Vegas Thru My Belly

Last month, I went on a Las Vegas vacation with the ladies to celebrate my friend's final fling before the ring. We stayed at the gorgeous Aria Resort and Casino at City Center and we were not disappointed. As you all know what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, unless we post pictures on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook to share (which we all did!). But the only part of the trip that I'm going to share on the blog is all of the food we ate while out there.

Though I didn't manage to take shots of everything we ate, I did take a few and luckily the ladies helped out and shared their images with me so I can in turn share them with you.

Let's break it down by location.

When we arrived at the hotel, we were famished and just went to the Cafe Aria and grabbed a drink and meal. This became a hit for all of us and an easy go-to. They have a wonderful breakfast and lunch selection. I had the Club that was seriously the largest sandwich I have ever gotten. I couldn't even eat half of it and we then realized that we needed to order a fridge for our room for our leftovers.

I also had the French Toast and Belgium Waffle for breakfast. They were again gigantic and delicious!

One of the other ladies captured this lovely image of the Eggs Benedict with the hash browns that everyone raved about on the trip. I never had them, but they looked very crispy on the outside and mushy, buttery on the inside.

I also dined for lunch and ordered the Asian Chicken salad that could again easily feed two people!  It was chock-full of all sorts of amazing eats -Napa Cabbage, Romaine, Bibb Lettuce, Carrots, Bean Sprouts, Cucumbers, Red Peppers, Snow Peas, Crispy Wontons, and Sweet Soy Vinaigrette.

Also in our hotel was Jean Philippe Patisserie that had crepes, sandwiches, salads and these amazing pastries. These are really the spotlight and because I have diligently been playing the MyVegas game on Facebook and my phone, I was able to redeem a reward and get some pastries for the mini-party we had for the Bride-To-Be in our hotel room. Pastries start at $7 and go up from there. I purchased 2 small pastries - Snickers and Chocolate Indulgence. Though they are no larger than a coffee mug, the desserts are so rich and amazing, you only need a bite or two. We actually had some left over after all six of us had some bites.

Saturday night, we dined at Gordon Ramsay's BurGR. Though it was over an hour wait for a table, it definitely was worth it. (NOTE: they do not take reservations and the website is completely out of date) They told us they would text us when our table was ready, so we were able to wander Planet Hollywood and here is where I found one of my favorite slots. It paid out every time! I will leave that a secret and get back to the food.


BurGR has a 30 ft. wall of flame to divide it from the casino and all I could wonder it how much fuel they use to keep it burning.

The menus come as part of the table set up - very ingenuitive and as you can probably guess, it's a burger joint.

We had a server and tablehand that took great care of us. The drink menu was on an iPad, which was pretty awesome to flip though. I decided on a grapefruit cocktail and the bride grabbed a martini. The drinks were nice and strong and really flavorful.

Then we had to choose our food. I saw goat cheese and I was sold. I went with the Euro burger that had truffle aioli, argula, tomato and goat cheese on top of the burger. It was seriously the best burger I have ever had. The meat was perfectly cooked medium and the flavors went together so well. I didn't leave anything on my plate.

Another favorite burger was the American - where you choose your toppings. We splurged for 3 orders of fries - two truffle fries and one regular and we definitely could have gotten by with two. However, you must get the fries as they are delicious with specialty ketchups and sauces on the side.

On Friday night, I made us reservations at Twist, one of the bride's top choices for a fancy night out. And Fancy it was.

Right away we were greeted by a the wonderful staff and sat at a table for 6 in the middle of the dining room. Being on the 23rd floor, we could still see the strip out the window and the tables by the windows didn't really interrupt our view.


We were asked if anyone had allergies to be made aware of and they offered us some small nibbles to enjoy that the chef created for tonight. I don't remember the official names but upper left was a cracker with fig on it, upper right was some fish (that tasted really fishy), the bottom right was a lard wrapped breadstick that was delicious and bottom left was a macaroon tart that tasted sweet and savory.

