Yardbird
Fried Green Tomato BLT – pork belly, greens, tomato jam, house-made pimento cheese
Chilled Watermelon – spiced with pepper, lemon, herbs / Yardbird Gin and Tonic – Bombay Sapphire East, Jack Rudy Tonic Syrup, Topped with Club Soda with Watermelon
Fried Chicken Skewer
Deviled Eggs – fresh chive, smoked trout roe ‘redneck caviar’
Mama’s Chicken Biscuits – free range fried chicken, pepper jelly, housepickles, house-made buttermilk biscuit
Chicken and Waffles – Yardbird’s signature ‘old school fried chicken’, honey hot sauce, Cheddar cheese chow chow waffle
Bacon Butterscotch Cake – Pecan Pie Filling
Maple-glazed Bacon Donut
Duke Kentucky Straight Small Batch Bourbon Whiskey
White Cake with Vanilla Frosting
Red Velvet Trifle – buttermilk custard, blackberries, meringue kisses, cream cheese frosting / Homemade Ice Cream Sandwich – Nutella Ice Cream Shortbread Sandwich / Crispy Chocolate Cake Bite
Bourbon Milk Punch
Fresh Fruit & Maple Pecan Granola – seasonal fresh fruit, organic yogurt, fresh basil & mint
Smoked Brisket Sandwich – house pickles, house-made ketchup, melted Swiss cheese, grilled country bread
Skillet Cornbread – house made with poppyseed, fresh corn, lemon zest, and honey maple butter
Morning Quiche
Yardbird Benedict – buttermilk biscuit crumble, soft poached organic egg, house-cured bacon, cherry tomato salad, frisée, hollandaise
Chocolate Chunk Sour Cream Coffee Cake – espresso walnut streusel
Bacon Bloody Mary
Coffee
Invited by Chef Harrington, and graciously offered gifts as well as a suite at the Venetian by the folks in PR, it was with a +1 along for the ride that I attended the Yardbird Grand Opening and although generally preferring my restaurant experiences to represent the location in its full-service state the show that 50 Eggs put on was one to be remembered, a DJ-Gig by ?uestlove paired to several signature items and drinks with plenty of revelry to be had.
Cleared of tables, aside from a few hightops and seats in the lounge, with lights dimmed aside from those in the gleaming kitchen it was with passed drinks as well as appetizers that each guest was greeted on entry and as showgirls as well as wait-staff strutted their stuff there was no shortage of eye candy or cuisine to be had – a smile on every face as the watermelon infused G&T whet whistles while three styles of fried chicken joined the pork belly “BLT” and spiced watermelon alongside a plethora of deviled eggs served fresh from the kitchen round-after-round.
Taking time away from the counter, but always keeping one eye on the pass, it was with greetings from Chef Harrington that my friend marveled at the in house pickling process before paying a visit to the Bourbon tasting room and returning for more bites, including reformulated donuts that proved a substantial upgrade on those from an earlier brunch it was also in small bites of bacon butterscotch cake that guests indulged, a large Miami-meets-Vegas mockup later cut to reveal a more traditional vanilla variant beneath boiled frosting and fondant.
Co-headling the night with The Venetian’s newest attraction, a Sinatra themed show named Frank, it was in skipping the show that we took a brief break to meet friends for a meal off-strip, but returning around 10pm to find the staff finally letting their hair down as music took over the lounge it was the mini red-velvet trifle and bourbon milk punch that stole my heart – a passed platter of nutella ice cream sandwiches paired to Hendrix rounding out the night before I went back to the room only to find more goodie bags, a good night’s sleep between me and a trip to Canyon Ranch Spa for a morning run and weights before attending the prix-fixe brunch.
At this point joined by two others, the friend who attended soft-opening and his son, brunch was a far less frenzied affair than the night prior yet with several of the same staff members – including the Chef – looking as fresh as the new day with all the furniture replaced the meal that followed was as good each 50-Eggs experience prior, a few service snafus that were partially our fault for ordering additional items a la carte notwithstanding, particularly considering the quality of the house-smoked brisket and aforementioned pickles as well as one of the city’s best benedicts featuring a 63-degree egg ready to burst beneath bruleed hollandaise atop sweet biscuit crumbles and crispy vegetables playing foil to butter, cream, and yolk.
http://www.venetian.com/restaurants/american/yardbird.html