14 September 2020
what is going on there can we just crash this party like what stop keeps you oh there’s kids no there’s little kids don’t ya I don’t know my pro officers all right with that my name is Joshua Smith I’m the executive chef at Bardot Brasserie at Aria in Las Vegas Bardot Brasserie is a region style Brasserie it’s really like the top 40 hits of French cuisine like French onion soup and you know steak tartare and roasted bone marrow and steak frites and mussels and fries you know we just try to make those staple dishes really really perfectly really sing through the technique and the you know the consistency we make this crust for the cod fish that’s uh tons and tons of parsley garlic a little bit of parmesan and butter and bread crumbs from our house-made bread it gets laid out in acetate so that we can cut it to fit the fish and it forms over the top of the fish as we cook after just a couple seconds that piece of acetate shrinks up to a little guy and then we’re able to continue the cooking upstairs for this you know this would translate to kabhi oh and Percy odd and that’s and that’s as French as it gets I think that in Vegas the dining seems different because the transient nature of our audience means that you don’t have a chance to really get the trust of your of your guests as much as you would in a big city with regulars and people who come once a week or twice a month I was here in Vegas I was going to school for hotel management and I just like got possessed too one day wanted to be a chef and I told a girl at a bar that I was gonna be a chef and she was like you don’t know what you’re talking about like if you ever even started before and I was like what’s a Stosh I had no idea what I was talking about and so she kind of like painted that picture for me how you learn about cooking you know that by working for free so I went to a local restaurant they let me work in their kitchen and and they put a lot of pressure on me but it was like the fast track to learning how to be a line cook and after just a few months they offered me a job I made my way from sous chef to executive sous chef and then doing new chefs a good friend of mine who was the VP of food and beverage of the time here at the Aria he came out and spoke to me about this opportunity it was a really cool move for me to be able to come here and like really develop this concept from the ground up I named the restaurant I got to pick the plates and the silverware the rest is history so I always kept that like mentality with me that you just put in your eight hours then you know you’re really not being paid to learn you know but if you come in put a little bit extra effort into it you can really pick up all the secrets of you know being a really successful chef – salmon great night so last night my good friend Manny so Chios flew in from Chicago to spend the evening with us also went out with Ben Jenkins who’s the chef Michael Mina Blasio and a longtime friend and mentor of mine we left Bardot Brasserie and went to other mama my roommate just his mom just got married and one of the people he invited from out of town was the guy who caveman the guys dated my house for like two weeks he got stranded nicely that son let me out so we go with the other mama so this this chef is pretty new in town the place is pretty pretty recently open I can’t say enough good things about it except I’ve made my sous-chef to go Jeff thank you thanks for having us an awesome man chef Dan Cromer is kind of new in Vegas the restaurant is really young but just doing some like really unique fresh raw bar Japanese inspired food you know the place is like open air open kitchen and they all seem to not take themselves too seriously and they’re just really focusing on really great food product started out with oysters on the half-shell with some unique accompaniments he did like a rosemary mignonette and another school kind of pickled habanero condiment Cheers you get the same thing I got the Billy Joe cool cocktail program almost everything on the cocktail programs just like built to be refreshing and kind of light got to enjoy an octopus carpaccio that was like crazy tender and basil we did this like crazy flying fish guy that was in a spicy ponzu sauce and butter flied out and fried crazy-looking patient all right this is killer great had these really incredible Oysters Rockefeller with foie gras to top them off I saw snow crab shower then he did this like soft-shell crab salad it was like a crazy kind of thing it had salmon roe and like a really unique like tomato and basil kind of a salsa he brought out a really nice whiskey for some shots and we we also had some some s Cal you know and he joined us for that I grew up with the name of other mama man that was a family thing my dad’s Karen turned me around too much my great grandma raised him and all his brothers and sisters