http://www.youtube.com/v/F1E4eGaCRto&rel=0&hl=en

Well, the extra hundred dollars made a difference. The Bouchon dinner was not transcendent but everyone, from maitre' d to server, handled us with professional ease and confidence. I'm sure you have been in the audience at a amateur performance and cringed when the soprano wavered on high notes, the dancer turned into his partner or the actor forgot his lines. Bouchon made no missteps—the room is elegant, the service professional yet warm and the food perfectly prepared. Here are the appetizers and entrees offered that night:

Terrine de Foie Gras de Canard $ 48.50

Served with toasted baguette (5 oz.)

Soupe à l'Oignon $ 9.50

Assiette de Charcuterie $ 16.50

Nostrano, rosette de Lyon, saucisson sec basquese and gentile

Soupe du Jour $ 8.50

Olives $ 6.50

Marinated olives

Quiche du Jour $ 13.50

Beignets de Brandade de Morue $ 12.50

Cod brandade with tomato confit and fried sage

Pâté de Campagne $ 12.50

Country style pâté with watercress, cornichons and radishes

Rillettes aux Deux Saumons $ 14.75

Fresh and smoked salmon rillettes served with toasted croûtons

Poitrine de Porc $ 13.50

Glazed pork belly, stewed Frog Hollow peaches, mustard sprouts and pork jus

PLATS PRINCIPAUX

Gigot d'Agneau $ 31.75

Roasted leg of lamb with fennel dauphine and savory jus

Steak Frites $ 34.50

Pan-seared prime flatiron with maître d'hôtel butter and French fries

Poulet Rôti $ 27.50

Roasted chicken with truffle tartlet, crispy garlic chips and chicken jus

Boudin Blanc $ 24.50

White sausage with potato purée and French prunes

Poitrine de Veau $ 29.50

Slow-cooked pork with toasted barley, black plum porridge and marinated shiitake mushrooms

Truite aux Amandes $ 28.00

Pan-roased trout with almonds, brown butter and haricots verts

Saumon Poëlé aux Légumes de Saison $ 28.00

Sautéed salmon with butter basted vegetables and verjus beurre blanc

Moules au Safran et à la Moutarde $ 26.50

Maine bouchot mussels steamed in white wine, mustard and saffron served with French Fries

Gnocchi à la Parisienne $ 24.50

Sautéed gnocchi with a ragoût of vegetables and beurre noisette

Tartine du Jour $ 16.95

Open-faced sandwich served with French fries

Croque Madame $ 17.95

Toasted ham and chese sandwich on brioche, fried egg, mornay sauce served with French fries

Bob had a slow-cooked pork dish with red cabbage, an evening special, and I had perfect roasted chicken served that night on a truffle tartlet. We started with salmon tartar and marinated olives and hoped to have room for dessert, but didn't. 

It seems that Las Vegas is always reinventing itself. Five years ago when we were there, the casino aisles were jammed with strollers—not Ocean's Eleven-black tie-sophisticates, but wide, many pocketed, highchairs on wheels full of pink-cheeked toddlers. The credit cards being targeted that year belonged to families. The Mandalay Bay offered water rides, the Flamingo advertised supervised "action rooms" for children, and Caesar's squeezed a few toy stores into their shopping forum.

Apparently families didn't step up to their cards enough because two years later, the Mandalay Bay replaced the water rides with mid-swimming pool Oasis bars, the Flamingo offered singles get-to-gethers, and Caesar's Forum included even more over-the-top Italian shoe stores. Strollers are still represented, but their number has thinned—there's more money in naughty than nice.