Friday, Jan. 17, 2003 | 9:20 a.m.
Muriel Stevens' dining column appears Fridays. Her shopping and travel columns appear Wednesday. Reach her at (702) 259-4080 or [email protected].
Apreview dinner at Gaylord, the new Indian restaurant at The Rio, turned out to be more than I'd expected. I'd been eagerly awaiting the opening of Gaylord. As a fan of Indian cuisine I'd dined often at the Gaylord in San Francisco in Ghiardelli Square and the one on Battery Street.
A Gaylord in Menlo Park near Stanford University is another success for owners Kishore Kripalani and Satpal S. Kohli.
Without any fanfare, Gaylord India restaurant opened at the Rio one week ago. It was my friend Sundar Raj who invited Sun Publisher Barbara Greenspun and me to dine there along with Jeri Packe. Janie Greenspun Gale and her husband, Jeff, (both vegetarians) had been invited by a friend in California, who is also a friend of the owners. He was not there. It made sense for all of us to dine together, and by the time we assembled, both Kishore and Satpal joined us for a feast of Indian food Gaylord-style. It was a delicious evening.
Our meal was designed with both carnivores and vegetarians in mind. Gaylord has special appeal for vegetarians for they offer a dedicated section of the kitchen to special diets and even include separate utensils.
Among the multitude of dishes we enjoyed were some that were not on the menu. Chef Ashwani Kumar wanted us to experience the depth of the kitchen and that he did. The extensive menu includes similar dishes to those we ate and offers a variety of a la carte dishes and, "Royal feasts in the Indian manner." Our joyful experience could easily be duplicated.
We dined on a marvelous selection of appetizers that included papadums, plate-size, paper-thin spiced crackers made from lentil flour -- although deep-fried there was not a trace of fat. Vegetable samosas, crisp, plump pastries filled with potatoes, peas and spices were quickly devoured. Pakoras, dipped in a chick pea flour batter were filled with vegetables and paneer (a curdlike cheese).
There were so many courses, so many flavors, so many fragrances, so many levels of heat -- but never too much. It was a fabulous meal. Dish after dish arrived. From the tandoor oven, overseen by tandoori chef Bandari Ram Sharma, came a superb marinated seabass, chicken tikka masala, tandoori chicken and more. We exalted over channa masala, a savory blend of garbanza beans with a wondrous blend of spices and the sag paneer, creamed spinach with dabs of cheese.
Basmati rice dishes tempered the heat of the few dishes that had a medium bite. It is not possible to name each of the dishes -- there were too many --but all were pleasing.
Dinner ended with a dessert dubbed "Gaylord's Sputnik," a deep bowl set into a footed bowl filled with chips of dry ice. In the dessert bowl were two dumpling size sweet cheese-filled, honey-dipped rounds, classic gulab jamun. What set this version apart was the bit of drama that followed when our servers poured a gentle stream of water into the bottom bowl.
Puffs of "smoke" arose as we ate our gulab jamun, and another dessert -- a cylinder of homemade mango ice cream strewn with edible silver leaf. As if we were children, we ate every morsel.
Any of the Gaylord managers: Karamjeet Singh, Gill Tapan Bose or Nina Burke can assist in planning a special menu.
Gaylord is open seven days, serving both lunch and dinner. A buffet lunch is available for $14.95 per person. Included are eight entree dishes and all kinds of side dishes. At least 15 to 16 items are offered every day. Baskets of fresh-from-the tandoor breads are served at the table. A buffet of this kind is a fine introduction to basic Indian foods.
Gaylord's Indian cuisine is a combination of subtle tastes and bold flavors. Fresh spices are prepared each day for each distinctive dish. The quality of the food and the preparation is excellent. Gaylord's decor and appointments are gorgeous. Glass doors and windows are etched with patterns as fine as lace. The effect is enchanting.
For reservations call 777-2277. Having a Gaylord in Las Vegas adds a new dimension to the dining scene.
Short orders
NBT's Woman of the Year: Nevada Dance Theater's Black and White Ball Saturday evening at Bellagio will pay tribute to the achievements of the blonde gentleman prefer, Carol Channing, NBT's Woman of the Year. The splendid evening will include an original menu created by Executive Banquet Chef Martin Heierling just for this event: cream of white asparagus soup with pickled chervil and a white truffle bouchee; black and white lobster ravioli and baby leek etoufee; and petit filet mignon with confit potato (an original spin on the traditional confit) and mulled zinfandel emulsion. Executive Pastry Chef Jean-Philippe Maury will offer a scrumptious diamond mousse-dark flourless fondant dessert. Channing, the ageless star of stage and screen, recently penned a new memoir, "Just Lucky I Guess," (Simon & Schuster, $24.95). The always candid Channing is alway s a good read. A limited number of ball tickets are still available. Call 244-2623.
New pastry Chef at Rosemary's at The Rio: Rosemary's at the Rio Pastry Chef Linda Raymond-West is dazzling diners (and the staff) with her flair and creativity. Raymond-West is a graduate of Le Cordon Bleu, London and has worked at Le Cirque at Bellagio and NOBHILL at MGM Grand. At her new gig she is constantly adding new desserts. Chef/owner Michael Jordan was so impressed with Raymond-West's "killer pineapple upside down cake," it's earned a listing on the dessert menu. Another favorite, a chocolate sampler plate, includes chocolate pudding cake, chocolate cream pie, chocolate peanut butter wafers and a small white chocolate shake is another scrumptious choice. Chef/owner Wendy Jordan oversees Rosemary's Restaurant on West Sahara Avenue.
AAA 4 Diamond Awards: Green Valley Ranch Station Casino and Le Cirque at Bellagio have been added to the list of Nevada's 2003 AAA 4 Diamond winners. Other Las Vegas 4 Diamond restaurant winners are Aureole and 3950 at Mandalay Bay, Eiffel Tower at Paris and Michael's at Barbary Coast. Llewellyn's and Summit Room at Stateline; Steakhouse at Harrah's, Reno; and the White Orchid in Reno also made the list.
The 2003 4 Diamond lodging winners are Caesars Palace in Las Vegas; Caesars Tahoe; Golden Nugget; Hyatt Regency Lake Las Vegas and Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe; Las Vegas Hilton; Mandalay Bay; Paris Las Vegas; The Mirage; Treasure Island; The Venetian; Harrah's Lake Tahoe and Cactus Pete's Resort at Jackpot.
AAA Awards credibility on line: I've written before about the veracity of restaurant awards, but a glaring error in this year's AAA 4 Diamond Awards press release casts more doubt about the procedure used. To meet the deadline for today's column I asked for and received an advance notice of the 2003 4 Diamond winners. A description of the 4 Diamond Las Vegas restaurant, Le Cirque, included information about a pastry chef who hadn't worked at the eatery for more than two years. One phone call confirmed it. Gregory Gourreau is the pastry chef for Le Cirque, not Patrice Caillot! How could a rating system be so out of date? A follow-up phone call to AAA earned me a thank you -- representatives now had time to correct the gaffe before the press release was sent en masse, but there was no explanation as to how this could have happened. So once again I ask the question -- "Who's rating the raters?"
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