our mama like that touch using a new dress is great after her mama got in the car and went to Lotus of Siam so I don’t think any Vegas food-based anything could be anything without Lotus involved so that’s like just an institution here Lotus is in this like crazy shopping center really really colorful part of town the big restaurant they’ve expanded several times they’re kind of world renowned with being you know a strong force and Thai cuisine in the country they do this authentic regional Thai cuisine so it’s it’s not just you know your your basic Thai menu so many different you know unique things we should get these water glasses for all the mini group restaurant right during during EDC especially like I’m kind of blown away by this wine that’s really you have a look at the list at all ain’t no beverages on the table with water man yeah I know you got it we got to do that chef saipin Schiff FEMA she prepared for us this really unique sausage that had a lot of lemongrass in it like a Thai style sort of a rustic sausage our mouths were on fire with this tartare that she did and it almost looked cooked it was so marinated but crazy spicy just brought it’s marinated so it looks good clearly there’s not fire now I’m a guy yeah oh yeah did a fried rice dish with a kind of a smoky ham inside of it really spicy she did a spring roll that was off menu ah chef Dan Cromer was able to join us for for some of that really spicy cuisine we’re not okay not very hungry anymore yeah you get free game with a cool game it was super full game chef my name is Josh nice to meet you yeah me too this is Manny we got to meet Saipan which is the chef at Lotus of Siam how are you thank you for coming out your food is so incredible thank you so much my gosh you look like sisters not like mom we got to finish off there with some of my favorite mango sticky rice you know really kind of like it’s the perfect finish to a spicy meal it’s always interesting to me to see like in those ethnic restaurants that like sometimes it’s not like you know young energetic chef like myself that’s like an old lady and her family’s there working with her that’s that’s hospitality they really care about each other and they really care about their guests and they’re you know they’re really there to like present a unique experience you know it’s a place you kind of have to go if you’re visiting Vegas after that we got in the car and we went to Dino’s no he knows is my right absolute favorite dive bar in Vegas take a break there topless cabaret opportunely buddy created it’s always a really colorful crowd and really friendly bar staff and really cheap drinks gentlemen lovely any kinks or so aspic food yeah now a drink had a bunch of highlights and shots of whiskey and I’ve got to meet up with a bunch of friends and came out to enjoy some drinks with us are you alright I’m one back Center we like center way back sin I’m thinking it might go axenic dinero style from Cape Fear and I’m gonna hang on one of my lap release to sit on my lap let’s go back to Bardo we were able to bring a bunch of our good friends back here to Bardo and put on kind of a pretty crazy feast where we’re back we did the prime rib patty burger the the next move is this like cheese the cheese is a fondue we cooked down like a reduction of white wine with clove and garlic and a little bit of mustard powder and we add Greer and Emmett all so then we set that and like let it chill and then we sliced that so it becomes like this like like American version of a French cheese we fried our chickens there’s a lot of flavor developed up in those birds already but put them in the fryer just like kind of seal the deal really crispy skin made a really delicious so we serve that with like a foie gras rice pilaf but I’ve been working on the gravy that we make kind of with the fat that’s left in the pan from the foie gras all that fat gets picked up by the rice and the onions that we cook into that dish so Madera and black truffle kind of a gravy around it fried eggs on top next level next level right here I’m just going to eat it from the plate mmm unbelievable every day off that I have I eat out you know more often than I ever cooked at home you know I’m in love with what I do I love food you What is going on there? Can we just crash this party? Like what the fuck? Let’s stop. Oh there’s kids. No there’s kids, don’t stop. I don’t know if my parole officer is all right with that.
00:00:34
My name is Joshua Smith, I’m the executive chef at Bardot Brasserie at the Aria, in Las Vegas.
00:00:39
The Bardot Brasserie is a Parisian style brasserie. It’s really like the top 40 hits of French cuisine, like French onion soup, and steak tartar, and roasted bone marrow, steak frites, and mussels and fries. We just try to make those staple dishes really, really perfect. Like really sing through the technique and the consistency.
