7/28/2011 Cafe Tu Tu Tango

KC, one of the sorta-concierges at the Renaissance, was awesome. I call him a "sorta-concierge" because he actually works for Expedia, which has a desk next to the desk of the hotel's concierge (called a Navigator). He can do all the selling of tickets where the concierge just has information. When we bought our shuttle tickets from KC, he told us about Cafe Tu Tu Tango--Food for the Starving Artist. The 4 of us (GJW and our two new best friends Pam and Luke) decided to go. We caught the crowded trolley (after a very long wait) and squished in. It didn't take too long and we were at our destination.

The premise behind "Tu Tu Tango" is everything is "appetizer sizes meant to be shared." Our waitress, Darcy, (whom KC told us to ask for and we were very glad he did 'cuz she was awesome) told us that two items per person will leave you full but with enough room for dessert. Sounds good. So we picked out 8 items to order: baby lamb chops, Caesar salad, duck confit salad on a home made flat bread, mushrooms Rockefeller, curry chicken skewers, steamed edamame (steamed baby soy beans with vanilla mirin glaze for dipping), calamari, and roasted pears on pecan crisps. Wait. We had more than that. People kept ordering. They bring the food out to you as soon as it's ready and there's a giant stack of salad plates on the table and a jug of silverware and you just take clean ones whenever you need.

And somewhere in there, we had a Flamenco dancer for entertainment and starving artists sit around in miniaturized studios and produce their art while you watch. All the art on the walls is by local artists and is for sale.

We just kept eating and ordering and tasting and oohing and ahhhing and yes, oh by the way, we laughed and told stories and laughed some more.

Then Darcy brought us the dessert menu. You have to have 4 desserts, too, right? Banana something or another on a dessert bread, creme brulee, cheesecake lollipops (little pieces of cheesecake dipped in dark chocolate and served on a stick), and chocolate calzone (with white and milk chocolate inside the calzone and ice cream and whipped cream outside the calzone).

New best friends bonded by an amazing dining experience: