Aqua man
I got up and went down to play a little video poker while Hunnybear slept late. We were both tired today so we skipped the workout despite several efforts to stand up and walk to the spa. I had the worst hoovering yet in video poker and craps were no better. It was as if the games somehow knew I had won my first day and were cranking up the suction to make sure I lost it by the time I left.
Security was tight on the penthouse level because superstar Jackie Chan was staying here to perform a concert tonight. We didn’t see him, though. Instead we had lunch at Rainforest Café with RichG, in town on a mileage run. Hunnybear and I got there first. We sat down and our server, Autumn, came up to us and said, “Are you ready for a couple Budweisers?” I allowed as how I didn’t think I’d be that ready for those for some time and perhaps she could bring us some iced tea. She happily complied. Just then RichG came by and I asked Autumn if she thought he would be ready for a couple Budweisers. “No,” she said. “Bloody Mary.” Now I knew RichG drank Bloody Marys but I didn’t know how Autumn knew. After that we accorded her new respect and took her food recommendations. Both RichG and I ordered the enormous mixed grill while Hunnybear had a Cobb salad. We munched on ribs, chicken, beef, and shrimp while monkeys swung and elephants bleated in the tropical rainforest.
Hunnybear went to the spa to have her body painted with a hot liquid parrafango while I played a little video poker. The only consolation was I didn’t get as badly hoovered as this morning. After she was done we both needed a rest so we lounged around the penthouse suite and discovered Honeymoon in Vegas was on TV. We watched the first hour then prepared to go for dinner, stopping by the craps table for a quick but painful loss first.
The house limo took us to Bellagio for our reservations at Aqua, reputed to be the best restaurant in Las Vegas. My host had called ahead and authorized a comp for us. We entered Bellagio underneath the stunning Chihuly ceiling piece and walked through the conservatory to Aqua. The host showed us to the best table in the house, overlooking the pool. We had a choice of the tasting menu or à la carte and we decided on the menu, accompanied by a single flight of reserve wines to accompany, which arrived with each course split into two glasses. They had Sevruga caviar so we started with that before the five-course dinner. Little did we know that there was a surprise taste of mushroom soup waiting for us as a complimentary starter, nor that the caviar arrived with complimentary sparkling wine or chilled Belvedere vodka. At $55 an ounce including two premium drinks, the Sevruga was quite a bargain.
Our first “real” course was a very thin slice of hamachi (yellowtail) with a rice cake and fried mirugai (geoduck) and avocado—absolutely superb. It was accompanied by the crisp, dry, fruity 1997 Loire Pouilly Fume from Baron L. Next came a wonderful lobster cake with breaded panko served on a bed of root vegetables, with a 1996 Chablis, Grenouille GC, La Chablissionne. It had been a while since I had tasted Chablis and I must admit to a bit of infatuation. They then brought two half-glasses of the 1997 Chardonnay, Robert Talbot Diamond T, Monterey, which I thought was just OK until I tasted it with the next course, an amazing sake-marinated sea bass. The combination was magical. Next came an ahi steak on a potato latke with a very flavorful pinot-noir reduction. The 1997 Shiraz, Clarendon Hills, Brookman Est., S. Australia, was well-balanced and delicious but the food overpowered it. As a rule I don’t eat dessert but they brought a tray with every dessert in the place and told us to eat them all. With it came the last wine, a nice 1996 Gewürztraminer, Ernest Pouen, Goldert GC, Alsace. Then came a tree of petit fours with the check, which I signed away into the night after leaving a generous tip. It would have cost $310.
Hunnybear browsed the 10-carat diamonds in the lobby jewelry store while we waited for the limo to take us back to MGM Grand and bedtime.
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