Las Vegas for Christmas Break 2016!

Vacations always make me happy but I truly can't remember a Christmas break that I have enjoyed more than this one. I loaded up my Jeep a few minutes after the teacher day ended on December 16 and started driving toward The Mississippi River listening to Christmas music all the way. Paul and I traveled separately because he had no desire to be gone for 19 days. I spent two months planning out how I would spend every single minute of my Christmas extravaganza in the South and in Las Vegas.
Basically I spent time hugging friends and looking them in the eyes as they told me about their lives over delicious Memphis meals. I reconnected with people I haven't seen in years. I sat down with friends and family that I text with constantly but rarely get to "really connect" with. And I "really" caught up on eating all the food I've missed over the last two years. I also got to visit restaurants I've only visited on Instagram so there were many days in a row where I felt like I was living in foodie Instagram heaven. 

Below I've written only about my Christmas trip to Las Vegas but I have written an additional piece about Christmas 2016 in the South here. 

The morning after Christmas I drove to my friend Stephanie's childhood home in Memphis. We spent the whole morning eating and hitting the after-Christmas sales. We had breakfast at the Barksdale Cafe in Cooper Young. This is a place we always meant to try as "true Memphians" but better late than later. There are many places we are trying now that we've moved away and shake our heads in disbelief wondering how we could have lived so long in a place without eating at these places.
​We had lunch at Cafe Ole before I got on the plane for Las Vegas and as usual the crazy corn was crazy delicious and the frozen margarita was the best in the entire world.  When I got to Las Vegas I checked into my hotel The Flamingo at 7 PM local time but it felt like midnight to me. I stayed at the Flamingo because I wanted to be in the middle of the Strip and the rooms are large. I assumed it would be pretty quiet in Las Vegas after Christmas but the hotel and the whole Strip was super crowded and hopping with tourists from all over the world.
In truth when I woke up the next morning I felt like a mouse that had just been let loose in a cheese shop. I had made a list of all the places that I wanted to try in Las Vegas but I threw that out the window as soon as I saw the endless options of food to try right outside the hotel. I also quickly realized that if I didn't want to spend my whole vacation standing in line for food I would have to eat early in the morning.  Sometimes that meant eating a lunch buffet at 7:30 in the morning.  It was an odd schedule but it worked for me. 

​Here's what I ate and how it made me feel:
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​When I walked outside my first morning in Las Vegas I wandered up and down the Strip for a while. It was early in the morning and the only people up were the street cleaners. I eventually wandered into Wahlburger for lunch because it was close to the hotel and not crowded. It was a decent burger but the gf bun was AMAZING! It was the fluffiest yummiest hamburger bun I've had since going gf years ago.  
Afterwards I walked into Sprinkles cupcakes for a red velvet gf cupcake and a regular dark chocolate icing white cupcake. I was happy to walk right up to the counter since the one I always try to visit in Chicago is way too crowded to even enter the store.  These cupcakes were absolutely delicious and possibly the cake was even better than Muddy's in Memphis. The lady judge from Cupcake Wars makes a mighty fine cupcake!
That afternoon I shopped in the Fashion Show Mall on the Strip and found the Sur La Table. They were having a huge after-Christmas sale on all of their holiday dishes so I decided to have some shipped to our house.  Outside the mall I discovered a small Luke's Lobster store. I have been obsessed with lobster everything since Paul and I visited Maine over the summer. I bought some lobster bisque to go and then walked toward the hotel where Gordon Ramsey's fish n chips place is.  I ordered the fish n chips with mango curry sauce and tartar sauce and ate that in the hotel with the lobster bisque in front of reality TV. It was such a great meal! As a Southerner there are few foods I love more than fried catfish and Gordon Ramsey's fried fish knocked me out! Big bubbly beer batter on the most delicate fish I've ever had. And the sauces for the big crunchy fries were heavy in delicious flavor.  I wish he would open one of his shops in Dodge City!

