6 posts tagged “weekends”
Last Wednesday Stef called with an offer that I couldn't refuse, purchase a ticket to Vegas and everything else would be covered for the 4th of July weekend. Her manager was flying there with a high roller friend and apparently two hotels were covering all of their expenses. Crazy! They put the two of us in a suite one floor below the penthouse at the Palazzo, the new Venetian towers, with a fantastic view of the strip. We treated ourselves to lots of pool time, the spa and several decadent meals. It was fabulous.
I've known Stef for a few years now but this was the first time that we've done a solo thing together. I feel kind of special that she thought of me for the trip. It was a great time and we got along so well. We're more alike than we first realized and I know this is the beginning of a close friendship. Here are highs and lows from the weekend:
- Our suite came with three flat screen TVs including one in the bathroom, remote controlled curtains and a walk-in closet
- The lounge chairs directly in the pool were awesome. Who needs a cabana when you can sit in the water all day?
- Ran into a friend's bachelor party and got to hang out with friends that I haven't seen in years
- A very drunk girl fell into a friend’s birthday cake and then wiped her hands on my dress
- Went to Jet at Treasure Island as a favor to Stef's manager and discovered it was the "5’4 and under" club
- Pulled an all-nighter on Saturday to fly out at
7:30am on Sunday. I felt a little crazy
at the airport but well that's how Vegas is done I suppose
- My feet still hurt from dancing in heels all
weekend. Heh.
After years of going to Vegas for birthdays, getaways, bachelorette parties and one very cold New Year's Eve, I know better than to come into work the very next day. It takes a full day to recover from the excessive drinking and lack of sleep. Almost all of yesterday was spent either in bed or on my couch, minus the hour I spent unpacking and cooking dinner. Today my legs are still sore from all the dancing that I did on Saturday night. It was a fun time despite initial my concern that I was too old to be partying like that. ;)
The roundup from the weekend (includes only details that I could talk about in a public blog like this):
- Stayed in two awesome suites at The Hotel at Mandalay Bay. Very swanky but it was about a mile of walking to get to the pools. We were hooked up with a discount so the rooms ended up being cheaper than staying in Mandalay Bay.
- Average temperature in Vegas was 105 degrees. Such a shame that I only spent a total of four hours in the wave pool.
- My longest stretch of dancing in one night without sitting down? 5 hours.
- Celebrity takeover: Kardashians at Pure nightclub caused the lines to shutdown at midnight. We thought there was going to be a riot since they had a zillion people waiting.
- Bill for bottle service and table at Prive: two bottles of Grey Goose vodka at $450 per bottle.
- Stef's friend hooked us up with a "party bus" that came equipped with a dancer's pole. I would like to note that I did not partake in the pole dancing.
- Met Steve Kim from Chippendale's at Seamless, a new after hours club.
- Missed breakfast every day. But we did dine at Bradley Ogden and Social House.
The latter's tasting menu of sashimi was amazing and worth every
penny. Bradley Ogden is owned by the same restauranteur as Lark Creek
here in San Francisco but it definitely wasn't as good.
- I slept a total of four hours in two days. Woo.
Last month I celebrated a friend's birthday at Michael Mina. It's been on my list of 'must try places" for the last two years but has been slipping down the charts in favor of more affordable restaurants. The benefits of eating with a large group (there were 12 of us) are the number of dishes that you can try. But large sittings generally mean larger bills. My grand total was $260, which was thankfully less than my meal at French Laundry.
Located in the Westin St. Francis hotel across from Union Square, you can ride the hotel's glass elevator to the top floor and look over all of downtown. Or well, at least one side of downtown. The atmosphere at MM isn't as stuffy as French Laundry, in fact the noise level can get pretty high in the open areas. Men aren't required to wear jackets but you can always find a few suits that have come in after work. It's the type of place where men talk business, couples celebrate anniversaries, and girls get way too dolled up in organza skirts.
They serve a three course prix-fixe menu as well as a chef's selection tasting menu. The tasting menu is easier for those that hate making decisions. But when you're paying a hefty price for it, might as well do the work yourself. Within each course there are several selections, of which you can choose only one. Each selection has one core ingredient and is prepared in three different ways. There are also "classics" to choose from, which are dishes that the chef is known for but those are only prepared in one way.
