Rao's: It's about frickin time!

Day three in Vegas was our "free day" and after breakfast at Caesar's Augustus Cafe (where a three egg omelet is really a 24 dollar six egg omelet) we decided to relax by the pool. Like everything in Vegas the Caesar's pool is a bit of a sight with its Roman columns and Jacuzzi spas but certainly worth the trip. Despite the gale force winds that blew a few lounge chairs into the pool, we decided to hang for a bit.

The omelet eventually wore off and J-Bends and I decided to get a bite at Snackus Maximus to keep us going until tonight's dinner at Rao's. (Side note: Is that not the best name ever for a poolside snack bar?) We split an order of the spicy chicken nachos and an order of eggrolls. The nachos were quite tasty with the zesty seasoning of the chicken and fresh tomatoes and guacamole. The eggrolls fared equally as well and the dipping sauces (including a nice mustard) were lightly fried without being greasy. Of course the main goal of the afternoon was how many times one could work Snackus Maximus into the conversation! Awesome!

Dinner tonight was the long-awaited trip to Rao's. When I had called to move our reservation from Sunday to Wednesday night, the reservationist informed me that our 9:30pm reservation could be easily moved. A trip to the hostess stand en route to the pool moved us up to 8:15pm - no problem. No problem? Well... after being told that our table was being cleared and we will be seated shortly we watched as a few groups of goombahs were escorted into the dining room. When I asked the hostess what happened to our immediate seating, she explained that OOPS! someone was seated at our table and now we had one party in front of us. When I put up a bit of a stink, she agreed to buy us a drink at the bar to let us cool our heels. I must say, I certainly didn't feel like I was a valued customer.

J-Bends and I took this opportunity to enjoy an expensive glass of Brunello di Montalcino. When the bartender started to pour, I realized this wine was from none other than everyone's favorite Mafioso psychiatrist, Lorraine Bracco. Suprisingly, the wine was dry, tannic, full-bodied and quite impressive. Not too shabby, Lorraine, not too shabby... I just might forgive the shoddy treatment at the front of the house.

We eventually began our meal with orders of cold antipasto and meatballs. The prosciutto was a bit thicker than I am accustomed to but lean, salty and delicious.

Unfortunately, Niko and J-Bends did not partake in Meatball Madness so they couldn't compare to mine, but to be honest, the Rao's meatballs were darn pretty good. Beefy and dense in a sweet marinara sauce; not the best I've had in a restaurant but certainly up there on the meatball leader board.

J-Bends had veal marsala for her main and while she did enjoy her meal, I don't think Rao's veal stood a chance against the previous night's veal-a-palooza at David Burke. Niko had Rao's signature lemon chicken and I went with my perennial Italian favorite, frutti di mare.

Rao's version was a nice departure from the norm. The generous portion of fresh seafood was the bulk of the dish with just enough fresh squid ink pasta not to throw the carb-pasta ratio out of whack. The spicy tomato sauce was thick and chunky but in perfect proportion to the seafood.

While I wasn't completely knocked out by my meal here; I was certainly pleased and impressed on quite a few fronts. Enough to overlook the diss at the front of the house and I sealed the deal with an obligatory handshake from the owner's son, Frank Pellegrino, Jr.

Perhaps a trip uptown to the original is in order... Can someone help me get a reservation?

The Sea was Angry My Friends...

Vegas Day 2 - We hit the convention with a little less vengeance and a few more blisters than the day prior but got down to business. Today was "truck day" for me and it was a bit of a tease to see all the cool digital trucks and the toys that could go in them (if you have an unlimited budget).

Lunch today was at the food court, so not much to note here; your run-of-the-mill turkey on wheat with mustard for me since I was starting to feel like a bit of a glutton.

Hey, isn't that what Vegas was built on... gluttony and greed?

Dinner, however, was another story. We headed over to the beautiful Venetian Hotel and a trip to David Burke. Having heard Burke's New York business partner, Donatella, speak a few weeks ago my curiosity was piqued.

