Putting on the Ritz

From CasinoArticles.com

Casinos
Putting on the Ritz
By GamblingOnlineMagazine
Mar 10, 2001, 11:05

If you are a consummate gentleman and a high stakes gambler then the one place you need to discover is the Ritz Club in London. At the pinnacle of casino elegance, this fantastically British gambling club caters to the most sophisticated of the international jet set society. With its membership built on a solid foundation of the world's 3000 wealthiest gamblers, The Ritz Club has developed a well-deserved reputation for perfection. From the lavish decor to the spotless gaming tables, from the crystal chandeliers to original oil paintings everything in the Ritz Club radiates refinement, discerning tastes and impeccable flawlessness.

But if there is something to be remembered about an evening at the Ritz Club, beyond fabulous wins and losses, it would have to be the gastronomic Eden authored by the Club's manager Salvatore Cala Lesina and the Club's CEO Andrew Love, who has turned his interest in "restauranturing" into his passion. Salvatore manages the restaurant floor with splendor and grace, whilst Andrew makes sure that his chefs spare no expense getting the finest ingredients for diners who are used to the best of what the world has to offer.

The Ritz Club maintains an amazing 22 person kitchen staff for the cozy 47-seat dining room, with qualified chefs for each particular cuisine on the menu. Whatever you order, whether it be a fillet steak, a fish curry or a Peking duck, you can be sure that you'll be getting an authentic dish prepared by a chef from the dish's native land.

While recently dining with the Ritz Club's CEO Andrew Love and marketing consultant Anne-Marie McGrath, I enjoyed an evening that pen and ink cannot recreate, as the delicate flavors and aromas must be experienced to be comprehended.

Following a round of smoky single malt scotches at the bar, the meal began with a seafood salad from the restarant's continental menu and a bottle of buttery Tuscan Chardonnay. The seafood itself was island fresh and plentiful while the rocket was crisp and cool with a hint of bitterness you would hope to find in a green from the mustard family. Accompanied by bread baked freshly on the premises, conversations blossomed around the topic of the qualities of the Tuscan wines and the aesthetic values of visiting Tuscany during the summer.

Then, upon the recommendation of Andrew Love, the sommelier appeared with a decanted 1989 Pauillac from La Forts de Latour, to accompany Andrew's second recommendation, an English grouse served with foie gras. The foie gras was heavenly and the grouse bore none of the trademarks that turn people away from game birds on city menus. The bird was succulent yet maintained its wild ting without the particular flavors that urban critics generally categorize as, "gamy". At this point the grouse itself became the topic of conversation as Andrew explained that it simply had to appear on the menu by way of English tradition since we were dining just after the "Glorious 12th", which is the opening day for the grouse shooting season in the countryside. In retrospect I wish we had more time to discuss the finer points of goose liver as even while I write this article memories linger about the foie gras accompaniment to the bird.

Following our entrees I only needed the polished silver spoon to enjoy my raspberry creme brulee. As a favorite dessert since boyhood, I have sampled creme brulee from Paris, Texas to Paris, France. Although the best that I have encountered has to be at the 1789 in Washington, D.C. where the waiter described it as the creme de la creme brulee, the Ritz Club's version defintely made my Top 10.

After I finished licking my bone china dessert plate, the Romanesque opulence that seperates a feast from a meal revealed itself in Bacchanalian splendor in the form of a Swiss strawberry wine called, vin de fraise. With profiteroles appearing next and Turkish delights and truffles following that; the Ritz Club lived up to its reputation as the finest of gambling refinement, sophistication, and luxury.