That was only 15 days ago.
Meanwhile, the scene in the kitchen was remarkably calm for three days before opening. Savoy walked through, picking up a fried turnip slice from a sheet pan. "It needs to be more brown," he said to the cook, picking up one that was more cooked. "Like this one." He tasted a consomme. "You'll have to pass it," he told that cook, meaning to strain it through a \o7chinois\f7.
At the front of the kitchen Williams Caussimon, executive chef at Savoy's restaurant Le Chiberta in Paris, was working on another snack for the Champagne bar -- two tiny disks of raw beet, sliced so thin as to be almost transparent, sandwiched between them a minutely chopped salad of celery root and celery branches. Savoy picked up the tiny silver spoon on which it was presented, and tasted. The spoon stayed in his mouth an instant too long.
The bottom beet slice stuck to the spoon, he explained to Caussimon. No problem: A drop of olive oil on the spoon would fix it.
The dining room staff assembled for the pre-service meeting. Franck went over some service issues. Adam Sobel explained one or two new dishes. One of the three sommeliers explained the wines they'd be pouring that day.
Franck then wrapped it up. "Enjoy, have fun, dance, smile, be part of the ballet," he said to the assembled. "Remember, you're all on stage."
"Why don't we start the cheese service today?" Savoy asked his son after the meeting." Laura was smoothing the silk blouse of one of the hostesses.
"Because we're not ready," said Franck. "Tomorrow." (There would be one more training meal before the real deal.) Fortunately, the opening will be a soft one -- with no splashy press dinner or party to promote it.
And Savoy? He's stressed out, but not about the opening -- he's anxious about "the months and months to come." For now, he says, "Everyone's capable of doing the plates. But like at home, not like at the restaurant."
"When Robuchon came, it was like God was here," said Michael Shearin, a sommelier. "And here this team is really more passionate."
But can Savoy really pull this off?
"I really have the impression of being a prisoner," he says. "I have a little voice that says everything is going great in Paris. What are you doing here? But in five years Las Vegas has really become something interesting. There's something going on here."
*
Tuna `toutes saveurs'
Total time: 40 minutes
Servings: 4
