Who Dat??

Bet you haven't heard that for a good 2 weeks.

And that would be because the Super Bowl was 2 weeks ago, and thusly officially marked the end of football for the year.

Sniffles. Whyyy is football on for such a short season? Whyyyy?? I'm having separation anxiety. My Yahoo! Sports visits just aren't the same. And with Kobe rejuvenating himself, and the pathetic-ness that was NBA All-Star Weekend...and let's not even mention the Winter Olympics, well, things just haven't been the same.

But enough of this rain cloud talk. The silver lining is that my last few moments of football was amazingly fun. And amazingly yummy. And in Vegas! Yay!

This was only my 3rd visit (I know, I know...so lame!) But! In my defense, I passed out/blacked out and proceeded to toss my cookies on trip 1. To be specific, I had heat stroke! At night! While in line to get a drink...which means I didn't even have a drink! Sigh. Trip 2 was free of such embarrassing events, but I didn't really get to tour all the fabulous food offerings. And I was a little bummed. But finally, trip 3 totally filled that food void that was trip 2. Oh, and no heat stroke. Always a plus.

Soooo where did I eat? Umm...more like where didn't I eat!



Thomas Keller's Bouchon! Bouchon?!? I know! I had the same reaction. The menus are like newspapers at your table. I just couldn't resist an iPhone picture.



I discovered that I don't like snails. Even if they are called escargot. And even if they are bathed in butter and amazing spices. And even if they have adorable little puff pastry hats. A snail is a snail is a snail. And if Thomas Keller can't make them palatable...I doubt anyone else can.



Here's a close up of the little guy. Snails are texturally strange...kinda like a hot dog. And then there's this weird crunchy aspect to them that you get every once in a while. And you take pause and wonder what in the heck that could be...and then you realize you don't want to know...but you just keep chewing because you know that by judging from the price of these little critters, their last meal most certainly had to be gold-leafed or something.



Crispy sea bass with wild mushrooms, truffle oil and potato gnocchi and a few broccoli romanesco florets. I don't normally order fish...but the the gnocchi really did it for me, and I'm so glad I did because it was amazing. Cheesy and potato-y. Oh how I wish there was more.

And I must apologize that my iPhone photography skills failed for the next entree, which was quite possibly my most favorite thing I ate all weekend. Thomas Keller is known for his sous-vide, and so the missing picture is of a sous-vide sirloin cooked with thyme butter. Sous-vide? Thyme butter? Heck yeah! It was soooo wonderfully buttery and velvety. I've completely forgotten about the snails at this point.



And then there were the bouchons. Bouchons at Bouchon! With coffee and mint chocolate chip ice cream and cherry sorbet. The cakes were surprisingly light but intensely chocolate-y. And the ice creams had the most amazing texture. Such fine and tiny ice crystals! So so good. So. So. So. Good.

All those calories (well worth calories) later, it was off to see the Cirque de Soleil show O. I like to think that I must've burned some of those calories during the show because I was holding my breath nervously as I watched the acrobats launch themselves into air and dive into a tiny pool of water on the stage. Entertainment and an ab workout. Can't ask for much more.

But whatever calories burned off in my pseudo ab workout were added back in at brunch the next day at Bobby Flay's Mesa. As in Iron Chef Bobby Flay! As in my grilling idol! The Iron Chef judges always talk about Bobby's ability to balance the heat and flavor of chiles, so I was quite excited to try it for myself.



First...the most delicious bread basket I've ever had. Ever!! Blueberry coffeecake, blue and yellow corn muffins and cheddar and scallion coins. I luved them all...especially the blueberry coffeecake. I plan on re-creating it somehow. Which is why we got another bread basket...and I ate 2 more coffecake pieces. You know...for research purposes.



Black bean soup with avocado and lime crema. Silky and delicious. The crema was so refreshing and the soup was slightly smoky and had fab texture. No canned beans here. Who knew black beans could be so wonderful?



Grilled mahi with cascabel chiles and pineapple salsa. Oh and my fav part of all: the creamy green rice. Sighhhh. It was heavenly. Rich and creamy and cheesy. All the things I never make for myself at home because I know I will eat too much, as in the whole pot. And I have big pots. And yes! I meant pots! What did you think I meant?



But the real brunch winner at Mesa was the eggs benedict with smoked chicken and sweet potato hash...and did I mention the hollandaise? And the chile drizzle? And how it complemented the sweet potato hash? Which wasn't overly sweet as sweet potatoes can be. It was smoky and spicy.

And that was just brunch!



And where else but Vegas can you make Vosges chocolate truffles a mid-afternoon snack. If you know of any other place, I demand you tell me immediately! Oh, but only if that particular Vosges has the banana malt truffle. Bottom right corner. Exquistely banana-y. Also of note was the Wink of the Rabbit. Caramel, as I recall.



Brunch the next day at Morels at the Palazzo. And the eating goes on. I'm always cautious of hotel-type restaurants. And a restaurant named after a mushroom that doesn't really feature mushrooms? Odd. Also, a distinctly French-y restaurant in an Italian themed hotel...and serves prosciutto and frittes? Restaurant identity crisis if I've ever seen it. But as it usually happens, I was proven wrong. The food was good. Really good. Have you seen that American Kobe beef burger? I can't stop looking at that melty cheese on the toasty brioche bun. And the fries. Mmm...



But perhaps even more show-stopping than a huge beef patty with melty cheddar cheese is a brioche french toast masterpiece stuffed with sweetened mascarpone and bananas and topped with brulee-ed bananas and then doused in the most generous pool of maple syrup. I'm seriously looking at brioche recipes as we speak.

As tasty as these were, it just didn't seem like the appropriate Super Bowl food...you know, food you eat with your hands and is dripping with either salsa or cheese. Of course, this was an easy problem to fix.



All-beef chili cheese dog. The people at Caesar's Palace make it all too easy to pick up something quick to eat. And well, with my choices being chili or hot dog, and I think we all know about my propensity for my special request meals...and hence a tasty Super Bowl snack. And I luv that fake, runny and abnormally yellow nacho cheese. I'm sure there's more other stuff in it that actual cheese, but it's amazing.



And would it really be the Super Bowl in Vegas if there wasn't some light wagering? Or maybe just wagering? Betting in Vegas is just so infinitely better and more exciting. Maybe it's holding on to the ticket? Or actually getting cashed out. Or watching the games at Sportsbook. For me, it's all of the above.



But perhaps most exciting on this trip was my introduction to the Wheel of Fortune slot machine. And it's only natural...I luv Wheel! Of! Fortune!!! It's your basic slot machine, and you're playing for a chance to spin the wheel. I had played the other night at the Palazzo...and did not spin once! Not once! Needless to say, I was slightly salty. But as you know, the airport at Las Vegas also has slot machines...and to my surprise none other than the Wheel of Fortune slot machine. So of course, it had to be played. And I'm so happy I did because I won!
Yippeeee!!!!