Cafe Bellagio

Lauren & I were lucky enough to be taken out by one of her family friends, an unnamed retired judge who fed our tummies on our last night in Vegas. For those of you who don’t know, the Bellagio is the ritzy hotel in Vegas, clearly where all the “big shots” stay. The Judge was staying at the Bellagio, and suggested we go to Cafe Bellagio to grab a quick bite to eat.

Bellagio Conservatory

We walked through the conservatory at night, which has impressive themes presented in nature. I don’t have much of a green thumb, yet I was easily entertained walking through what seemed like a flower exhibit. These flowers are selected individually from all over the world, and the 140 expert horticulturalists arrange the ponds, gazebos, and water features uniquely for each season. I was blown away by the attention to detail and the artistry of the conservatory; every nook and cranny was crafted with the same amount of time as the overarching enormous butterflies and flowers of this spring wonderland.

The Cafe Bellagio was nice, but the decor was nothing exquisite. Some seating allow you to look out at the conservatory, but we sat at an average location in the middle. The menu was pretty large, including all types of soups, salads, and sandwiches, as well as entrees. I played it safe and ordered the salmon, one of my favorite kinds of fish. I remember it being somewhat reasonably priced, around $20. The dish came with fingerling potatoes and spinach with an eroglu sauce I believe, and it was pretty good. Better than the salmon at Eiffel Tower Restaurant, and that was one of their specialties! (Check out my post about my unforgettable – ha! - night in Paris)

Salmon from Cafe Bellagio

The salmon was cooked well and a pretty decent size for the price. I liked how I could dip my potatoes/salmon in the sauce for a little extra flavoring. Spinach is one of my favorite vegetables to compliment salmon, and I was pleased by the taste of the overall dish. The entree didn’t hit it out of the park, but I was by no means disappointed.

So now the good stuff comes.. DESSERT! Everyone was “full,” but the judge could tell that I was aching for more. I told him about my blog (why the hell else would I be taking pictures of every dish that comes my way?) and he knew I loved dessert. Lauren wasn’t feeling anything chocolate, so we settled on the carrot cake.

And what a choice it was! One of the most interesting presentations I’ve seen for carrot cake, this dessert had a thin piece of what looked like white chocolate on top, and the fancy cream cheese filling looked like it was designed with a cake frosting funnel. This was relatively reasonably priced as well, I think around $10.

Carrot Cake from Cafe Bellagio

I ate the majority of the carrot cake (SURPRISE!) and would say this was one of the top carrot cakes I’ve had. I’m not a huge fan, but the crunchy topping made it fun to eat and it was definitely an “upscale” carrot cake.

After blabbing about food all night, the Judge told me he had to show us one more place that I would surely enjoy. He took us to the chocolate store inside the hotel, and VOILA! Heaven.

There is a chocolate fountain that is atleast 6 feet tall, and the chocolate store sells luxury desserts and chocolates. Too bad I already stuffed by face with the carrot cake, otherwise I would have spent quite some time, and quite a lot of money, trying all of the delicious desserts. Everything looked amazing, and I had to pull myself away before I put myself in the sugar-coma that was inevitable.

Entree/Dessert Grade: B

The Happiest Girl in the World

A Night in Paris, Las Vegas

View of the Bellagio fountain show from the Eiffel Tower Restaurant at Paris, Las Vegas

Our window seat and view

My mom told me if I went to one good dinner in Vegas, make it to the Eiffel Tower Restaurant at Paris. She said she’d “never had a bad meal” and while it was a little overpriced, the view was spectacular and well worth the bill. My best friend, Lauren, and I decided to forget about our future debt and splurge on one great meal in the city.