​The next day was a day I'd been planning for years. I have wanted to visit Bacchanal Buffet since I found out it existed two years ago. There are so many food stations in this Caesar's Palace buffet that it took me two hours to try a bite of almost everything. I got there when it opened at 7:30 AM and asked the waitress for coffee and iced tea to drink. I wrote a list of everything I ate on the buffet and here it is:  wild rice and pomegranate seed pilaf, Vietnamese pho, Century eggs, quince paste, shrimp cocktail, fruit salads in glass cups, churros, guajillo sauce, scrambled egg casserole, assorted sliced salamis and cheeses, smoked salmon with all the sides, pepperoni pizza, slow simmered meatballs, cucumber juice, watermelon juice, chicken piccata, shrimp and cheese grits, hashbrowns, green chili chicken posole, sesame balls, fried egg chilaquiles, chicken and waffles, cinnamon sticky buns with pecans, handmade peppermint and cinnamon marshmallows, maple croissant twists, cheese custard croissants, rum raisin bread pudding bites, curry vegetables, shrimp goreng, bulgogi, lobster benedict, Asian custard tarts, scalloped cheese potatoes, butternut squash quinoa, raspberry mousse, mango mousse 
​I knew I would enjoy the buffets of Las Vegas but I didn't anticipate being so inspired to go home and cook so many of the foods I tried. I also didn't anticipate how much fun it would be to try one little bite of so many foods I've read about but have never seen on a menu (or have been afraid to order in a restaurant for fear of not liking them).  
That evening I went to Gordon Ramsey's again for fried bangers and chips and went to bed early to prepare for the next morning's buffet attack.
The Bellagio Buffet, though not as large as Bacchanal Buffet, was beyond my best expectations all the same.  This was such a delicious buffet in a different way. Bacchanal had small portions of the gourmet of gourmets foods but Bellagio had small portions of all of your favorite comfort foods. I would call it an extravaganza of Northern soul food and other American favorites.  The dessert area was as impressive to me as Bacchanal.  The carrot cake alone was worth the price of the buffet.  Here is what I tried: red velvet waffles, berry fruit cups, brussel sprout salad, beet salad, sliced grapefruit pieces, Italian vegetable salad, cheese grits, bacon, black bean and garlic roasted green beans, cheese station, veggie pizza, lavender watermelon, Mexican cornbread, Prime rib with mint jelly, green pesto mashed potatoes, pork buns, potatoes O'Brien, heirloom tomato and mozzarella ball salad, tiny cheese blintzes, caramelized apples, apple turnovers, coffee tiramisu, carrot cake, greek yogurt with granola, salad bar that had shredded radishes and many other vegetables, baked salmon, rock fish, shrimp cocktail, dijon mustard
That evening I got Chipotle and red velvet cupcake from Sprinkles and ate in front of the TV again in my pajamas. 
The next day Paul joined me in Las Vegas. I started the morning with a Starbucks cappuccino and Revolution sweet greens drink. (I've been obsessed with healthy smoothies ever since I tried one of these on the trip.) Paul and I agreed to meet up somewhere off the Strip so that I could help him find his way down the Strip to the crazy busy parking lot.  He arrived the same day as the Ronda Rousey fight so there was very little parking to be found at our hotel or anywhere. I had read about The Amber Unicorn off the Strip so I took a cab over to it and told Paul to meet me inside. The Amber Unicorn is a used bookstore known by foodies for its hundreds of used cookbooks. The selection was overwhelming. I ended up only buying a first edition of Jacques Pepin's autobiography but the best part of the bookstore is the friendliness of the owners Myrna and Lou Donata.  I learned so much about Las Vegas history talking to them. And of course they'd seen Elvis. They went to one of his shows the year he died. 
The store was also conveniently located beside a Trader Joe's. And to top it off I hadn't had Mediterranean food on the trip except for a few dishes on the buffets so I was pleased to see that Amena Bakery and Deli was on the other side of the bookstore. This place was beyond delicious. I could have eaten a plate of their crunchy falafels for every meal of this trip! Every time food shows feature Las Vegas they seem to always focus on independent restaurants off the Strip. Next time I go to Las Vegas I want to rent a car and cruise around looking for what the locals eat.
For lunch I surprised Paul with the good news that Chicago's best food was right next door to our hotel. Giordano's is one of our favorite places to eat in the world and I loved how excited my hubby looked when they brought our pizzas to the table.  Their selection of California and Nevada beers was impressive too. After this late lunch we walked through my four favorite casinos: Paris, Bellagio, Caesar's Palace and the Venetian. We watched the robotic, fire-spewing Atlantis show with other shoppers in the middle of the Forum Shops and afterwards we sat and ate the most amazing mango and pistachio gelatos at Ciao Ciao Cafe Bar. That evening we had dinner in our hotel at the Flamingo Buffet and it did not live up to the other buffets I'd been wowed by. Paul liked it because there was a crepe stand with a chef making crepes to order. Honestly I was so full after 14 days of holiday eating that I could barely finish two plates of food! Again, I love it so much when a city or an experience exceeds my best expectations and Las Vegas eating did it.

​Las Vegas, you are a food lover's paradise!! I can't wait to visit you again!!

Bacchanal Buffet:
​wild rice and pomegranate seed pilaf, Vietnamese pho, Century eggs, quince paste, shrimp cocktail, fruit salads in glass cups, churros, guajillo sauce, scrambled egg casserole, assorted sliced salamis and cheeses, smoked salmon with all the sides, pepperoni pizza, slow simmered meatballs, cucumber juice, watermelon juice, chicken piccata, shrimp and cheese grits, hashbrowns, green chili chicken posole, sesame balls, fried egg chilaquiles, chicken and waffles, cinnamon sticky buns with pecans, handmade peppermint and cinnamon marshmallows, maple croissant twists, cheese custard croissants, rum raisin bread pudding bites, curry vegetables, shrimp goreng, bulgogi, lobster benedict, Asian custard tarts, scalloped cheese potatoes, butternut squash quinoa, raspberry mousse, mango mousse

Bellagio Buffet:  red velvet waffles, berry fruit cups, brussel sprout salad, beet salad, sliced grapefruit pieces, Italian vegetable salad, cheese grits, bacon, black bean and garlic roasted green beans, cheese station, veggie pizza, lavender watermelon, Mexican cornbread, Prime rib with mint jelly, green pesto mashed potatoes, pork buns, potatoes O'Brien, heirloom tomato and mozzarella ball salad, tiny cheese blintzes, caramelized apples, apple turnovers, coffee tiramisu, carrot cake, greek yogurt with granola, salad bar that had shredded radishes and many other vegetables, baked salmon, rock fish, shrimp cocktail, dijon mustard