Tonight's dining crew was Foodie, T-Town and J-Bends. When we were seated in the cavernous dining room, our attention was immediately drawn to the large fountain with red glass spires in the middle of the room. We started to oooh and ahhh and then realized the acoustics were going to be a challenge since we were straining to hear each other at our four top table.

J-Bends & I split a bottle of wine which coincidentally was a Spanish Rioja that Mitch bought me when the Boston girls came to NY for a food-filled weekend. Mitch has a keen palate so I knew I made a wise choice.

Our meal began with an amuse bouche of shrimp and corn fritter with a fava bean and some micro greens. The shrimp was juicy and chunky and you really tasted the texture of the corn. And while it was batter dipped and fried there wasn't a hint of grease or dense crust to be found; just flavorful chewy textures with quite a unique presentation.

I decided to go for broke and get the crisp and angry lobster for an appetizer. A one and a half pound lobster served on a bed of nails? Are you kidding me?

The lobster was lightly seasoned with chili powder and paprika and then drizzled with a bit of chili oil. It was then broken into sections and strategically placed on said bed of nails along with a few lemon wedges for good measure or good humor; take your pick.

Not only was this one of the most flavorful lobsters I've ever had; it was certainly the most unique. Kudos, Mr. Burke you've impressed me already and I haven't even had my entree yet!

For my main course, I resisted the temptation to try the "pork steak" and instead went with the Peking duck with peasant noodles and a sunny side up duck egg. T-Town and J-Bends went with the Bronx style filet mignon of veal with Yukon gold dumplings and morels. (see the semi-dark photo below)

The veal was an impressive chop that was buttery soft. I'm not a veal lover per se, but even I couldn't resist trying a bite. Good choice gang!

The duck was perfectly roasted and the skin was crispy but soft in the noodles and light sauce. The broken yolk of the egg added a nice dimension and thickness to the dish and really brought all the ingredients together.

Our dishes were all served in shiny All Clad cookware which kept our entrees warm as I gazed lovingly at all the interesting dishes coming out of the open kitchen.

What also came out of the kitchen was the man himself; David Burke. His table hopping and hand shaking unfortunately did not include our table and I was hoping to tell him how much I was enjoying my meal (especially after last night's less than stellar trip to Diego).

Little did I know that the best was yet to come. We chose David Burke's signature dessert for the table - David Burke's cheesecake lollipop tree. Individual pops of chilled cheesecake dipped and coated in milk chocolate, bubble gum and pistachio-crusted chocolate served on an adorable "tree" with accompanying bubble gum whipped cream.

The cheesecake was creamy without being overly thick and rich. This would have stood out as a great dessert on it's own without the lollipop tree. The whipped cream was sugary sweet and light - how'd he do that? Bubble gum pulverized to a powder? Who knows? Who cares? We were so busy dipping and acting like giddy kids at a carnival to care.

I had to ask our server what was up with all the eggs. There were egg statues, egg dishes and little eggs placed everywhere in the restaurant (not to mention the website). We were told that Burke loves eggs and sees them as the beginning of life.

Well Mr. Burke; Ms. Foodie sees this dining experience as the beginning of a beautiful culinary friendship!

Ole it's BBQ!

Day 1 in Vegas - we hit the convention pretty hard since there was so much ground to cover including what is becoming a traditional visit to the section of the convention floor where they house the latest in news helicopters. Somehow, don't think I can convince the Bossman to sign the check for this one but it is worth a trip nonetheless!

We kept with tradition again for lunch with a trip to Big Daddy's Barbeque right outside the Central Hall of the convention center. The pulled pork sandwich is quite good here with just enough sauce to bind the stringy bits of pork without being overwhelmingly sticky or sweet. The doughy white roll is the perfect chewy holder for the tender meat.