00:01:01
We make this crust for the cod fish that’s tons and tons of parsley and garlic a little bit of parmesan and butter and bread crumbs from our house made bread. It gets laid out in acetate so that we can cut it to fit the fish and it forms over the top of the fish as we cook. In just a couple of seconds that piece of acetate shrinks up to a little guy and we’re able to continue the cooking upstairs. You know this would translate to the Cabia and Perseid, and that’s as French as it gets. I think that in Vegas, the dining scene’s different because of the transient nature of our audience means that you don’t have a chance to really get the trust of your guests as much as you would in a big city with regulars and people that come once a week or twice a month. I was here in Vegas, I was going to school for Hotel Management and I just like got possessed, one day wanted to be a chef. And I told a girl at a bar that I was gonna be a chef. And she was like, you don’t know what you’re talking about, have you ever even staged before? And I was like, what’s a stage? I had no idea what I was talking about. And so she kinda like painted that picture for me, how you learn about cooking by working for free, so I went to a local restaurant. They let me work in their kitchen and they put a lot of pressure on me but it was like the fast track to learning how to be a line cook. And after just a few months, they offered me a job. I made my way from sous chef through executive sous chef and then to executive chefs. A good friend of mine, who is the VP of food and beverage at the time here at the Aria, he came out and spoke to me about this opportunity. It was a really cool move for me to be able to come here and really develop this concept from the ground up. I named the restaurant, I got to pick the plates and the silverware, the rest is history. So, I always kept that mentality with me that if you just put in your eight hours, then you’re really not being paid to learn. But if you come in and put in a little bit of extra effort into it, you can really pick up all the secrets of being a really successful chef.
00:02:44
Cheers gentlemen, great night. So last night, my good friend Manny Sofios flew in from Chicago to spend the evening with us. Also went out with Ben Jenkins, who’s the chef at Michael Mina, Bellagio, and a long time friend and mentor of mine.
00:02:59
Everything about this is really crazy.
00:03:07
We left Bardot Brasserie and went to Other Mama.
00:03:13
My roommate, his mom just got married, and one of the people he invited from out of town was the GEICO caveman. The guy stayed at my house for two weeks cuz he got stranded. That’s unbelievable. I know! So we’re going to Other Mama. So this chef is pretty new in town. This place is pretty recently opened. I can’t say enough good things about it, so I made my sous chefs go.
00:03:43
Chef, thanks for having us here.
00:03:48
Chef Dan Krohmer is kind of new in Vegas. The restaurant is really young, but just doing some really unique, fresh, raw bar, Japanese-inspired food. The place is open air, open kitchen, and they all seem to not take themselves too seriously. And they’re just really focusing on really great food product.
00:04:10
Started out with oysters on the half-shell with some unique accompaniments. He did like a rosemary mignonette, and this cool kind of pickled habanero condiment. Cheers.
00:04:22
You get same thing I got, the Billy Joe? Cool cocktail program, almost everything on the cocktail program is just like built to be refreshing and kinda light.
00:04:30
Got to enjoy an octopus carpaccio that was like, crazy tender.
00:04:34
This is going to be uni and basil french toast. Capped with creme fraiche and domestic caviar.
00:04:44
That’s pretty awesome.
00:04:45
We did this, like, crazy flying fish guy that was in a spicy ponzu sauce, butterflied out and fried.
00:04:57
This is killer, great. Had these really incredible Oysters Rockefeller with foie gras to top ’em off. This is a lime softshell crab salad. Then he did this softshell crab salad that was like a caprese kind of thing.
00:05:09
It had salmon roe, and a really unique, tomato and basil, kind of, a salsa. He brought out a really nice whiskey for some shots, and then we also had some mezcal, he joined us for that. How did you come up with the name Other Mama, man? It was a family thing. My dad’s parents weren’t really around too much, my great-grandma raised him and all his brothers and sisters. We always called her Other Mama. Like, that’s how we was introduced to us as grandkids. I like it.
00:05:36
Love this.
00:05:46
That’ll get you ready for Thai food. Thank you guys so much, really appreciate it. And after Other Mama, got in the car and went to Lotus of Siam.
00:05:54
So I don’t think any Vegas food-based anything could be anything without Lotus involved. So that’s like, just an institution here.
