Dinner at Jaleo

A few weeks ago my family and I flew to Vegas for the weekend.  We ate, saw some great shows (Cirque du Soliel's LOVE!!!), toured the strip, spent some time by the pool - but mostly we just ATE.  My favorite dining experience was at Jaleo which is at The Cosmopolitan.  It's a José Andrés (who studied under Ferran Adria of El Bulli) restaurant, and the food is as purely Spanish as it gets.  We shared a number of incredible tapas style dishes and I was fortunate enough to be able to get a tour of the back of the house kitchen by the chef who studies under José  (I was too shy to take my camera).  

He shared with me that José insists upon using the most high quality ingredients in his kitchens.  This is why he flies the majority of his ingredients in from Spain (I'm not too hot on the carbon footprint that that's producing, but man did those ingredients make a difference).  All items are fried in extra virgin Spanish olive oil, not vegetable oil, for instance.

One of of the things for which José is most famous and respected is that he was the first chef to bring Jamón Ibérico, which is cured ham from the legendary, acorn-fed, black-footed Ibérico pigs of Spain, to the United States.  Jamón Ibérico is the most prized pork product on the market.  He pulled a leg out of the walk-in refrigerator and informed me that that leg alone cost about $2,000!

He also told me that they had recently installed a computer system in the kitchen which allowed orders to pop up on a screen for all chefs to read in the (absolutely tiny, esp. for Las Vegas!) kitchen.  He said he was not a fan, and missed the days of everyone yelling out orders within the kitchen.  I loved his attitude of resistance toward technology!

Here are some pics from our meal.  I wholeheartedly recommend this restaurant to any Las Vegas visitors!

the ladies

the dining room

the front of the house kitchen

pan con tomate

mas sal por favor

Gambas al ajillo, pulpo a la Gallega ‘Maestro Alfonso’, vieiras con romesco y mojo verde

salpicón de cangrejo, endibias con queso de cabra y naranjas

ostras

lomo Ibérico de bellota con pan con tomate, selecciónes de embutidos

lomo Ibérico, mejillones a la ‘marinera’

(caviar cones)

pimientos del piquillo

flan al estilo tradicional de mamá Marisa con espuma de crema catalana,

helado de aceite de oliva con cítricos texturados

espuma de chocolate negro con bizcocho de cacao y helado de avellana