Third time is the charm!! e' Jose Andres gets better each year! My first time eating at e' was in 2011 with friends Terri and Claire and that review and photos are at this link on the blog:
My second time I enjoyed e' was last year, February 2014 with Boots. To compare that menu and photos to this year's experience the link is:
There are so many great restaurants in Las Vegas with new ones arriving almost monthly I thought I wouldn't return to e' for at least a couple more years if at all, but five of my friends wanted to go this year, so I found myself arranging a dinner at e' for our party of six.
A week before our dinner I received our six golden tickets and on the back it had our date, time and seats. For those of you reading this who play slots, I now have three Golden Tickets from e', if only I could get the 5k Golden Ticket in the Willy Wonka slot bonus too!
Our menu for the evening below, it lists some of the courses, but not all. We had 25 or 26 courses this night and while most were small, at the end of the evening no one left hungry and several of us were extremely full!
e' at Jose Andres is a small surreal private room inside of Jaleo at Cosmpolitan and it's a combination of Molecular Gastronomy and traditional Spanish type cooking. Reservations open up three months before whatever date you want and it's recommended that you email them that far in advance to guarantee your time and date of choice. This is the email address for reservations: reserve@ebyjoseandres.com
It might also be possible if there is only one or two of you wanting to dine there to get a last minute reservation due to a cancellation. There are two seatings a night of eight guests at each sitting, one at 5:30pm, the other at 8:30pm and you are requested to get there 15 to 30 minutes earlier then your seating to go over drinks and other options. Prior to dining there after your reservation is made they will send you a form you are required to complete that will go over any food allergies or issues anyone in your party might have.
Cost starts at $195.00 per person excluding beverage, tax and gratuity. This visit they offered shaved Perigord
truffles on a couple dishes for a extra $55.00 per person. Alcohol pairings start at $130.00 on up. There is also a non-alcohol pairing, but I don't recall the cost of that one. I have never gone with one of the pairings, instead since the menu is grouped in three food flights I select in advance three wines, usually going with suggestions made by the Sommelier/Hostess.
Our party of six would take up most of e' along with two other ladies who joined the fun that evening and were nice enough to take this photo of our group. That's Laurie in front on the left, Cassie with the fan, Alicia, myself, Mike and Manette.
After our group had selected their beverages we were led past the bar and to the left into a small private room which is very whimsical and surreal.
It's the vision of the inside of Jose Andres's mind! All the objects decorating the room have some hidden or perhaps obvious meaning to Chef Jose Andres.
Our adventure begins!
The ceramic hand holding the warm towel wrapped in lavender is a actual reproduction of chef Jose Andres's hand.
Jose is know for creating new flavor combinations and turning classics dishes using "molecular gastronomy" into well, what you will see in photos below.
"Drunken Truffle", which had foie gras inside. I liked it even though it does have a spongy texture and a grainy exterior. I noticed some in my party only ate a little bit of it so not all were a fan of this course.
It's magic! Okay, it's Molecular Gastronomy, but I prefer to think of it as magic. :)
Not sure what the above was and while I remember I liked this, I can't recall now what it actually was, my bad!
"Branch of the desert", edible centerpieces, one for every two guests. Dark branches with delicate looking pansy flowers. The branches were made out of liquified kalmata olives that were then shaped into crunchy branches. I love kalmata olives and enjoyed eating part of this lovely centerpiece.
My glass of Raventos Rose, it paired well with the first flight of courses.
Really liked this, lets call it a cheese cracker, LOL!
"Filipino", looks like a small chocolate covered donut but has a soft foie gras filling. I enjoyed this though not usually a fan of foie gras.
Potato Glass with an anchovy paste. Loved the potato glass which was thin, crunchy and tasted like the best potato chip ever. Personally didn't care for the anchovy paste though others enjoyed it.
"Beet Gazpacho"! If you like beets, which I do you will enjoy this. It was like a frozen beet sandwich, think ice cream sandwich without the ice cream!
"Merienda"! Second time I have eaten this at e' and still love it. Traditional snack of the type of sandwich children in Spain are given and this is the e' version of it with a wonderful Spanish goat cheese and Iberico. Okay, so basically a delicious ham and cheese bun snack!