Eiffel Tower Restaurant Kitchen

The Paris, as the name suggests, is themed around the city of Paris, France. Upon entering the hotel, walking on cobble stone streets, I look up and around and see painted blue skies made to look and feel as though you are in the city. The stump of the 540-foot-tall replica of the Eiffel Tower is centrally located on the main floor, with an elevator to the restaurant located at the top. When the elevator doors opened, you walk out to see the kitchen and everyone furiously cooking. It was a pretty cool set up to walk into the resturaunt and see the chefs at work, and the focus on the cooking itself made me think this place was going to give me the best meal of my life.

We went to the bar and our bartender, JR Starkus, suggested we try his famous Chocolate Martini. I agreed before he could finish saying ‘tini’ since chocolate is my favorite substance on this earth. I had never had a chocolate martini and was surprised by JR’s chemistry skills. The drink was mixed with chocolate shavings and the glass was lined in chocolate syrup. I was in heaven. While they were $18 a pop, I figured it was well worth the money, considering this was the ONLY drink I bought in Vegas.

JR Starkus' famous Chocolate Martini

We were placed at a window seat where we were across the street from the Bellagio where we could see the fountain shows at night. This is noted as being the very best view of Vegas at night – the strip, the lights, etc.

The menu was simple and overpriced, but we had positive thoughts considering my mom had so highly recommended this place. We looked at the appetizers and thought we’d start off with some scallops. Our waiter looked at us and said, “Would you like one order or two? There are only2 scallops per order.”

Now, splurging or not, we weren’t going to drop $26 on two scallops. We passed and decided to save our appetite for dinner.

We asked our waiter for suggestions, and he told us the filet is so good “he cut it with a butter knife,” and told us it was one of the best things on the menu. We were debating between the specialty “Slow Roasted Filet of Atlantic Salmon, Pinot Noir Sauce” ($36) and the “Char Broiled Filet Mignon” with the Lemon Parsley Butter (about $60), so we decided to get both and split them. Everything is a la carte, so we each ordered a side of their mashed potatoes, also recommended by the waiter.

We met this couple from Vancouver who were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. They told us the waiter tried to screw them out of some bottle of scotch, something about charging them for something they didn’t ask for… we were getting skeptical.

Cold and tough $60 filet. HMPH.

So our food comes, and it looks good–plain (almost nothing on the plate),  but nonetheless we’re excited for this “buttery filet.” We were just going to cut both entrees directly in half, and when I go to cut the filet I’m literally holding on to the table with one hand as I saw this piece of meat. And it was cold. And the mashed potatoes were cold. We couldn’t believe it.

We call our waiter over and tell him our food isn’t hot, so he takes my fork, stabs it into the two pieces of meat off of our plates and puts it on a bread plate. Is he seriously going to re-heat this stuff? He comes back 5 minutes later, after we’ve been venting to each other about how poor the customer service was and complaining that had this been the couple next to us, he would have been bending over backwards to make a new filet. The same piece of meat is re-heated, placed back together with a dollop of the lemon parsley butter on top. And the mashed potatoes were re-heated (I could see the same scoop from my fork).

Slow Roasted Salmon

We tried to enjoy it, but we couldn’t. The $60 filet was one of the WORST I’ve ever had. I could use a butter knife? When hell freezes over. The salmon was decent, but definitely nothing to write home about. And nothing that should be considered a “house specialty.” The waiter comes over again and asks us how it the second time around, as if a re-heated piece of meat was going to taste good or something. We told him it was tough, cold, and tasteless. NOW he decides to offer us a second filet. No thanks. We have had it up to here with this place, and quite frankly we’re disgusted that they tried to charge $60 for a filet, and then have the audacity to serve it cold.

We tell him we don’t want to wait any longer, to take the filet off the bill and forget about it. Now he’s apologizing saying he “wishes there was something he could do.” Well buddy, what you could have done is made us a new filet when we told you ours was cold instead of poking my entree and attempting to re-heat it to save a few bucks. Needless to say, we were fed up.

But not fed up enough to pass on dessert. Do I ever? I ordered the creme brulee hoping this meal would end on a good note. The presentation was great and the creme brulee was tasty. I’ve had better/worse creme brulee, but I wasn’t complaining.

