Vegas for foodies.

As part of a gift to my husband for completing a really large project we took a long weekend trip to Las Vegas.  We are what I would call non-gamblers, but I did find some fun in a few of the slot machines that had games attached to outcome.  It was a little more addictive than I thought!  However, our main goal was trying some of the restaurants of America's best chefs or some classics like Carnegie Deli which was our first stop. 

After trying to eat at Enoteca San Marco, a Mario Batali establishment, and it being too late, we crossed the street to find the Carnegie Deli at The Mirage.  We knew that was open twenty-four hours a day based on our research.  The pastrami sandwich was as big as I remembered from my last trip to NY and the blintzes were almost as delicious as the NY ones. 

 If you have never tried the their famous blintzes, I cannot recommend them highly enough.  My husband who doesn't like cheeses such as cottage, farmer's, plain ricotta, etc... even loved them.  Trying to recreate these will be an upcoming weekend project.  I promise to post pictures when we make them.

The only disappointment here were the pickles.  Some of them were so small that they absorbed so much of the pickle juice and they no longer were Kosher dills, but had such a pungent taste that some of them were not edible.  Otherwise, Carnegie Deli offered a great sampling of some classic NY favorites.  

When you are staying at The Venetian which was our hotel of choice for our first visit to Vegas there are a few breakfast options.  However, none of them compare to Bouchon, a Thomas Keller establishment.  Bouchon quickly became our restaurant of choice in our hotel and we tried breakfast, brunch and dinner.  Breakfast and brunch offered delectable treats while dinner left a little to be desired.

Bouchon Breakfast 

This may not look like your classic french toast and let me tell you that it does not taste like any french toast that I've ever had.  Before leaving for Vegas I read some reviews of Bouchon and this dish was often mentioned and compared to a bread pudding.  I am not a bread pudding fan and I wouldn't say this was even close in terms of texture or taste.  If you have ever had an apple pancake at The Original Pancake House, this french toast had many of the same flavors in a much more manageable portion.  There were crisp slices of apples capping it off and the slight crispness of the french toast tower made sure that this was like no bread pudding I've ever had.  Quite delicious, but not quite a balanced breakfast.  However, that's not why we came to Vegas.

Croque Madame.

If you or someone you know is a fan of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations, you probably saw Mr. Bourdain's visit to Bouchon and heard him proclaim that the french fries on this plate were some of the best in the world, if not the best.  We will concur with Mr. Bourdain that these were some really great french fries.  However, if you follow the recipe in Mr. Keller's book, Bouchon, you can create something really close to these at home.  We tried the recipe a few weeks prior to our first visit to Bouchon, so, although we agreed that they were really, really good, we knew that with some practice at double frying in peanut oil that we could create these at home.

As for the croque madame itself which was the entrée of choice for this breakfast, my husband called this dish good, but forgettable.  The bread, a thick cut brioche, and the mornay sauce were the few things that stood out.  It seems as if I ordered the better of the two dishes this time which would be an ongoing theme during this trip and most of our trips to be honest!  Sometimes it pays not to be as adventurous with your menu choices.