é by José Andres, is the 8-seat restaurant located inside of Jaléo at The Cosmopolitan. A “disciple,” if you will, of Ferran Adriá, the food here is delighfully unexpected, whimsical, and mind-blowingly excellent! My wife and I have dined here on three previous occasions, and this is one of our favorite restaurants, period. Now, that said, let me say this is not a restaurant for everyone: you have to like small bites; you have to like molecular gastronomy; and you have to be “playful.”
For those who’ve never been to é, it is an 8-seat restaurant where the chefs de partie do the final preparation and presentation in front of the patrons, who are seated around a curved bar and served all at once. Two seatings a night, five nights a week (Wed. thru Sun.). The menu is not presented to you until after dinner, as they want everything to be a surprise. Here is the menu from September 30th.
The first dish was “Sangria 2015” – a frozen ice that was refreshing and full of flavor.
Next was the “Branch of the Desert,” olive crackers with piquillo peppers and roasted cocoa nibs – crunchy, savory, and palate cleansing.
“Vidrio” (a delicate “glass” made from potato and stuffed with delicious things that I can’t remember at the moment – there’s a lot of that when 21 course come your way and you’re not taking any notes!) and Filipino . . .
. . . was followed by Pillow:
A perfect-looking miniature donut that, for all the world, looks like a classic cake donut covered in chocolate and covered in sprinkles. But it’s an etherial foie gras mousse enrobed in chocolate and salt. Phenomenal!
This was followed by Dado, a raspberry gelée.
Next came our soup course:
A Beet Gazpacho, made by creating a beet foam, dehydrating it, and carefully placing it in a panini press, then piping in a beet gazpacho gel, and topping it with another panini-pressed “cracker” of beet air . . .
Suffice it to say, that the meal continued like this for 14 more courses . . .
An amazingly phenomenal meal/experience!