After a ridiculous amount of walking around the convention floor we called it a day and headed over to Diego at MGM for our first official dinner in Vegas. The room's funky modern bright decor was inviting and the service was certainly personable.

We ordered the obligiatory tableside guacamole and Diego adds a nice touch to the usual with the addition sundried tomatoes. T-Town noted that you could taste the freshness of the cilantro, avocado, tomato and onion and I must say he described it perfectly.

As far as cocktails go, my first pomegranate margarita was quite tasty; however, the second one seemed to have been made by someone else. The tartness of the pomegranate overpowered the tequila rendering my drink pretty "undrinkable". Not a good way to start the evening. I'll have to catch up later!

For an entree I decided to go with the pork tasting (dear readers you know how I love my pig!).

The "tasting" consisted of slow cooked cured pork 'belly', white bean rancheros with applewood smoked bacon, and roast pork over baby spinach with tomato corn salsa. The roast pork was lean and while a bit dry the roasted corn salsa and perfectly cooked spinach added enough to the dish to make up for it. The belly fared much better with just enough fat and crispiness. The white beans were delicious and the slivers of bacon floating in the garlicky sauce really added to the overall savory flavor of the pork.

Although some elements of the meal were interesting, overall my meal was a bit of a disappointment. The reasonable prices helped to soften the culinary blow but I must say that I had a considerably better Mexican meal last year at Border Grill.

After dinner we headed over to the Hard Rock Cafe for a poolside party. I did take an Oreo for a dip in their chocolate fondue fountain but the rest of the night was about drinking and socializing.

This is where our Monday's story ends since as the adage goes: What happens in Vegas...

Vegas! Finally!!!!!

Shockingly, we made it to Vegas during last weekend's Nor'Easter with only a two hour flight delay and despite the hordes of annoying fliers who descended upon JFK. Coupled with every engineer, editor, cameraman and producer in the tri-state area trying to get to NAB to say it was hectic was a bit of an understatement.

Foodie's main concern, however, was our Sunday night reservation at Rao's. The more our flight's departure time got pushed back, the more I saw my chances of eating at Rao's slipping away. The reservationist was quite helpful over the phone and I finally admitted dining defeat and pushed our reservation to Wednesday evening. Alas, Michael Mina, perhaps it was not meant to be...

Of course Foodie was packing because God forbid I travel without snacks! While I did not get to enjoy a relaxing Italian feast Sunday night I did get to enjoy a lovely sandwich from my local gourmet store, The Garden of Eden. Garden of Eden can be a bit pricey but for 7 bucks you get the mother of all sandwiches.

I devoured the Italian sandwich which includes prosciutto, sopressata, mozzerella, sundried tomatoes, and fresh basil with a light basil vinaigrette. They pack so much into this sandwich that half is plenty for me and unfortunately I couldn't persuade my travel companions to partake in the other half.

By the time we landed, retrieved our luggage, checked in and got to Caesar's we were pretty beat. Our upgraded rooms made up for the travel delays but food was not on the brain. We had a drink in Shadow and I called it a night.

I needed my energy for the dining experiences ahead...oh yeah and for the convention too!

Vegas, Baby! Maybe???

In a few hours, Ms. Foodie is (hopefully) leaving for Vegas to attend the NAB Convention. The toughest part about planning this trip was deciding where to eat! The possibilities are endless!

After we spend countless hours on the massive convention center floor geeking out at more cameras, editing gear, news helicopters and production trucks than you can imagine a few of my co-workers and I are going to kick back at the following restaurants.

Here's the dining itinerary and you can certainly expect reviews when I return.

Sunday: Rao's @ Caesar's (if our plane leaves today - thanks Nor'easter! Isn't it bad enough I have to travel across the country to eat at a restaurant uptown?)

Monday: Diego @ MGM

Tuesday: David Burke @ The Venetian (my previous post about Donatella had me especially curious about Burke's culinary prowess)

Wednesday: Seablue @ MGM (slightly less expensive than Michael Mina's Bellagio restaurant)