What others are saying about Daniel Boulud Brasserie

 Boulud has put together a smart brasserie menu...He's got the lavish chilled seafood platters..and also offers his own caviar and cured salmon, both first-class. But the real thrill here is the house-made charcuterie, notably the rustic pâté de campagne, which has a fine livery funk, and the pork, rabbit and foie gras rillettes, which comes in a petite crock with a pile of cornichons, puckery pickled ramps, and excellent sourdough toast. I also liked the artichokes barigoule braised in a fragrant green herb sauce.

Unusually enough, the main courses outshine the firsts. There's a crackling crisp duck confit with divine mashed potatoes, beautiful braised beef short ribs bourguignon — possibly the best I've ever had — topped with shaved carrots, snap peas and pearl onions and served with what looks like mashed avocado but turns out to be potatoes mashed with ramps. I'm leery of the steak frites when I read that the steak is a filet mignon. Why not an onglet or hanger steak? But this is a gorgeous piece of beef, deeply flavored, and comes with perfect gold fries.

The star of the evening, though, is a lovely gâteau Saint-Honoré decorated with tiny cream puffs, each topped with a burnt caramel hat and filled with a haunting caramel cream. It is so very French.

S. Irene Virbila, "Extravaganza, baby! Vegas' latest wave of luxe restaurants takes opulent dining to a whole new level." LA Times, July 13, 2005


 Don't be misled by the "Brasserie" in the name. This is no beer hall. Daniel Boulud Brasserie is very New York stylish, from the crisply professional service to the perfect lighting. Of course, you're in Vegas, so there has to be something about the place that's over the top. And there is: The room overlooks a lake and a waterfall cascading over a stone wall. When the sun goes down, both the wall and lake become projection screens for a weird light show, the kind you might have seen in the 1960s if 21st-century technology had been available. It's entertaining, but not nearly as entertaining as the food.

Howard Seftel, "Vegas has new winner in Brasserie" The Arizona Republic, August 17, 2005

 If you'd like to discover the difference between good and great eating, I suggest you run, not walk to the Daniel Boulud Brasserie at Wynn and order a single dish. That dish, the Danish-style smoked salmon, is a testament to elegant simplicity. It is also so beautiful in both presentation and flavor that the discerning customer knows there are brilliant professionals at work in the kitchen. To paraphrase a famous saying, God, my friends (and great cuisine) is in the details.

And the wonders of the Daniel Boulud Brasserie do not end there. Le Grand Daniel had the good sense to put Phillipe Rispoli at the helm of the kitchen, and install a top flight front of the house team, This place has run like a fine watch from the get go, and unlike some other Wynn restaurants, will need no re-tooling of its name, its prices, its décor or its menu.

And what a menu it is. An incomparable shellfish platter, charcuterie to die for, a luscious frittata that looks like a big round omelet and before you know it, disappears with everyone at the table taking their licks, and a crispy duck confit that will single-handedly win you over to French food. The wines by the glass are well chosen and well priced, and there's not one, but two humongous hamburgers to chose from. And I haven't even gotten to the two best things on the menu, the wine-drenched short ribs and the braised veal cheeks, because I can never get them-they sell out too fast on a daily basis.

John Curtas, "Food For Thought with John Curtas" KNPR Nevada Public Radio, June 23, 2005