Chef Bruno Riou of Rivea: The cocktail’s new place at the dinner table
Editor’s Note: After a glorious nearly month-long family vacation in the Italian and Sicilian countryside, Robin Leach is back and resuming his new daily columns today with exclusive news on a surprise DOWNTON ABBEY wedding in Las Vegas and expansion of Fright Dome at Circus Circus during Halloween.
We’ll continue his guest columnists this month while Robin works from the cooler climes of La Jolla near San Diego in advance of our newly designed website launching midmonth.
Today our weeklong salute to the culinary kings and queens of our restaurant and culinary industry continues – those kitchen warriors who work long hours serving taste treats our 41 million annual visitors have come to expect here. Today, we welcome Aria chef Shawn McClain as he gets ready for the opening of his Libertine Social at Mandalay Bay and chef Bruno Riou, executive chef at Alain Ducasse’s Rivea atop The Delano Las Vegas, who says that classic cocktails are now welcome at the dinner table and not just at the standup bar. Here’s Bruno!
By Bruno Riou
Wine pairings are considered to be the norm when it comes to high-end dining experiences. While wine definitely serves as a delicious accompaniment to a variety of cuisine, my team at Rivea atop The Delano Las Vegas and the mixologists behind Skyfall Lounge are challenging our culinary chops with a different type of tasting menu. We’ve put an enhanced focus on cocktails to provide more unexpected flavor combinations and expand the realm of creativity.
The idea for Rivea’s Tour of the Riviera cocktail-pairing dinner menu came from chef Alain Ducasse’s fascination with the flavor possibilities of cocktails. As opposed to searching for a wine with the perfect match of grape variety or a beer with the right hop profile, cocktails can be specifically built to enhance a variety of flavor notes in a dish.
The menu consists of five courses of Riviera-inspired dishes paired with five innovative libations. The complexity and amount of work involved to craft unique cocktails for each dish might be overwhelming for some, but we’ve embraced the challenge. We crafted the dishes based on seasonally available ingredients so that we can use the freshest vegetables and produce possible. Then the Proprietors team imagined new cocktails to perfectly complement each dish.
There are many things to consider when pairing a cocktail with a dish. Most importantly with a multicourse pairing menu, the alcohol content needs to be taken into account. Each cocktail has the perfect amount of spirit to ensure that diners enjoy each element of flavor even after five drinks.
The ingredients of the cocktail also need to match the dish’s texture and flavor. For example, a popular dish in the spring and summer is sea scallops. White wine is a natural pairing to match the scallops’ light texture. To take the pairing to the next level, the mixologists at Proprietors use calvados, a French apple brandy, mixed with white wine to accompany the strong, savory flavor.
Another example is the roasted duck breast. Duck is juicy, gamey and flavorful and pairs well with something light bodied and fruity. The matching cocktail plays off the classic French dish duck à l’orange, with hints of orange flavor coming through with French curacao, orange oil and a well-balanced sherry.
The creativity continues with the other courses. To begin, a light and bubbly drink with a hint of grapefruit is paired with a marinated sea bass crudo. A rich lobster risotto is served with a slightly sweet champagne creation. Chef Ducasse’s signature baba with limoncello finishes the epic meal with a stunning accompaniment of vermouth, apricot and tequila.
We love to see people come in and get excited about the cocktail dinner. It’s not something that’s typically found in Italian- and French-inspired restaurants. We definitely see the energy build as the night goes on, with the cocktails creating a fun atmosphere.
In addition to crafting the exquisite cocktails on the pairing menu, the Proprietors team also has just developed a new menu for Skyfall, the accompanying lounge next to Rivea. With this new menu and the impressive Tour of the Riviera tasting menu, we hope that our guests will enjoy the diversity and creativity cocktails can bring to the dinner table.
Be sure to check out our other Chef’s Week guest columnist today, Shawn McClain with the fun story of Kyle as the inspiration of his new restaurant Libertine Social about to open at Mandalay Bay. Robin also has news of a surprise DOWNTON ABBEY wedding in Las Vegas and expansion plans for Fright Dome at Circus Circus during Halloween.
