the sweet potato cheesecake with graham cracker crust, orange marmalade and pecan praline sauce. It was just as good as getting a 21 dealt to you right after sitting down.
Emeril might have had his sitcom hopes dashed, but that’s okay: it’s pretty apparent his true calling is concocting amazing food.
