There is something about the act of creation that grabs the imagination and, in food, excites the tastebuds—it’s one of the reasons cooking shows are so popular in the U.S. And when that creation is tableside, the food just tastes better. That is some kind of scientific fact, we’re convinced of it, and we’d like to present a few of those experiences to help convince you.
After a dinner in Mercato della Pescheria in The Grand Canal Shoppes at The Venetian and The Palazzo, you may want an Italian classic to end a delicious meal—tiramisu, of course. But they do things a little differently here—your server will carry a tray out and set it up tableside, and construct the dessert in front of you. It’s a simple presentation, but each step is beautifully done—fragrant coffee flows over house-made ladyfingers, mascarpone takes on a fluffy, light consistency after vigorous whipping and the whole thing gets freshly grated chocolate on top. It’s highly possible your dessert will elicit jealous looks from the other diners.
Dessert cart from Bazaar Meat by Jose Andrés
You can start your meal at Andiamo Italian Steakhouse at The D with a Caesar salad. The components are again relatively simple, but the beauty of having a cart wheel up, and each element presented to you as your server casually chats, makes the experience very special, and very personal. For that time, you are the only diner in the restaurant.
Carbone at Aria specializes in the old-school “Captain” experience, where that personal service is key. The bananas Foster captures the showy nature of tableside preparation perfectly. Your captain will roll up the cart with the bananas, the sugar, the rum (oh, the rum), and get those ingredients working—and when the rum ignites, it’s tremendous! The fragrance alone will drive you mad.
Speaking of mad, and fire, you really should check out the absinthe presentation at Sage, also in Aria. In addition to melting a sugar cube into the liquor, you’ll see the entire drink set on fire, then watch a glass inverted to catch the smoky fumes. It’s pretty intense, and you can try it with several varieties of absinthe (well, maybe not all at once).
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At Bazaar Meat by José Andrés at SLS Las Vegas, be wowed with the cutest dessert cart around. It’s topped with a wind-up key, and is equipped with Bluetooth, so you can play your own music selection through the cart. Each night, it is loaded up with a ton of gourmet mini-desserts to fit almost any taste, and wheeled around to deserving diners (those are the ones who ask for it). Choose five or 10, and your dessert server will put them all together in a beautiful presentation.
So whether you opt for guacamole (which you should; it’s fresh and delicious, and widely available) or a something more elaborate, take advantage of the tableside experience—it will make every bite so much yummier.