Creme Brulee at the Eiffel Tower Restaurant, Las Vegas

At this point we get the bill and both orders of mashed potatoes and the filet are taken off the bill, as we had figured. That would have been the DAY that I pay for such an awful meal. Lucky for us, the salmon was decent, the creme brulee better than average, and hey, we had a great chocolate martini.

Paris, I will never return to your restaurant unless to have a chocolate martini made by JR. While the atmosphere is great, the food is subpar. This restaurant is overpriced and has failed to live up to its reputation.

Eiffel Tower Restaurant: C-

Viva Las Vegas!

When planning my last spring break at Michigan State, I decided I had to go out with a bang.  In my head I decided my top 2 destinations: South Beach or Vegas. When I started researching, I realized the hotels I wanted to stay at in South Beach were out of my price range, and after my mom assured me that you can “do Vegas cheap,” I booked a 6 night trip on Expedia.com

view from the 28th floor

We booked a room at the MGM and ended up getting an upgrade to the top floor! The view from our hotel was spectacular, and the beds had the best body pillows I’ve ever slept with. I actually contemplating taking one for the road, but I realized the pillow was a bit larger than me and would be fairly obvious had I tried to bring it home.

So, to the good stuff. The clubs were amazing, the architecture of the hotels and all of the resturaunts are exceptional. I took over 500 pictures on this trip! Thank you to my friends for being patient when I stopped every 5 seconds to snap one.
We ended up getting 2 free tickets to Cirque de Solei through booking with Expedia, and we booked tickets to Mystere for Monday night. But before a great show, of course we needed a great meal. We initially had reservations for Sushi at Treasure Island, but to save time we decided to pick a restaurant in our hotel instead.

We found Wolfgang Puck’s restaurant at the MGM and the design immediately caught my eye. The “free smells” were enough to lure us in, we made a reservation and an hour later we were ready to chow. The menu for the most part was pretty “normal,” the courses weren’t out of the ordinary or anything really unique.  The one item that was a little different–well of course I ordered it!

The “Autumn Squash Soup with Apple-Cranberry Compote and Cardamom Creme Fraiche” for $12 struck me as an early decision and I had my appetizer picked out. I didnt even know what the last 3 words meant but I figured I’d give it a shot. The soup comes out and I’m pumped, it looks amazing and the presentation was unique. The “Creme Fraiche” is a thick and smooth heavy cream with a wonderfully rich and velvety texture (the white stuff on the soup). It did soften the bitterness of taste of the squash.The “Apple-Cranberry Compote” was almost like a scone with baby cranberries inside… I tried to get a clear picture of the compote itself because it added such a great texture to the soup. It added an element of “fun-ness” to  the soup if you well, and this was a great way to start a meal.

Autumn Squash Soup at Wolfgang Puck

So as I’ve mentioned before, I never make a decision on food in under 30 minutes. It is a very rare occasion when I don’t ask the waitress what she recommends, and debate between 2, 3, sometimes 4 entrees I just can’t decide on. Since our Cirque De Solei show started at 7, I knew I couldn’t dilly dally around and had to make a quick decision.

I am not one to order chicken at restaurants, I don’t know why I guess I just usually don’t see chicken entrees as “unique” or something I’d love to try. Our waiter, however, recommended the “Organic Chicken with Garlic Potatoe Puree and Honey Glazed Carrots.” It did sound good, and for $28 I wasn’t exactly breaking the bank, so I figured I’d give it a shot.

I was so impressed by the soup that I was eager and anxious to critique this chicken dish. My tongue nearly fell out of my mouth when the plate was placed in front of me. The chicken looked (and tasted) moist, simply cooked to perfection. The mashed potatoes were a little more whipped than I ususally prefer, but I have to admit they were some of the best mashed potatoes I’ve had in my life. My mom’s are pretty darn good too. The vegetables were also impressive: the peapods were fresh, light and had the perfect crunch; the glazed carrots complimented the home-cooked flavor of the dish.