Confused? So was I.
For my first course, I chose the the Hudson Valley foie gras served hot to cold with huckleberry gastique, pickled strawberries, poached rhubarb and pistachio crumble. It was amazing but there was so much of it. I ate half and gave the rest to Katie who proceeded to wipe down two other plates of extra foie gras.
The dishes came out so slowly that by the time course number two arrived, most of us were kind of full. Eep. This was disappointing since my trio of premium beef was so, so good and I couldn't really enjoy it. The first preparation was grass-fed rib-eye in a sauce au povre with creamed spinach, second was American Kobe short-rib with horseradish whipped potatoes, and the last was Misami Kobe sirloin in a bordelaise sauce with marinated mushrooms.
Dessert wasn't really memorable except for the caramel flan and green tea bon bons served with toothpicks. By the time the bill came, it was almost midnight and I was falling asleep at the table. No better way to end the meal I suppose.
I was surprised that this came out as one large sardine, instead of several small sardines. It was delish nonetheless. We probably enjoyed this part of the meal more than the sushi. Kind of disappointing but Kirala's sushi really hasn't been as good as it was in the past. We had grilled sardine marinated in spicy roe with lemon and radish, alongside stuffed mushrooms and shiso wrapped chicken in a teriyaki glaze. I finished off the roasted scallops before we could take this picture. Those were way yummy too.
I spent Saturday afternoon slicing food into tiny morsels and trying not to slouch in my seat. I felt like a kid sitting at the grown-up table wondering when I could run out to play. After years of reading and hearing about the acclaimed French Laundry, I finally had the opportunity to dine there. The NYTimes once wrote, "...this discreet restaurant regularly ranks as one of, if not the, best restaurant in the world", and Anthony Bourdain of 'Kitchen Confidential' describes the experience as nothing less than phenomenal, "My knees were shaking going to meet Thomas Keller, going to eat in that restaurant [The French Laundry]. I felt like I was going to the prom, like a kid in a powder blue tux sweating through my fluffy shirt. It's hero worship and wonder..."
My experience however was well, underwhelming to say the least. Admittedly friends had warned that this would be the case as their experiences were just so-so. The atmosphere was too stuffy, brought on by the other patrons and not necessarily the suited wait staff who seemed to enjoy the joking and smiles that came from our end of the room. Laugh too loudly however and we'd elicit frosty stares from the tables nearby.
The appetizers and desserts were delicious but the small plates and main entrees weren't memorable at all. My favorite was the foie gras, served as a cold mousse with toasted brioche, truffle creme and orange glaze. The log of foie gras was huge and we were continually brought warm brioche until we were wiping down the plates with toast.
The panacotta and caviar took a few bites to warm up to, but the combination of flavors in the end were wonderful. My small plate of bluefin tuna was very ordinary. As were the lobster mitts with pomegranate seeds in a curry reduction sauce. The duck came out too firm for everyone at the table. Bleh. The lamb was soft and tender, raised on a special diet by a small farm in Virginia. The special diet supposedly cleaned the gamy flavor out of the meat. Though I kind of feel like something's lost when lamb doesn't have a bit of gaminess to it.
Overall I was disappointed by the food, especially because it came with such a hefty price tag and a two month advance reservation. $350 to be exact. But the meal ended sweetly enough with a second dessert of truffled chocolates, verona and caramel covered macadamia nuts, marscapone pineapple cakes, creme brulee and lemon custard.
My friends Melinda and Adam are seven months pregnant. They spent the last three weekends painting their new house in preparation for Saturday's baby shower. Set in the late afternoon with no end time on the invitation, most of us still expected to be out of there by 7pm. Should have known better.
I've never actually been to a baby shower party. They had a wall of catered food, the entire kitchen filled with booze, family was mingling with friends, and the little ones were running wild in the corner with balloons. There must have been seventy people at the house. Insane. They planned on playing co-ed games but it was too loud to get anyone's attention. All in all a good time and I met up with a lot of old friends. Many of whom now have kids or are in the process of having kids.
Photo: Yunice's daughter (a twin no less) getting at the beer with her teeth. Sorry sweetie, I can't allow underage drinking. Only Abe got to do that.
