bazaar meat steak
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Bazaar Meat (Las Vegas, NV) [3]

This was my third visit to Jose Andres’ Bazaar Meat with my last visit being over two years ago (when the restaurant first opened). I’ve been able to try a pretty wide variety of food items in my first two visits, from a couple different cuts of steaks to the lamb chops to the suckling pig. I was part of some larger party sizes for those meals, which really allowed us to try quite a bit of the menu. Some of the meats here tend to be very large portions, so it can be challenging to try a lot with a party of two. Given that, we decided to go with a tasting menu. The restaurant offers three tiers of tasting menus ($125, $185, $225) – we went with the middle tier for this meal.

momofuku pork buns
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Momofuku (Las Vegas, NV)

Momofuku Las Vegas opened earlier this year, sure to be one of the most notable openings of 2017. This is David Chang’s first foray west of the Mississippi, a huge restaurant at the Cosmopolitan Hotel. The restaurant doesn’t duplicate any singular concept in his empire; rather, it’s a mash-up of a few of his concepts, particularly Momofuku Noodle Bar and Ssam Bar. The famous Milk Bar has also opened next door and provides the desserts for the restaurant.

delicate orange-cinnamon carrot cake with coconut sorbet
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L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon (Las Vegas, NV)

On my most recent trip to Las Vegas, I chose to return to this restaurant for the first meal in town. This is Joel Robuchon’s more ‘casual’ concept next door to his eponymous fine dining establishment, which primarily features bar seating around the open kitchen. This was my second time dining here, although I have also dined at the Paris, London, Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Taipei locations.

A few menu options are available, including 5-course and 6-course prix fixe menu options. A ‘seasonal discovery’ tasting menu is also available, 9 courses for $195. That’s the menu we opted for this evening.
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Vegas Uncork’d 2017: Grand Tasting (Las Vegas, NV)

This past weekend marked the 11th annual Vegas Uncork’d sponsored by Bon Apetit. This would be my sixth straight year attending (and seventh overall). Similar to past years, I attended the Friday Grand Tasting. This event featured 50+ different restaurants/chefs and drink purveyors in small tasting formats. Hosted at Caesars Palace’s Garden of the Gods pool area, attendees were able to stroll from booth to booth to sample the offerings. Tickets to the all-you-can-eat/drink event were $260 ($350 for early admission allowing an extra 30 minutes).

spiced duck breast @ scarpetta
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Scarpetta (Las Vegas, NV)

This was my first time dining at the Las Vegas location of Scarpetta after dining numerous times at the Beverly Hills location. In fact, I had just dined at the BH location twice in the prior two months, just before it closed. I normally wouldn’t have paid a visit here so quickly; however, my dad promised my aunt he would take her here (she had heard about chef Scott Conant’s spaghetti many times and never tried it). My family was in town for Vegas Uncork’d with one dinner slot available so we came here. This would be the first time for my aunt and grandmother, although my parents have been here before.

vegas uncork'd
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Vegas Uncork’d 2016: Grand Tasting (Las Vegas, NV)

This past weekend marked the 10th annual Vegas Uncork’d event by Bon Appetit, a large event covering 24 individual events over four days. They spanned “Master Series’ dinners/luncheons, cooking and wine demos, and tasting affairs. I attended this year’s Grand Tasting, my fifth in a row (six total). The Grand Tasting featured dozens of restaurants and many more libations from wineries to spirits to handcrafted cocktails sprawled around Caesars Palace’s Garden of the Gods pool area.