I missed last week’s newsletter because I was in Vegas, baby!!
This was my first time visiting Las Vegas, which surprised most people I told leading up to the trip. I don’t gamble, I get anxious in crowds and I need a reasonable 10-hours of sleep every night. I’m a perfect little angel. What could Sin City have to offer me?! But at the same time, I’m always down to try something new and I love visiting new places. So when a friend invited me to go with her, I thought why not! If anything, it would be the perfect opportunity to debut my new pizza purse.
Once there, I quickly realized that Las Vegas really does have something for everyone. There are incredible performances. (We went to Drag Brunch at Señor Frog’s, where our cheeks were hurting from laughing so hard.) There’s insane shopping. (Think of every store you can ever imagine. Las Vegas has at least three of them.) There is plenty of history. (One of the highlights of our trip was a guided tour of the Neon Museum. Highly recommend it!) And just outside the city, you can even explore some gorgeous nature trails. (We took a day trip to Valley of Fire State Park for some hiking.)
But the part I was most excited about was all of the top-tier restaurants Las Vegas has to offer. It was honestly overwhelming trying to decide where to eat each day! Here’s where we ate:
Alexxa’s Bar - This was our first lunch stop after we landed and our most disappointing. We SPLIT an appetizer of calamari and SPLIT a chicken sandwich, plus we each had a cocktail. $100?! I anticipated spending a little more than usual on this trip, but $50 each for some previously frozen calamari strips and half of an okay chicken sandwich? A little absurd. We discovered later that our cocktails were about $20 each. 😵💫
Yellowtail - We ended our first day of the trip with our favorite meal. We ordered the Filet Mignon Toban with mushrooms, sizzling garlic butter and nanbanzu soy. We wanted to scorch our tongues and lick the sauce off the hot platter. I also ordered us the Mile High roll – crab, avocado and asparagus topped with mixed sashimi and spicy ponzu aioli. Also very good. I will be making a trip back here in the future!
Señor Frog’s - The next morning, we had our Drag Brunch show! Our tickets included a breakfast buffet and unlimited drinks. The buffet was your classic breakfast buffet fare; eggs, bacon, french toast sticks, fruit, and of course, mimosas.
Secret Pizza - So many people told me to try the secret pizza place inside The Cosmopolitan. (Perfect opportunity for my pizza clutch, no?) When we stepped into the hotel, we decided that we would try to hunt it down without looking it up. This game was a little bit of a letdown since we got to the top of the escalator and both said, “Oh, there it is.” It was a simple counter-style pizza joint with $6 slices. We really wanted to sit down somewhere so we passed.
Milk Bar - I spotted Milk Bar while leaving Secret Pizza and had to make a stop. (Remember when I cooked the book last summer? Check it out here!) I ordered the classic b’day truffles and my friend got a slice of the carrot marshmallow crackle cake.
Lobster Me - On our search for a place to sit down and eat, we found Lobster Me. I got the classic New England lobster roll but was very intrigued by their “lobsicle” (aka lobster on a stick). This was delicious and really hit the spot.
Brioche - Instead of our usual Starbucks run in the morning, I thought we could grab a couple of pastries at Guy Savoy’s Brioche instead. He’s an award-winning chef with several Michelin stars, so I was surprised to get there and find that it was a glass case full of Starbucks-looking pastries. The line was long and we were unimpressed so back to Starbucks we went! At least there we could gain some loyalty stars.
Black Tap - My friend came across these insane milkshakes while searching for a burger joint nearby, so that sealed the deal for our dinner plans that night. I ordered the crispy chicken caesar salad and my friend got the wagyu steakhouse burger. I told her I had never had a beef burger before (my favorite personality trait) and she forced me to try hers. It was…very, very good. But since it was wagyu with truffle mayo, that wasn’t a surprise. (I’m still going to hold on to my claim of not having tried a real burger before.) Afterward, we - obviously - got milkshakes. Even though we knew we couldn’t each finish one, we needed two for the picture. I ordered the cotton candy strawberry (if you know me, this was a duh) and she got the cookie vanilla. So much fun!
SUSHISAMBA - We wanted sushi one last time before heading back to Denver, so we stopped at the first spot we came across. SUSHISAMBA has a very cool ambiance and is a fusion of Japanese and Brazillian. I was really in the mood for something simple, so I just ordered a spicy tuna and a salmon avocado roll. To drink I got the Nashi - pear vodka, elderflower liqueur, lychee, passion fruit and yuzu juice. (Y’all know I love a passion fruit moment!) I loved the restaurant name stamped into the lemon peel. My friend ordered the Neo Tokyo roll - bigeye tuna with tempura flakes. We were running late to the airport so I helped her scarf down a couple of pieces. Delish!
April Cookbook: For the Love of the South: Recipes and Stories from My Southern Kitchen by Amber Wilson
I made the bourbon marshmallows (pg. 220) this week because I didn’t feel like going to the grocery store after my trip and I happened to have all of the ingredients on hand. I have never desired to make marshmallows, nor will I ever again. After letting them sit out all night to dry they were still an unappetizing, chewy consistency. I’m sure it was an error on my part but I probably won’t try again.
Again, I still didn’t feel like going to the grocery store so for dinner I made the bacon cornbread (pg. 138). Honestly, not the best cornbread I’ve ever made but I was lazy enough to keep eating it throughout the week.
I also tried this hashbrown avocado toast recipe I saw on TikTok. Obviously, it is delicious. It’s avocado toast! On a hashbrown! No photo because I ate it too fast, but I highly recommend.
Thanks for reading, sweeties! 🍎