They came time to order our meals. Although the place came with a floating wine room over the dining room, none of us chose any drinks besides water. We were all recovering from the day at the cabana, so we kept the "water boy" quite busy doing laps around our table.

The menu was simple but decadent. But the service is what really stood out to me. No one's glass was ever more than half empty with water, plates were cleared and tables combed before the next course came out. and the main meal presentation was something I wish I video'd. Six staff got together, took our plates and circled the table. All plates were set at the same moment and silver lids removed together. Each dish was then explained again to us and made sure everything was to our liking before they walked away.

I went with chicken instead of steak - hard decision but it just sounded so interesting, I just had to go unique.

MARY’S ORGANIC FREE RANGE CHICKEN FROM CALIFORNIA

Shimizu Chicken Breast, Morel Cream & Grapefruit Confit

Creamy Polenta, Snow Peas

Tomato Otti Ice Cream

 

The chicken was the most juicy and flavorful breast I have ever eaten and the morel cream was fantastic. It melted in my mouth. I was a little worried about the grapefruit confit but it added an asian infused element to the dish. The polenta was crispy on the outside and soft in the middle. I wasn't a fan of the snowpeas on top because I believe they were cooked with fennel, but I just pushed it on the side and ate the rest. And the tomato ice cream had coconut in it! I had to eat this quick before it melted but it was quite lovely like a gazpacho. I have never had coconut that was sliced instead of shaved but it wasn't too overpowering with the tomato.

 

Some ladies ordered a salad with their meals, I opted not too, knowing I didn't want to fill up.

PIERRE’S SALAD

Mixed Salads & fresh Herbs with Lemon flavored Olive Oil

Avocado, Dried Tomato, Kalamata Black Olives

Grilled Chicken Breast with Rosemary

Mendiant Toast, Tapenade

 

I was able to try the toast, that resembles a cheese crisp over the tomato tapenade that looked like Port Wine cheese spread. It was really tasty and I wish I had more crisps to eat it all. Definitely something I would like to try to make at home. 

The Bride-to-be treated herself to a fancy filet of Wagyu beef. We were told that it actually is white when pulled out because of the marbling but then when cooked, that melts into the steak to make it the most "like butter" experience. I was offered a bite and it was actually extremely heavenly. Besides the few bites she offered up, the bride enjoyed the steak very much and had it cooked to the chef's liking. The server even complimented her on knowing how to order.

 

 

 

 After all the plates were cleared and coffee was offered, the server came over with a special dessert from the chef for our bachelorette. We were all able to try it and if this doesn't look rich to you, you are crazy. One bite was all we needed to enjoy this with her. The chocolate was excellent and dark.

Little trays of small desserts prepared by the chef also came to our table - Jellied apricot crisps, mini macaroon looking treats and something with nuts. My stomach had reached it's rich food limit for the day, but others enjoyed it.

I cannot say enough wonderful things about Twist and you must splurge and try this when you are in Las Vegas. You will not regret it. And try all the other places I listed above, I have no regrets and my belly came home happy and inspired to try to recreate some dishes at home. But I will leave the Wagyu Beef to the pros.

Eating Las Vegas: Part 1

My company is celebrating 30 years in business in 2013 and back in January at our company Christmas party, my boss surprised us with a trip to Vegas! We were even invited to bring a guest!

I brought my friend Carolyn on the trip and we had a blast eating our way thru Vegas while site-seeing, relaxing and exploring.

Day 1:
We left on a Saturday morning and arrived in Vegas around noon their time, 2 pm our time. We were definitely hungry already!!!!!

We took the long-way to the Red Rock Casino and did a touristy trip down the strip with a great comical shuttle driver that entertained us on the not-so-well known history of Vegas as well as the new things being built. Our room wasn't ready when we got to the hotel, so what else do we do on vacation, but drink some beers and eat some yummy food! First stop - The Yard House.

