i love food...

...especially when i'm dining with people i love! i had dinner last night with my coworkers and friends hanan, samia and jeff. (unfortunately carolyn couldn't make it.) i know i'm fortunate to work for and with people i respect so much and people who love the art of food! we went to the new mgm grand downtown and had an amazing dinner at the new michael mina restaurant, saltwater. walking in, i was immediately in awe. my eyes went up to the mosaic tile ceiling (imported from italy and assembled in las vegas) and the enormous king arthur-esque light fixtures. reflections from candles bounced about the large dining room with the help of textured glass columns and mirrors placed with purpose. it all felt very tranquil and fluid, like an underwater scene, which was suiting since it is a seafood restaurant. 

our meal was incredible. i mean, really incredible. we started off with not one, but two amuses-bouche. (amuse-bouche is a french term which literally translates to "mouth amuser" and is usually a bite size course before an appetizer or meal.) one was a small cylinder about an inch and a half high that had different layers: a potato pancake, raw tuna, creme fraiche, and caviar. it was delicious and i don't even care for caviar! then came the most delectable little morsel. it was a small ball of crabmeat covered in sesame seeds and sitting in a shallow puddle of a sweet asian vinaigrette. seriously, i need to hunt down that recipe. it was such a tease! 

we went on to order appetizers: foie gras, tuna tartare, butter poached lobster crepe and organic field greens with the most fantastic caramelized boucheron cheese. i usually love foie gras, but after learning how it's acquired (i will spare you the details) i had trouble eating it. the other dishes were fantastic. (just get used to me saying this.) we also ordered east and west coast oysters. (which i never realized are different. actually, i never really gave it too much thought.) i'm pretty sure i've had oysters before but i could not remember. the thought of swallowing something raw which once lived a questionable existence inside a shell underneath gallons and gallons of water may put some people off. but, not me, i'm a gabriel. right chrissy? they were strange and succulent. but, i did not get aroused...aren't they supposed to be an aphrodisiac? weird.

by the time our actual individual meals came, we were sluggishly putting our forks to our mouths. i was so stuffed, but my phylo dusted dover sole with a dungeness crab brandade, horseradish, braised red cabbage and dijon sauce was pleading with me to eat it. so i did. i tried to anyway. i am actually salivating at the thought of my leftovers miraculously materializing before me. our desserts were, of course, fantastic. what's not to love about molten chocolate cake and cinnamon ice cream? what about pumpkin spice cake with panacotta and cinnamon foam? how about a treat of bite size chocolate truffles covered in crackled rice conveniently speared on a stick? mmmmmm......

sadly, our meal ended. but to make ourselves feel better, we played the slots! i played the 2 cent slots and won 90 dollars! 

                                                            

hanan enjoying her meal.
 

jeff having a great time in his new shirt.

samia rockin' a great necklace.