Mia

Every since we were devastated by the closing of Brassarie Perrier me and Frank have been visiting Georges Perrier’s other culinery ventures. Le Bec Fin was exactly what you expect Le Bec Fin to be. The best service in the city, fantastic food and expensive. The ambiance of the restaurant was just not really our style though, very proud, stuffy and no windows to be found (one thing I hate! I looove natural light and I love to look at the busy city streets when eating dinner in center city, probably why I adore Positano Coast so much). Table 31 was very nice with delicious food, although the service was so-so on our second visit (after 3 visits to the famous chefs different restaurants we came to expect great service at his restaurants, so this was a bit of a let down).

We had been planning to spend the day doing in-door rock climbing in Philly and then grabbing some pizza or something, but when we woke up an saw what a lovely day it was we couldn’t resist finally making our way down to the beach. Atlantic City is the perfect beach-city for us. Neither of us gamble, drink, or “party” by any means, but we love to get in the water for a little bit and then jump out and walk the shops and have a great meal. Neither of us are much of a pass-out on a super crowded beach and then have greasy boardwalk food.

What a great call on our part. Everyone in Jersey and Philly goes to Ocean City and no matter what day you go the beach is always packed, but on a saturday afternoon Atlantic City definitely had people on the beach and walking around, but you didn’t feel claustrophobic.

We, of course, couldn’t pass up the chance to have dinner at Georges Perrier and Chris Scarduzio’s great Roman-Palace inspired restaurant, Mia, inside of Caesars. It’s located on the second floor of the casino and it’s pretty hard to miss. As you glide up the elevator you see these fountains and on the left side is a huge restaurant bordered by huge roman columns. As you wait to be seated you sit on these amazingly comfortable but simply lovely black quilted leather couches that I am completely in love with and wish I could take home with me.

The restaurant is beautiful, of course. Very comfortable and inviting.

I love this photo. We are both a bit of perfectionists and have a deep love for symmetrical things, so Frank decided to make sure absolutely everything was reverse-symmetrical. I just smiled and took a few photos of course.

We were astounded by how quickly our food came out. It seemed we had only just ordered it when it was being set in front of us, perfectly cooked and delicious to follow.

We’ll start with Frank’s since I’m sure its obvious by now that he got Filet Mignon with a side of mashed potatoes (actually it was more than a side – more like a boat of mashed potatoes). He said it was absolutely great and had to strain himself to find anything wrong with it. Those two things that are also on the plat, we have no clue what they were (the menu didn’t say and I tried it and it was definitely not my taste).

I always have to make sure whatever restaurant has some sort of normalish steak for Frank, but I enjoy not looking at the menu beyond that until I arrive because I want to try all new things and broaden my culinary horizons a bit I suppose (I’d rather try something new and not like it than order the same thing over and over, ironic I know). I decided to go with the appetizer size of the Veal Tortilloni. It was delicious, completely delightful, and since it wasn’t huge it was just perfectly sized for me. It also allowed me to order a side. When it comes to my sides, I suppose I am a bit habitual. I almost always go with either mushrooms or asparagus. I debated back and forth, but it had been a while since I had mushrooms, and I am so glad I went with them. They were amazing, I could eat them every day and be completely happy.

We always make an effort to save room for dessert, especially at Georges Perrier’s restaurants, as they are almost always amazing, and they once again did not disappoint! Chocolate lava cake is pretty much Frank’s favorite dessert (probably only beat out by the chocolate tort at Zocalo in Philly) and I have to say, this particular chocolate cake was “bangin”.

I decided to go a bit lighter and just have a bite or two of his cake. So I got the selection of fruit sorbets. I forget which fruits they were, but they were very, very, good.

So I guess its time for me to fess up to the one thing I was disappointed in at the restaurant, and that was the service. I realize that it is sooo hard to find good wait staff, but Le Bec Fin and Brassarie Perrier both had phenomenal service, so it was a real let down. The server seemed to rush us when he was there and when we were ready he was no where to be found, and watching him with the other tables, we saw he did the same thing. I generally am compassionate towards servers since I’ve been there before, but this is one of those restaurants where there are people who only deliver food, and people who only bus the tables, and so on, so his only job is to interact with the customers and he felt like more of a drive-thru attendant than a fine-dining server.

That was my only complaint though, everything else was fantastic, really.