Food is an important part of a balanced diet (part 1)

5 days and 4 nights in Vegas. Done right.

As you may know, I go to Vegas frequently - this is my third visit this year. My last two visits were in June with my parents and sister and in April with a group of friends/coworkers. Both trips were great, but neither allowed me to really do Vegas my way. To me, Vegas is about five things:

1. Gambling
2. Hotels
3. Restaurants
4. Shows
5. The strip

To keep a long story short, for this trip I decided to focus on #1-3, since I'd covered #4-5 well on the last two trips.

Gambling

Not too much to say about the gambling - I mostly played Hold 'Em poker, but also some blackjack. Lost about $25 overall, but more than made up for that in free drinks.

Hotels

I started out by cashing in a free Marriott Rewards night - Saturday nights are expensive in Vegas. Then, I stayed two nights at Bellagio. It's one of my favorite places to visit but I had never stayed there before. I made sure to upgrade to get the Lakeview room overlooking the fountains, and that was certainly worth the premium. I always catch a couple of fountain shows when I'm in Vegas, and they never cease to amaze me. And, watching from above (16th floor) was possibly even better.

View from my hotel window

Bellagio is a great Vegas casino; it's beautiful, centrally located on the strip, has great restaurants, and is full of fascinating and wealthy people. As I walked by the area with the high stakes blackjack tables the first day I caught a guy betting a stack of purple chips ($500 each), probably 8-10 of them, and he placed one of them for the dealer. (If he loses the casino gets it; if he wins the dealer gets the bet and the winnings.) He won the hand and, bam, she pocketed $1,000 without batting an eye.

There's something special about holding one of these

And, this is nothing unusual here. A few years ago, at the same place, I saw that two young blonde women playing, but as soon as I got near them a security guard walked towards me to block my path. At first I was confused and just backed off. Then, I looked closer and realized the two women were Paris Hilton and Anna Kournikova.

I'd originally booked three nights at the Bellagio, but then I received an offer from The Signature at MGM Grand to stay for a good rate and they included a $100 beverage credit to use in any of the MGM Grand bars. So, I re-booked my last night and got a 900 square foot (81 square meters) one-bedroom suite with a balcony overlooking the strip. The layout of the suite was very similar to the one I stayed in last year at THEhotel, and this one was also a corner unit so I got views in two directions. Overall, I think I preferred the interior at THEhotel, but this suite was somewhat bigger and included a full-size bar/kitchen and the balcony, so this one may be better for entertaining.

The living room from behind the bar

I placed one of the living room chairs on the balcony for some afternoon reading

Night-time view from the balcony

Restaurants

I had five noteworthy meals on this trip:

Daniel Boulud Brasserie

The first night I'd made reservations at Daniel Boulud's restaurant at The Wynn. French chef Boulud is best known for his New York restaurant Daniel (which recently received the maximum 3 Michelin stars) and he is a well-known TV-personality (frequent guest judge on Top Chef and the star of After Hours With Daniel.)

I came because I'd heard so much about the DB Burger which is available for $32. As you may guess, at that price, it's not a regular burger. In fact, it's stuffed with truffles, foie gras and short-ribs. That's right, in the middle of the burger there are short-ribs!

Cross-section of the DB Burger (iPhone picture)

The burger was very good and I enjoyed it with a glass of Cotes du Rhone by Chave. The appetizer was very nice too: a Bluefin Tuna and a glass of Bründlmeyer Grüner Veltliner from Austria.

Bluefin tuna, guacamole and a lot of things I can't remember. (iPhone picture)

Ok, that's all I have time for tonight. Still to come: fountain brunch at Jasmine, lunch at RM Seafood (where they did Restaurant Wars on Top Chef this season), a 5-course meal at Picasso and the express menu at l'Atelier de Joël Robuchon. And some damn fine cognac.