{"id":2943,"date":"2012-07-27T01:27:24","date_gmt":"2012-07-27T01:27:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mrnystyleandtravel.com\/?p=2943"},"modified":"2014-01-22T09:54:15","modified_gmt":"2014-01-22T14:54:15","slug":"spanish-heaven-in-vegas-jaleo-by-jose-andres","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mrnystyleandtravel.com\/?p=2943","title":{"rendered":"Spanish Heaven in Vegas: Jaleo by Jos\u00e9 Andr\u00e9s"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"JaleoFeat\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The best tapas in the world? That\u2019s a claim that gets bandied about by the culinary cognoscenti of Vegas – and after a recent meal at\u00a0Jaleo<\/a>\u00a0that was marked by a surfeit of playful creativity and ingenious flavor combinations, we\u2019ll happily second that honorific.<\/p>\n

Chef Jos\u00e9 Andr\u00e9s opened the first\u00a0Jaleo<\/a>\u00a0in D.C. in 1993 – and the subsequent two metropolitan Washington iterations made\u00a0Jaleo<\/a>\u00a0a beloved local institution. Andr\u00e9s\u2019 fourth\u00a0Jaleo<\/a>\u00a0outpost opened at the Cosmopolitan in 2011 and was quickly awarded “Best New Restaurant” in Vegas.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a natural fit, given that\u00a0Jaleo<\/a>\u00a0means “revelry” in Spanish. This, after all, is a restaurant where the open kitchen with its olive-wood fire pit sends flames leaping into the air as patrons happily drape themselves around wooden tables and brightly-colored banquettes to eat Andr\u00e9s\u2019 inspired food.<\/p>\n

Start with the sangria – or a signature G&T. What sounds simple, maybe even pedestrian, becomes elevated in the hands and mind of Chef Andr\u00e9s.<\/p>\n

The G&T, for example, is made with Hendricks gin and a local tonic, but it\u2019s the story behind the drink – and the flowers and berries floating in the glass – that will keep you remembering this cocktail.<\/p>\n

According to a server, one with a romantic streak, Chef Andr\u00e9s spent a summer day with his daughters in a meadow – and whenever he wasn\u2019t looking, his two young daughters would drop wildflowers into his drink, thinking he was unaware. Jaleo\u2019s G&T is Andr\u00e9s\u2019 way of remembering that perfect day in Spain.<\/p>\n

\n
\"Jaleo\u2019s<\/a>

Jaleo\u2019s Chicken Fritters (Source: MRNY)<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Molecular gastronomy makes an appearance in\u00a0Jaleo<\/a>\u2019s liquid olives, dedicated to “Ferran Adria” of El Bulli: spherical blobs like tiny black egg yolks – and loaded with concentrated flavor. You want to keep spooning them into your mouth like caviar.<\/p>\n

Tiny baby potatoes, like doll fingers, are served with two sauces from the Canary Islands. You could easily snack on an entire bag of these while watching an Almodovar trilogy.<\/p>\n

As the plates keep arriving, each one complementing the one before and the one after, the question keeps arising, “What\u2019s your favorite? Which one do you like best?”<\/p>\n

Traditional chicken fritters served in a tennis shoe. Or a shooter of chilled gazpacho. Endive leaves laden with goat cheese, oranges, and almonds.<\/p>\n

The “pan con tomate” is the epitome of summer simplicity: toasted slices of rustic bread slathered with garlic and fresh tomatoes. A warm Brussels sprout salad is flecked with apricots, apples and bits of Serrano ham – while a fennel salad is a tasty tangle of Manchego cheese, walnuts, and apples, dressed in sherry.<\/p>\n

\"Paella<\/a>

Paella at Jaleo (Source: MRNY)<\/p><\/div>\n

And then there\u2019s the paella: smoky and delicious, reminding you of your first trip to Spain and the culinary revelations that ensued. You were young, a guest at someone\u2019s home, and there was family and sangria, lots of sangria, and it was summer and everyone was laughing. The best summer of your life.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what a meal at\u00a0Jaleo<\/a>\u00a0does for you: it reminds you of what you love best about life. No wonder it\u2019s so beloved.<\/p>\n

Oh, and one more inspiring fact: Chef Jos\u00e9 Andr\u00e9s is the culinary spokesperson for the Global Alliance for\u00a0Clean Cookstoves<\/a>, a public-private initiative that works to save lives, improve livelihoods, empower women, and combat climate change by creating a thriving global market for clean and efficient household cooking solutions.<\/p>\n

Clean Cookstoves<\/a>\u2019 ambitious but achievable goal is to foster the adoption of clean cookstoves and fuels in 100 million households by 2020.<\/p>\n

One more good reason to enjoy Jaleo\u2019s heavenly paella.<\/p>\n

LINK:<\/b>\u00a0Jaleo<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The best tapas in the world? That\u2019s a claim that gets bandied about by the culinary cognoscenti of Vegas – and after a recent meal at\u00a0Jaleo\u00a0that was marked by a surfeit of playful creativity and ingenious flavor combinations, we\u2019ll happily … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2944,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[8],"tags":[278,30,143],"class_list":["post-2943","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-restaurant","tag-jaleo-by-jose-andres","tag-las-vegas","tag-restaurants"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.mrnystyleandtravel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/JaleoFeat.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p31sdB-Lt","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mrnystyleandtravel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2943","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mrnystyleandtravel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mrnystyleandtravel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mrnystyleandtravel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mrnystyleandtravel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2943"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.mrnystyleandtravel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2943\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7171,"href":"https:\/\/www.mrnystyleandtravel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2943\/revisions\/7171"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mrnystyleandtravel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2944"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mrnystyleandtravel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2943"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mrnystyleandtravel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2943"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mrnystyleandtravel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2943"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}