E at Jaleo Review

For the latest review of e' at Jaleo from February 2014, please go to the link below. 

http://www.lasvegasdaze.com/2014/03/e-at-jaleo-revisited.html

My best dining experience so far in Las Vegas was during my most recent trip in August 2011 at Cosmopolitan's E at Jaleo. E is a small surreal room behind the above bar at Jose Andres' Jaleo and it focuses on Tapas and Molecular Gastronomy. If you want to dine at E, you must email a month in advance to the minute to get a reservation. There are 2 seatings a night of 8 people at each sitting, one at 5:30pm the other at 8:30pm. REMEMBER TO CLICK ON PHOTOS TO ENLARGE THEM.

My friends Claire, Terri and I had planned to eat at E months in advance and thanks to Claire doing all the organization and emails to E we were able to obtain our golden tickets for Saturday, August 27th for the 5:30pm. Thanks Claire!

We were told to get there 15 minutes early and my husband's flight wasn't arriving until 4:15pm that day so Terri and I were waiting impatiently at Palazzo for Randy to arrive. Fortunately his plane was on time so the limo dropped him off at 4:30pm and we barely gave him time to put his luggage in our room before Terri drove us all to Cosmopolitan. Randy had declined eating at E a month earlier due to concerns of his flight possibly being late and their rules saying they wouldn't seat latecomers. Also he felt the menu was a bit too adventuresome for him. While we were dining at E he ate at Holstein's and gambled which turned out well as he hit a hand pay on $1 DaVinci Diamonds during our dinner!

We arrived early as mandated at 5:15pm and were seated at the bar with complimentary drinks which for us was mineral water. At this time before entering E we gave our drink orders for the evening with some of the 8 in our group selecting the wine/beer pairing for the meal at $110.00, Terri and Claire selecting the non-alcholic drink pairing and I went with the suggestion of the sommelier after I declined the wine pairing and picked a white, red and then dessert wine to be served with the Tapas. I wish I had wrote down what she suggested as I drank and enjoyed all 3 selections. My 3 wines ended up being about $48.00 total. The cost of the Tapas tasting at E is $160.00. At 5:30pm there was 7 of us at the bar waiting to be seated at E. The final guest arrived at 5:45pm without a apology to the group for rudely holding everyone up. As we learned later that evening he is a restaurant owner and since he's in the business I really felt he knew better then to arrive late and hold things up, so shame on him!

All of us then entered the small private room which has a curved bar that we were seated at. The walls were covered with library card catalogs and numerous whimsical items that all have some hidden or perhaps obvious meaning to chef Jose Andres'.

Let your imagination go wild!

Staircase to heaven? Perhaps not, <wink>.

Wine and card catalogs!

The entire meal would be prepared in front of us. No video was allowed but photos without the flash were permitted. The photos above and below shows the preparation of the first course which was "Gin & Tonic". There's a lot more review, click on read more to see the rest.

The perfect drink for a Halloween party!

Starting to layer the drink which is a gin sorbet frozen with liquid nitrogen and the top layer is a tonic foam.

The completed drink was very tasty, a great start to our dinner!

Our next course was Spanish "Clavel".

Clavel in Spanish means "pink carnation".

Served by hand, a ceramic dish hand that is, it was both sweet and tart, raspberry flavored with a crunchy texture and I loved it.

The next 2 courses were put out together and that's beet jewelry above, one each for Claire, Terri and I.

Before eating my beet jewelry which was crunchy, salting and sweet all at the same time and had a dusting of gold dust, I had to try it on.

The beet jewelry was served in this box.

Never would I have thought I would like Caramelized Pork Rinds, but they were good, both light, meaty and sweet!

The chefs had a steady hand and every dish was well organized. Above they are making Apple "Brazo De Gitano".

A combination I wasn't sure I would enjoy, tart apple meringue with blue cheese espuma and walnut paste on top. It was light, rich and delicious.

Preparing the Crispy Chicken Skin in Escabeche.

Likely one of the most popular tapas of the evening, crispy skin with the chicken oyster, caramelized and   topped with a herb foam. Truly a one bite of deliciousness!

Above they are preparing Iberico Ham topped with Caviar, called Jose Taco, along with artichoke topped with a quail egg.  What I loved about E other then the fabulous tapas and service, is once you have your reservation you can tell them your food dislikes or allergies and they will prepare a substitute course for you.

