Las Vegas used to be known for cheap buffets and $1.95 steak dinners. Those days are gone, and Las Vegas now has some of the best chefs in the world. There are currently 14 restaurants in the United States that have been awarded five stars in the Mobil guide and Las Vegas has two of them. A Mobil five-star rating means that the restaurant, service, food taste, and food presentation are consistently flawless.

The paintings were the first thing I noticed when I walked into Renoir. Original oils by French Impressionist Pierre-Auguste Renoir cover the walls. We were about to eat dinner with several million dollars worth of art. I knew this going in, but I was still impressed.

As we were seated the maitre d’ asked us if we were attending a show after dinner. If we had tickets (we didn’t for this night) they would set the pace so we could make the show.

After we sat down, a waiter addressed me by name and handed me the wine list – two volumes. Volume one contained the list of expensive wines, and volume two had the really expensive wines. We put the wine lists aside and took a look at the menu. While we were looking, a waiter asked if we would like champagne. I’ve said “a waiter” because it seems like we didn’t have just one. It looked like every waiter was watching every table. All waiters were responsible for all customers. We said yes to the champagne and 2 glasses of Roederer Estate were delivered. I used to think that I didn’t like champagne. Now I know that I don’t like CHEAP champagne. The Roederer Estate champagne was really good.

The dinner menu had two pages divided into three sections – two tasting menus (regular and vegetarian) and a prix fixe menu. However, if there’s something you like on the tasting menu, you could order it as an individual dish. I have a theory that the more items you find on a menu, the more ordinary the food. The best places I’ve been to have a one or two page menu.

We both decided on the same appetizer, soup, and main dish. We couldn’t decide on a wine, so the waiter suggested that he pair an appropriate wine with each course. Renoir has a wide variety of wines by the glass as well as half-bottles of wine.

After we placed our order, a waiter came by with a basket of bread. He explained what each type was (I think there were four different kinds) and we picked what we wanted. I realized what kind of attention to detail having five stars requires. Even the butter was art. It wasn’t the chunks-of-frozen-so-hard-that-you-rip-the bread-to-shreds butter that you find in lesser places; this butter was molded into a circle and was exactly the right temperature to spread easily.

Before we received our first course, we were treated to some amuse-bouches – little appetizer gifts from the chef. The first amuse-bouche was a pastry filled with halibut and topped with a little something the chef whipped up. Next to the halibut pastry was a crunchy Parmesan cheese breadstick wrapped with cheese. The pastry melted in your mouth and the halibut was excellent. The breadstick had a nice flavor and went well with the halibut.

Next they brought out ravioli stuffed with mushrooms and covered with a pumpkin sauce. The pumpkin flavor was very subtle and very good.

We then received our appetizer – Scallops with Mango Chutney and Sweet Curry and our next glass of wine, a California vouvray. A vouvray is a white wine normally made with chenin blanc grapes. The scallops were cooked perfectly and went well with the mango chutney and the subtle curry flavor.

I always order soup in a higher end restaurant. I think the flavor and presentation of the soup speaks volumes about their attention to detail. We ordered the Lobster Soup and the waiter brought out our soup bowls containing two large pieces of lobster and porcini mushroom shavings. The waiter then presented the soup in a silver tureen and ladled the soup into the bowls. I had expected something like lobster bisque, but this soup was thinner and had a somewhat different flavor. It was an awesome soup and went well with the glass of sherry that the waiter suggested for this course.

It was during the soup course that we saw another example of five-star service. Janet whispered to me that while she could appreciate how well the sherry went with the soup, she really didn’t care for it – she thought it was kind of like maple syrup. Soon after she said that, a waiter showed up and said that it seemed that she wasn’t quite happy with the sherry, and would she like something else? He brought out a glass of chardonnay that she liked better (she said it tasted like pure oak) that still matched with the lobster soup.

After the soup course the waiter brought out a half bottle of bordeaux and opened it to allow it to breathe. At this point Janet felt a little rushed. We think now it’s because our main dish — squab with truffles foie-gras, candied turnips, and a dark sauce — was finished and they wanted to bring it out while it was still perfect. It was. The squab was cooked medium rare and matched well with the other ingredients. The bordeaux complimented they main dish without drawing attention to itself.

Next came the dessert menu. Janet selected the pineapple baked alaska while I picked something called “Chocolate, Chocolate, and More Chocolate.” Both desserts were artfully presented and tasted great. The “Chocolate, Chocolate, and More Chocolate” was three unique chocolate desserts presented on one plate. Each was a different study in chocolate. The pineapple baked alaska had a wonderful pineapple flavor ice cream wrapped in pastry.

Were we done? Nope. The waiter brought out two more amuse-bouches; this time in the dessert category. There were various cream puffs, hand-made chocolate candies, mint candies, and crunchy candies. All were delicious.

The entire dinner took about 2 hours and the only real downside was that I couldn’t try everything on the menu.