Cheer Up With Food

On April 20th @ 9PM,  Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown will be airing it's Las Vegas  episode on CNN .   Bourdain explores different sides of my hometown (yes, there's more than just The Strip ).  He goes to restaurants raved by the locals such as Raku , Eat. , and The Bootlegger .  Also, Bourdain goes to fine dining restaurants like é by José Andrés  and Restaurant Guy Savoy .  I am glad that the topic of the drought in Las Vegas is mentioned, which is something that cannot be ignored (conservation is important!).  The people that accompany Bourdain in this episode include food author Michael Ruhlman , artist  Anthony Bondi , illusionist  Penn Jillette , and former mayor Oscar Goodman .  Here's a preview to the Las Vegas episode or you may see it here :

Winter in Venice 2012 To all my food and wine enthusiasts out there, if you're planning on visiting The Las Vegas Strip in a couple months, there's definitely an event you must check out!  On December 5 to 8, 2013, The Venetian and The Palazzo will feature a four-day event, La Cucina Italiana Food & Wine Festival .  This event will be a part of Winter in Venice , a holiday festival.  La Cucina will feature Chef Mario Batali , Buddy Valastro , Dario Cecchini , Wolfgang Puck , Roberto Caporuscio , and Anthony Giglio . These four days will be packed of culinary events such as dining with Wolfgang Puck, how to make Italian treats, wine pairings with Carmelo Messina and Anthony Giglio, and a truffle hunt: Click to enlarge For more information on this event or suite packages , please visit http://www.venetian.com/winterinvenice  or call 866.641.7469 or 702.414.9000.

Last weekend I attended the  James Beard Foundation's   Taste America: Las Vegas  at  The Mirage Hotel & Casino .  It was a lovely evening at this poolside gala trying out different foods and drinks.  Check out my previous post for more info.  It was great seeing the cooks and executive chefs prepare and make foods from each of their stands: There was also a silent auction on one side and food and drinks  everywhere else! One of the stands from  Ristorante di Mare .  Executive Chef, Paul Barolotta . This ristorante specializes in Mediterranean seafood.  There were many drinks to sample including drinks from   Southern Wine and Spirits of Nevada . These oysters were from GOIC  - the Gulf of Mexico.  They were fresh indeed! BLT Burger .  Executive Chef, Laurent Tourondel . From BLT Burger I had the 180 Burger - Peppercorn crusted bacon, smokey sweet BBQ sauce, ...

On Pi Day, I attended my friends' wedding at  Emerald at Queensridge .   I found this place to be simply elegant!  As for the food, I liked how the meats were cooked.  Its usually a hit or miss when it comes to eating meats at weddings.  The meats are either cooked correctly or dry!  I was relieved this venue knew the right way to cook the meats for a 100+ guests. Beautiful setup An epic salad display Bread rolls A nice light dinner.  The meats were nicely cooked and juicy, not dry at all! Simple wedding cake Looking for a place to hold your wedding ceremony and reception?  I recommend checking this venue out!

For my friend's bachelorette party, we ate at  Bagatelle  in the  Tropicana Casino to start off the festivities: The sexy bride to be at the front of the restaurant.  There were chandeliers all around the place, very classy! Our table Sitting w/ Marilyn Butter lettuce with house dressing to the left and purple (?) macaroni to the right.  This macaroni dish was my favorite side!  I was addicted to it  because of the delicious sauce and the pasta being perfectly al dente. Nicely toasted bread Vegetables and hard boiled eggs to snack on One of the main dishes was truffloa natural roasted chicken with country style potatoes.  This chicken dish was also wonderfully addicting! I wish I could eat more of it!  The spices and it being roasted made it taste great. A very chocolately dessert.  Everything you see here was edible, well except the rectangular plate! Up clos...

This past December I went to Oahu to get married!  Since planning for my wedding was my priority, I didn't really plan to eat anywhere in particular.  I just went with the flow and ate at places wherever my friends and family wanted to eat at.  Here are some places we ate out at during our trip: Pancakes & Waffles  On the morning of my arrival we to Pancakes & Waffles  for breakfast.  Its a small restaurant and was busy the day we went, luckily our food came out relatively fast! My uncle had the Fried Chicken & Waffle .  This picture makes the food smaller than it seems, I was impressed by the portion size, I didn't know pieces of chicken could be  that big (all thanks to genetic modification)!  My meal, the Mini Breakfast Special  was smaller compared to everyone else's.  For this special you get to choose 1) how you want your eggs cooked 2) choose pancakes, toast, fries or rice and 3) ...