We all have secret bucket lists whether we know it or not, and regarding food, mine include at least a dozen things cooked by Carlos Guia, Executive Chef at Country Club Grill at the Wynn Las Vegas. Since I plan to be around for a while, though, I eat most of these dishes infrequently. Guias native food is about the richest food on the planet.
The New Orleans bred Guia, formerly chef at the late, lamented Commanders Palace at the Aladdin (now Planet Hollywood), is adept at all things Cajun and Creole. He does gumbo like no one else in town, and finally got to add it to his lunch menu.
REAL gumbo
He also likes to make such dishes as shrimp etouffee, sugar dusted beignets, and, in the weeks preceding Mardi Gras, reveillon dishes such as pheasant foie gras pot pie, and even the vaunted King cake, which has more calories per ounce than a pigs belly.
You can eat these dishes by opting for the weekend brunch at Country Club Grill, when blues musicians play music from the Big Easy, and many Nawlins specialties grace the buffet. Id come here for the shrimp remoulade alone, but my wife wont let me. She had to relent, though, when I mentioned that Guia had put the pot pie on the lunch menu.
Even though I told him I only wanted one dish, he started me off with a small bowl of his peerless gumbo. He makes a dark roux, adds okra, shrimp and sausage and essentially prepares it to order. I hate how the word awesome is overused. It is not, in this case.
pheasant foie gras pot pie
The pie followed. Mercifully, its not big. A perfect pastry hat sits on top. Underneath it is an ethereally rich, creamy stock, laced with chunks of gamy pheasant and slabs of duck foie gras, complimented by vegetables. The garnish is a light salad of field greens. Dont even think about eating it all.
For dessert, there are those irresistible beignets with coffee cream in a small pitcher, or a delightful pineapple parfait, layers of caramel and vanilla panna cotta, topped with tiny piece of the diced fruit.
pineapple parfait
On a sunny day, staring out the window at the Wynn golf course and waterfall, one can only have one thought. 2013 is going to be a good year.
At Wynn Las Vegas, 770-7000.