Not liking Caviar or raw eggs,  I had a artichoke topped with cheese and a veggie roll with eggplant, both were great.

Starting the preparation of the Bocate De "Calamares"which is Brioche, cucumber, aioli and pate de foie gras.

I no longer eat foie gras so my course which unfortunately they neglected to described to me was Brioche, roasted red pepper and I forget what else, but I know I enjoyed it.

Preparing the "Sandria"!

Watermelon soaked in Sangria, what's not to like? Refreshing!

Preparing the Ajo Blanco a Spanish soup made with garlic, bread and almonds.

E's version of Ajo Blanco is deconstructed and sparkles with marcona almonds, grapes, sherry ice, gelee, among other things.

Preparation of the next course, Lobster with Citrus and Jasmine.

As delicious as it looks the lobster melted in my mouth.

Above is one of Claire's drinks in her non-alcholic drink pairing. It was a refreshing pineapple foam drink which she didn't care for, and I volunteered to enjoy!

Preparation of the course Chickpea Stew with Iberico Ham.

So many flavors and textures for a stew made up of ham, chickpeas and parsley oil. The globe appearing chickpeas were filled with a chickpea liquid. What a fun dish!

Plating the catch of the day which was Turbot with Black Garlic.

I've had turbot before and didn't particularly care for it, but this was marvelous! Citrus pearls and micro greens garnished the top of the flakey moist turbot. Black garlic was a first for me, but won't be the last time I try it.

Plating the Rosemary Wild Mushrooms in Papillote.

Serving the morels in cream.

They open it up table side and place rosemary foam on it. If you like mushrooms you will love this dish which is meaty and rich.

Preparing "Secreto of Iberico Pork".

Iberico Pork with porcini mushrooms. The pork, tender and pink. Pork is not my favorite meat but this was good.

One of the drinks that Claire and Terri received with the non-alcholic drink pairing. This one was garnished with cucumbers with a sugar rim and I believe had pomegranate in it.

Starting the garnish for our first dessert, Orange Pith Puree La Serena. The La Serena refers to the type of cheese.

Preparing to scape the cheese.

Scraping the cheese.

Starting to plate the dessert.

The finished dish, a wonderful rich cheese course with crostini.

Terri decides she is tired of the non-alcholic drink pairing and substitutes the dessert wine they are using for the wine/beer pairing. I had a taste and it was great with chocolate undertones. I was offered to switch to that from my selected dessert wine but I stayed with mine and loved it.

Starting to plate the Apples & Red Wine "Fredy Giradet. Humorously named after one of the most famous chefs of the 20th century who feels that molecular gastronomy cooking is detrimental to modern cooking.

Final touches to the Apples and Red Wine.

The Apples and Red Wine dessert complete! Like the chickpea stew this dessert had what looked like small red cherries but in actuality were red wine spheres that burst in your mouth. The ice cream, stewed apples with the wine spheres was both fun and delicious.

Our next dessert will get the flame treatment.

Plating the Frozen Apricot Coulant.

Frozen Apricot Coulant which as flambeed earlier when the first started to prepare the desserts. Above you see the crisp exterior.

Cut into the Frozen Apricot Coulant and you have a marvelous liquid y apricot center. A very sweet dessert but one that I enjoyed with the exception of the yellow sauce on the bottom of the plate.

Putting the finishing touches on the 25 second Bizcocho.  A sponge type dessert filled with vanilla yogurt it was my least favorite dessert and dish of the evening, mainly due to texture.

Plating the last few desserts together to serve simultaneous.

The final desserts.

Fizzy paper my favorite! Looks like paper, fizzes and pops in your mouth! Flavored with citrus, fun, light and delicious!

25 Second Bizcocho, my least favorite, however the Crema Catalana served with it was tasty.

Finale the air chocolates. Again not my favorite mainly due to texture.

Terri finished up with a cappuccino.

Presentation of our bill complete with keepsake book mark which we gave to Terri.

Part of the staff who cooked and served us. They were fantastic, some of the best service I have ever had! They took a very quick bow and I missed a couple of them in this photo because we were running late into the next sitting due to that one man that made our dinner start 15 minutes late. Fabulous unique fun evening! I would recommend this to anyone who can fit it into their dining budget. I certainly would like to repeat this experience again in the future!