Vegas, baby.

I mentioned in my last post that our yay-we’re-done-with-grad-school celebration had begun a little early. Well in the week following the our last class, I had two finals to take, a 179 page research report to turn in, 80 papers to grade for the professor I worked for and an all-day comprehensive exam to take. Needless to say, after that was all done I needed more than just the Regal Beagle and Lir to help me destress. So I hit the road with Shaun and my best friend Josh who lives in Arizona and treated myself to a weekend in Las Vegas.

We stayed at the MGM Grand which I always really enjoy. I think this was the fourth time I’d stayed there and I loved it – despite the fact that there was some kind of cheerleading competition going on (seriously, it was like beauty pageant stuff going on. five-year-olds with three pounds of makeup on, midriffs showing. maybe I’m becoming conservative in my old age, but I wasn’t really a fan.) The weather was great – a nice break from the 20 degree days that Boston has to offer in late December – and  the food was even better.

My absolute favorite thing about staying at the MGM is Craftsteak. Tom Colicchio is not only a dream boat, but apparently he knows a thing or two about putting a restaurant together. He’s all about farm-to-table, which is nice for local growers and GREAT for people who love delicious food. The difference freshness makes in a meal is difficult to describe but so easy to taste. Like I always do, I had the braised short rib and whipped potatoes. It’s family-style there so if you’re headed to Vegas and you happen to make the best dinner decision of your life, remember that you and your family/entourage/significant other(s)/small army can share the sides. Craftsteak is pretty classy so I felt awk taking pictures. You’ll just have to take my word that everything was georgeous.

Saturday morning was breakfast at my favorite Vegas breakfast buffet – More: The Buffet at Luxor. I don’t know why I’ve come to have such an affinity for the Luxor buffet. Maybe because it was the first Vegas I ever ate at during my first Vegas trip in eighth grade. Maybe it’s because two summers ago, Rafer Alston cut us in line there and I had to just smile a little – Skip, no one knew who you were but me and Josh. If you need to throw your weight around a little at a $30 buffet, go ahead. Enjoy your breakfast.

Anyway, the food is awesome and the mimosas are strong and bottomless. I’m not sure if the picture below is my second or third plate of food, but whatever the number: mmmmmm.

Breakfast remains.

Saturday night it was dinner at Aureole at Mandalay Bay. This was by far my most favorite Vegas meal ever. Not even so much for the food, but for the spectacular service, the beautiful ambiance and, of course, the wonderful company of my two escorts for the evening, Shaun and Josh. The awesome thing about Aureole is the wine tower. Instead of a wine cellar, they have a four story glass tower that holds 9,865 bottles of wine. They belay people up the tower in harnesses to grab bottles of wine – pretty sweet. You make your wine selection from a tablet PC instead of a paper menu since, let’s get serious, no one wants to be lugging around a book long enough to list 9,865 kinds of wine.

For some reason, I wasn’t worried about taking pictures of my food at this place, despite the fact that, like Craftsteak, it was super classy. Not pictured is my first course: Charlie’s Onion Soup – beef consommé with onions, foie gras, truffles, Gruyère cheese puff pastry. No words. This was beyond amazing. Because I was the only one to order a first course, the wait staff brought the boys salads “so the lady didn’t eat alone.” Adorable. Below is my main course: pan seared filet mignon – peekytoe crab and potato “Lyonnaise”, natural beef reduction. This was also excellent, although not quite as good as the meat I had the night before at Craftsteak.

Seared filet mignon.

After we were significantly stuffed, we waddled over to New York, New York to play a little roulette before wandering into Nine Fine Irishmen. Because we’re three fine Irishpeople, we figured it was the place for us and we also figured that several pints of Guinness were way better than any dessert would have been at Aureole (no offense, Aureole, I’m sure your desserts are delicious). We weren’t sitting down for ten minutes when a live band started playing all the Irish songs that I grew up with. As the band started its sixth song (and we began to match them in pints) I laughed and said to Shaun “We came all the way to Vegas to hang out in a bar that’s exactly like every bar we hang out in when we’re in Boston.” You can take the kids outta the city, but you can’t take the city outta the kids, I guess.

Josh and myself at Nine Fine Irishmen.