00:06:04
Lotus is in this crazy shopping center. Really colorful part of town. It’s a big restaurant, they’ve expanded several times. They’re kind of world renown, for being a strong force in Thai cuisine in the country.
00:06:21
They do this authentic, regional Thai cuisine.
00:06:24
So it’s not just your basic Thai menu, it’s so many unique things.
00:06:30
We should get these water glasses for all meeting group restaurants. Right. During EDC especially, you know.
00:06:36
Like I said I’m kind of blown away by this wine. I mean it’s really. Did you have a look at the list at all. There’s no beverages on the table but water man. Yeah, I know. That makes no sense. We gotta do that.
00:06:57
The chef Saipin Chutima, she prepared for us this really unique sausage that had a lot of lemongrass in it, like a Thai-style sort of a rustic sausage. Our mouths were on fire with this tartare that she did. It almost looked cooked it was so marinated, but crazy spicy. It’s raw. It’s marinated, so it looks cooked. Is it really? There’s some fire in that one. In that one? Yeah? Oh yeah.
00:07:20
I did a fried rice dish with a kind of a smoky ham inside of it, really spicy. A shooter spring roll that was off-menu.
00:07:31
Chef. Chef Dan Cromer was able to join us for some of that really spicy cuisine. We’re not very hungry anymore. Yeah, you’re pregame was a full game.
00:07:43
It was a super full game. Chef, my name is Josh, nice to meet you. Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you, this is Manny. We got to meet Saipin which is the chef at Lotus of Siam. Thank you for coming out. Your food is so incredible, thank you so much. Oh my gosh! You look like sisters, not like mom.
00:08:09
We got to finish off there with some of my favorite mango sticky rice. You know, really kind of like, it’s the perfect finish to a spicy meal. It’s always interesting to me to see in those ethnic restaurants that sometimes it’s not a young, energetic chef like myself, it’s an old lady and her family’s there working with her. That’s hospitality. They really care about each other, and they care about their guests and, you know they’re really there to present a unique experience. It’s a place you kinda have to go if you’re visiting Vegas.
00:08:43
Check please! After that we got in the car and we went to Dino’s.
00:08:50
Dino’s! Dino’s is my absolute favorite dive bar in Vegas. You wanna take a break, there’s the Topless Cabaret. Opportunely situated. It’s always a really colorful crowd, and really friendly bar staff, and really cheap drinks.
00:09:04
Gentlemen, to a lovely evening, thanks for hosting me in Vegas. And a lovely ending.
00:09:09
And thanks for some fantastic food. Yeah. Now we drink. Cheers. Had a bunch of High Life’s and did some shots of whiskey and you know, got to meet up with a bunch of friends that came out to enjoy some drinks with us.
00:09:34
I’m going back center. Back center. Way back center? I’m thinking it might go De Niro style from Cape Fear. And I think I’m just gonna hang onto that bar, to that fucking bar. Will you at least just sit on my lap? Woo, let’s go. Back to Bardot. We were able to bring a bunch of very good friends back here to Bardot and put on a pretty crazy feast for them. We’re back.
00:09:55
We did a prime rib patty burger.
00:10:00
The next move is cheese, the cheese is the fondue.
00:10:03
We cook down a reduction of white wine with clove and garlic and a little bit of mustard powder. And we add Gruyere and Emmental. So then we set that and let it chill, and then we slice that so it becomes this American version of French cheese.
00:10:24
We fried our chickens, there’s a lot of flavor developed up in those birds already but putting ’em in the fryer, just sealed the deal. It made really crispy skin, it made them really delicious. So, we served that with like a foie gras rice pilaf that I’ve been working on. The gravy that we make kind of with the fat that’s left in the pan from the foie gras, all that fat gets picked up by the rice and onions that we cook in with that dish.
00:10:45
And a black truffle, kind of a gravy around it, fried eggs on top. Next level. Wow. Next level right here. I’m just gonna eat it from the plate. Do you guys mind? Mm, unbelievable! Every day off that I have I eat out, more often than I ever cook at home.
00:11:16
I’m in love with what I do, I love food.