I had stopped here with my dad on my trip to Vegas three years ago and loved the place. They have well over 100 beers on tap that run from the cooler room through yards of tubing around the restaurant and are poured at the perfect temperature for you to enjoy.

I started myself with a Rogue Hazelnut beer and stuck to just the pint size, though they did have larger (and smaller) options. Vacation was just starting - not time to get wasted!I found the Rogue Hazelnut at Woodman's today and added it to my "must-buy" list.  We decided to split a few appetizers instead of get a real meal. The menu had snacks and appetizers on it, so we chose from those areas as well as suggestions from our server.

Gouda Chicken Flatbread - The gouda was nice and melty and the peppers and chicken were good. I wished there was more cheese, but what Wisconsinite wouldn't?

Crab, Lobster & Artichoke Dip - Can you really go wrong with a dip? I think not - this was perfect on my palette. I preferred it spread on the pita pieces over the chips, but I'm pretty sure we cleaned the plate completely on this.

Ahi Poke - I had just watched an episode of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives that featured this place in Hawaii. The closest I'm going to get to Hawaii for a few years it probably through that show and the Travel Channel, so when I saw this on the menu, I had to try it. It is marinated raw ahi tuna with avocado, carrots, daikon radish, macadamia nuts & crispy wonton to put it on. I am glad I tried it - it was nicely marinated and now I want to try other varieties. Anyone know where there is local Poke in Wisconsin?

 Our favorite was the crab, lobster & artichoke dip by far and all of it was a great start to our trip.

After a few more beers (Tripel Karmeliet, Rose Garden, Abita Purple Haze...and...?) and a few samples, we were full, feeling great and on our way to our room. It was time to get our vacation started! (PS - All of the beers we had were for the first time and I'm glad that I an find them in Wisconsin at Woodman's)

Day 2:
We started the morning with Starbucks (I know - not too exciting) and packed some water and granola bars for our Pink Jeep Tour in the Red Rock Canyon in open-air jeeps. (more on this soon). We were starving when we got back to the hotel at lunchtime and craved large juicy burgers. We were told by my coworkers that we had to check out LBS (pounds) for a good burger and had to have the Buffalo Chicken Dip. 

Of course, drinks were first! I went for a Raspberry Blush wine drink and Carolyn got a jalapeno bloody mary.

The buffalo chicken dip was spectacular. The chips were made in-house and the dip had just enough kick, when I avoided the peppers in it. The blue cheese was barely melted into the dip and cooled down the spicy-ness for me perfectly.

By the time the burgers came, we were pretty full. (scraping the dish completely clean and contemplating licking the plate will do that) . I got the Perfect Burger with Gruyere cheese, smoked bacon, frisee, roasted tomato, onion marmalade, their special sauce and herb mayo. They ask if you want pink or no pink for your meat and I went for pink so it wouldn't border on too dry. The burger was plenty juicy, the herb mayo and special sauce are awesome!
 

Carolyn got the Kansas City BBQ which is a burger topped with BBQ Pork, fire cracker onions, coleslaw and pickles. It was stacked sooooo tall. 

I was getting so full and needed more liquid to wash down the delicious, "hits the spot" burger, so a XXX drink was ordered. Yep - didn't finish my first drink before the second came so I was two-fisting. I ended up eating half of my burger on the bun and the other half, I took the bun away. Carolyn loved her burger as well and we were so glad we found this spot. 

Because we gorged on burgers and had spent a ton of time in the fresh air that morning, we decided to relax by the pool (in the shade because I'm so pale). We got a beer and chillaxed. We also had the evening and large portion of the next day off so some downtime was in order before our venture to The Strip. 

The Strip and the remainder of the trip are "to be continued." Yes we ate and drank more!!!! And I'll tell you now, even though Red Rock is 11 miles off the strip, I highly recommend staying there. The casino had everything that I could have wanted and probably more because I didn't even explore it all in the four days we were there. 

Viva Las Vegas!