David Burke

On Tuesday night we dined at David Burke in the Venetian "Restaurant Row". I hate that moniker, "Restaurant Row". I think it makes it all sound cheap like a food court. I promise you, nothing in this restaurant row is cheap like a food court unless you count some of the people walking by. Hello people, it's nighttime. You're not at work at the adult show anymore. What? You're here with a different convention? You bought that wisp of fabric specifically to wear in Vegas? Well, please come sit next to us while we eat because I need to loose some of my appetite and eat a little less. I had selected a restaurant within the Venetian Bio-dome for that night as I knew we'd be tired. Good thing. We stayed at the booth with the TV set up crew until 9. (we had to change our restaurant reservation from 8 to 10) and after dinner, we went back to the booth to check on the TV crew (and how they weren't able to complete their task - different story)

We've eaten at David Burke and Donatella in Manhattan previously and were very excited to eat there in Las Vegas. I must say the decor in Manhattan please me more than the Vegas decor.

The restaurant bills itself as serving "creative cuisine" . We didn't order it but they have a dish called "Angry Lobster" and it is served literally on a bed of nails.

Lyle started with Surf & Turf on a hot rock. As it arrived behind me, I kept commenting on something smelling amazingly good. As if it was being grilled right behind me, "Someone is getting a real treat," I said. That someone was Lyle!A rock is super heated in the kitchen, then you yourself get to grill two skewers of Shrimp and two skewers of steak on the heated rock. The rock has a Teriyaki glaze on it and the longer you grill, the more candy-like the meat became. Thank god I got the soup as I do not enjoy working for my food. However Lyle really had a good time with it.

All the food was great. Sometimes I don't have a photo of the food here and that would be because either it didn't photograph well (the white doughnuts on a white plate) or it didn't taste so good, or most likely I was starving and forgot all about taking a picture until it looked like just some smeared sauce on an empty plate and a tines down fork.

But here is my dessert at David Burke. The Golden Carmel Egg.
A chocolate shell, dusted in gold, placed atop a creamy sauce, filled with cocoa nib, caramel and a cookies and cream ice cream. Ugh, it makes my stomach stick out extra just to write about it.

And here is Lyle's dessert. Five State Creme Brulées.
The menu promised five flavors from five states. It arrived in five shot glasses. And we began our detective work. New York Shot glass - big apple - must be apple flavor! Nope, it was lemon. Montana shot glass - chocolate flavor, Lyle decided this one must be cow shit (what else is in Montana?) Florida - Orange? No Vanilla. And then two shot glasses that were the same design and had the words "Jet Confederate" - the waiter tried to convince us this was Texas. I told him everyone knows that Texas is the "Lone Star" state and this flag on the glass had about 9. AND the flavors we decided were pistachio and butterscotch. Turns out that last one was English Toffee.

The importance of all this conversation was perhaps blown out of proportion as were seriously giddy and tired. But since the menu promised us Five flavors from Five states, we forced out waiter into the corner and made him explain himself. He broke down telling us that he had only worked there for two months and that no one had ever insisted on this much information on this dessert form him in all that time. Then he returned with an explanation from the kitchen that they had gathered shotglasses from around America and now just put the five flavors of the day into whichever glass they had at hand. The logo on the glass corresponded to nothing. Then the flavors were revealed in their true identity and he laid a claim that "Jet Confederate" seriously was Texas, a claim I promised to look into when I got home and as I just have, can find no proof to back it up.

Of course the bottom line was how did they taste? Yummy. Creme Brulée-y. But the butterscotch one, pardon me, English Toffee did taste a lot like baby food.