So you’re in Las Vegas for a week or so. Feel like taking a little side trip? Maybe to … Spain? You can do just that at Jaleo in The Cosmopolitan, where José Andrés’ Jaleo serves up everything from tapas to paella, all created with a mind to delivering an authentic food experience.
Justin DePhillips, Jaleo’s head chef in Las Vegas, explains, “One of the pillars that this company stands on, and that inspires me, personally ... is authenticity. What is different about working for José, and a José restaurant, is we’re not doing some kind of Americanized, watered-down version of Spain. We’re bringing them Spain. We’re basically saving them the cost of a plane ticket.”
That authenticity is evident in the dishes on Jaleo’s menu, an amazing array that ranges from small bites to the signature paellas. Some of the most delicious are some of the simplest, like quesos, cheese boards you can get in two sizes with three or five cheeses. Each is accompanied by items that complement and enhance the flavors you’ll experience, such as the Rey Silo Blanco and the Rey Silo Rojo from the Asturias region in northwest Spain, served with pine nut cookies and orange marmalade. Or perhaps you might want the pan de cristal con tomate, a simple app of crispy, toasted Barcelona bread with fresh crushed tomatoes.
Assorted cones
Other items include the signature cones, one-bite wonders with fillings like salmon, tuna tartare, fire-roasted vegetables and sobrasada Ibérico (a Spanish sausage) and toppings like trout roe and whipped avocado. And Jose’s tacos are bits of acorn-fed Ibérico ham topped with Royal Osetra caviar—trying this ham will undoubtedly be a highlight of your meal.
Endibias, endive leaves filled with goat cheese, almond slices, orange and a roasted garlic dressing, gives you a bright little burst of flavor, while patatas bravas are piled on a spicy tomato sauce and topped with a sublime aioli—you’ll order these two dishes every time you dine. Another, unexpectedly excellent dish is the berenjenas fritas a la Malagueña, thin rounds of lightly fried eggplant drizzled with local honey and lemon.
It’s not all tiny tapas here, though; you’ll find larger plates, too (a few are even denoted on the menu with the section header “José Makes Large Plates Too.” Here at Jaleo, those come in the form of lubina a la Donostiarra, a grilled Spanish sea bass with Basque-style dressing, and the Gambas a la Zahara, a plate of head-on shrimp in olive oil and garlic that will feed you and tease everyone else at the table.
Gambas a la Zahara
You’ll also find paella, the Spanish rice dish that is a cornerstone of the Jaleo menu—and something that really embodies the special environment at Jaleo. The huge fire and oven that you see as you walk into the restaurant isn’t just for show. “One of the things, for me, that sets us apart from what I see being done in other Spanish restaurants is the fact that we cook paella over a fire, a real fire. It makes a difference, in both the technique and also in the finished product. I mean, you can’t mimic wood smoke in a dish. It’s such a flavor profile,” said chef DePhillips.
It’s a process that takes a fair bit of experience to master. “Eighty percent of the time you are cooking a paella, you’re not allowed to touch it, right? So once you add that rice in, the first five minutes you can move the rice around, and then you’ve got to stand back and watch and pray for 12 minutes,” said DePhillips. “But what you are doing in that time is not a hands-off time. You have to be under the pan, babysitting the fire, making sure everything is nice and even, there are no hot spots, no cold spots, the burn time of the wood is matching the cook time of the paella … it’s a really engaging way of cooking that uses all your senses.”
Once the paella is done, the cook rings the bell, and a huge pan (about two feet across or so) is paraded around the dining area and shown to guests, then plated up. Paella varieties change nightly, but a recent addition to the menu, individual paellas, are available in varieties like seasonal vegetable and mushrooms (arroz de verduras de temporada), and oxtail and vegetables. Each serves two to three.
Another recent menu addition is the xuixo—this dessert is a little like a cross between a croissant and a churro, but here is constructed with brioche-style pastry, rolled up. A Catalan cream is put into the center before the xuixo is deep-fried, and the cooking process encourages the citrusy notes of the cream to imbue the pastry with a lovely flavor, and as you break it open, a magnificent, delicate fragrance will rise. Add a refreshing after-dinner cocktail like the Carajillo, shaken with Licor 43 and espresso, and you’ll think life is pretty sweet, letting you enjoy a trip to Vegas and a trip to Spain all in one night.
The Cosmopolitan, 702.698.7950
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