Yearly Archives: 2015

Bazaar Meat (Las Vegas, NV)

Posted on by May 3, 2015

Bazaar Meat by José Andrés
SLS Las Vegas
2535 S Las Vegas Blvd
Las Vegas, NV 89109
Dining date: 4/23/15

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Bazaar Meat is Jose Andres’ latest concept, opened as part of the new SLS Hotel in Las Vegas. The restaurant draws inspiration from the classic American steakhouse, married with Andres’ Spanish flair. The menu offers something for everyone from a vast raw seafood bar (including a caviar bar), meats in raw carpaccio/tartare form, cured meats, Spanish small plates, and an impressively long list of meats cooked to order. Just for beef ribeyes alone, Bazaar Meats offered them from five different ranches, all of different breeds and sold by the pound. Other cuts of beef, suckling pig, lamb, veal and various fish were all available as well.

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Giada (Las Vegas, NV) [2]

Posted on by May 1, 2015

Giada
The Cromwell
3595 Las Vegas Blvd South
Las Vegas, NV 89109
Dining date: 4/24/15

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I had dined at Giada just a few months ago for dinner but my mom, a big fan of De Laurentiis, wanted to give Giada a try. We came by for lunch on a Friday right before the Vegas Uncork’d Grand Tasting.

The lunch menu offers a large variety of small plates, some sandwiches, salads and a couple pastas. Two of the signature lunch items were not yet available on this day which was kind of disappointing. Given we were about an hour into lunch service I found this kind of odd. Still, we found a few other items to try off the menu.

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Vegas Uncork’d 2015: Grand Tasting (Las Vegas, NV)

Posted on by April 28, 2015

Vegas Uncork’d Grand Tasting
Caesar’s Palace: Garden of the Gods
3570 S Las Vegas Blvd
Las Vegas, NV 89109
Dining date: 4/24/15

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This past weekend was Bon Appetit’s ninth annual Vegas Uncork’d. 23 separate events made up Uncork’d this year with chefs, mixologists and sommeliers coming from around the nation to Las Vegas to take part. There was plenty of variety spanning the festivities including fancy lunches and dinners, cooking demonstrations and seminars. The event I’ve gone to the past four years is the Grand Tasting, where dozens of chefs/restaurants serve up tastes of their food along with plenty more wine and other alcoholic options.

Each chef/restaurant had their own booth at Caesar’s Garden of the Gods pool area. All food and drink were included, unlimited, for the $225 price of admission.

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Republique (Los Angeles, CA) [2]

Posted on by April 22, 2015

Republique
624 S La Brea Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90036
Dining date: 4/16/15

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I first dined at Republique soon after it opened at the end of 2013. That meal had its ups-and-downs but was generally a little disappointing. Since then, the restaurant has been one of the most oft-praised and highly acclaimed restaurants in town over the past 18 months. I was due for a return to the restaurant hoping the kitchen and service had worked out any kinks.

The menu’s changed a fair amount since I was last here, though there are a few menu mainstays. On this visit, the focus was on new dishes getting a sampling of appetizers, a couple of main courses and a dessert (we skipped dessert last time).

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Son of a Gun (Los Angeles, CA) [2]

Posted on by April 19, 2015

Son of a Gun
8370 W 3rd St
Los Angeles, CA 90048
Dining date: 3/29/15

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Son of a Gun’s been open just over 4 years; this is my third time visiting the restaurant, but really my first time having a full ‘regular’ meal here. My first trip in 2011 was a ‘second dinner’ after a Cafe Boulud pop-up meal at Animal, while my second visit in 2013 was for a Graham Elliot dinner. After quite some time, I was excited for a return to try some of the favorite menu mainstays as well as some new dishes.

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The maritime decor reflects the fact that this is a seafood-focused restaurant, though its most famous dish has become its fried chicken sandwich.

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Chi Spacca (Los Angeles, CA) [2]

Posted on by April 15, 2015

Chi Spacca
6610 Melrose Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90036
Dining date: 3/27/15

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I thoroughly enjoyed my first trip to Chi Spacca. Being a bit of a carnivore, the restaurant is right up my alley and a return trip was definitely in order. Plus, they were out of the beef and bone marrow pie last time…and I had to try it! We returned as a party of four to introduce two others who were new to the restaurant.

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