Last Friday evening (11/19) we had the pleasure of dining at Emeril's
Delmonico Steakhouse. It was a treat.

Emeril is very controversial and has been called a buffoon, showman, and
other names not befitting a chef. I honestly don't know how much influence
he even has at a restaurant when there are nine of them spread out thousands
of miles in every direction. I surely did not expect to see him flipping a
pan in the kitchen.

In this case, a group of us from work and our wives were guests of a vendor.
We had to actually do some "work" in Las Vegas and attend a seminar. Yes,
that's it, we had to work one of the four days.

Dinner was for 8:30. We were seated in a private room at about 8:40. There
were 20 of us in the group. We were seated with all proper manners.
Napkins spread for you, water poured, beverages offered. In our case, the
menu was selected for us but we had a choice of a salad (baby greens,
roasted tomatoes, white cheddar, Creole spiced croutons and balsamic
vinaigrette) or one of three soups. Soups were gumbo, French onion or
mushroom and scallion. Both Gloria and I had the mushroom and scallion.
The gumbo looked very rich and others at our table enjoyed it.

Again, it was served in a very elegant manner. The soup bowl was brought on
a dish and inside the dish was a small pot of hot soup that was poured for
you at the table.

We were offered both red and white wines.

Next was Emeril's New Orleans BBQ Shrimp served with a rosemary biscuit.
Three large shrimp were grilled and covered in a tomato sauce with a Cajun
tang. I'd rate it good, but not great.

Second was Grilled American Lamb Rack with apple mint relish and natural au
jus. By far, this was the best lamb I've ever eaten. Part of a rack it was
about 1 1/2" thick. It was very tender, very tasty. I don't care how fancy
a place this was, you had to pick up the bone and eat the meat off the back
of it. Fantastic.

Just when you think you had enough to eat, the next course was served.
Petite Dry Aged Ribeye with garlic smashed potatoes and red wine demi glace.
It was also very good. The potatoes had a pronounced garlic flavor. The
steak itself was excellent, but the labs slightly overshadowed it. Did I
tell you the lamb was fantastic?

For desert, Irish Whisky Crème Brulee with Scottish shortbread cookie.

If meals from the regular menu are as good as this, I'd rate it as one of
the better places to eat. Not cheap, but a good treat for a special
occasion. The regular menu had ribeye steak for $30, others were higher.

http://www.opentable.com/restaurant_profile.asp?id=1823
I'd go back again.
Ed