There were 2 pieces of chicken, one light and one dark, more than enough for me to split with someone else.  and While prefer dark meat for fear of white meat being dry, both pieces were exceptionally well cooked.

I enjoyed my dinner so much I went back to Wolfgang Puck–this was the lunch before the plane ride, however, so my pocketbook only allowed for a side of mashed potatoes.  A+ for Puck.

wait, WAIT, what?

I’m leaving for Vegas tomorrow. Actually in 8 hours. (BEAMING) My senior spring break–I decided to go out with a bang in Sin City. But going out with a bang symbolizes just that, the end. I’ll be graduating in 8 weeks (gulp) and I can’t believe how fast college has flown by. What went by even more quickly was my “New Media Driver’s License” class. Two face-to-face meetings (the second one coming up on March 21st) and a handful of online assignments flew by.

I signed up for the NMDL class because I wanted to know what all this “new media” was about. Well I learned what it was about, and then some.

In a nutshell, I’ve learned:

• how to use wordpress, and BLOG! My goal is to try to blog weekly (at least) and to maybe have someone read it other than my professor (Hi Derek.)
• Google tools! As if Google doesn’t do enough! Google AdWords, Google Calendar, Google Documents.. all great to know and I’m happy to know how to use them
• the importance of social networking sites…Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, Digg, Stumble! (I am SO addicted it’s sad, but I recommend you jump on board) – how to brand yourself! I’m going to work on trying to make my Twitter account a little more personal, and create an “online brand” for myself.
• FREE PR! (Wouldn’t you like to know?)

This class would be a great pre-req for any Marketing/Advertising/PR/Business/ANY major! And a whole more more informational that than bologna CSE 101 MSU makes you take might I add (I know how to use Excel and Microsoft Word, thanks.) I enjoyed the “independence” of the class, but at the same time it helped me having “due dates” and assignments so I actually would blog and learn about the different tools available on the internet.

On the first day of class, I sat there with a “HUH?” look on my face as Derek talked about Digg, WordPress, and SEO. Now that I have my “New Media Driver’s License”  (Hey Derek, wouldn’t it be fun to take pictures on 3/21 and put them on our certificates?) I feel comfortable talking to others about social media. Thanks for a great semester Derek, I will recommend your class to every student I know!

Now, I’m off to bed and leaving at 5am for Vegas. Ready for the city of sin to live up my last spring break.. DON’T WORRY… I’ll be safe! And eat lots of good food.

Goodnight

Troppo – a Lansing Gem

My friend Will from New York was kind enough to take me out to dinner for my birthday. About 8 weeks late, but I would never complain. We initially planned on going to Mitchell’s, then the line was outrageous, so we tried Bravo, again outrageous. We called around, ended up driving down by the Capitol building and I saw Troppo. I had heard it was good and suggested we give it a try. And with no wait, this was definitely our place to be.

Troppo Restaurant in Lansing, Mich.

This small restaurant is decorated in dark wood and rich colors and gives off a very sophisticated vibe. We were casual dressed in jeans and sweaters, and while I didn’t feel out of place, I could have easily worn a dress and felt fine. Will is a somewhat plain eater–no creamy white things, all American boy–so I was a little worried about what we’d decide to split for an appetizer. The Stuffed Butternut Squash immediately caught my eye, “Baked Squash Cup with Israeli Couscous, Spinach, Gorgonzola and Pistachois, $8.95″ This was calling my name in every way possible! I pretty much love every ingredient, and pistachios are my all time fave nut. Will wasn’t feelin it, so he got the sausage and meatballs (borrrrrring…)

Butternut Squash Cup

The Butternut Squash was absolutley delightful. The texture was amazing! The cous cous are a little bit bigger in size  so its almost like mini little pasta balls. The butternut squash is sweet, and the mixture with the blue-cheese adds a little tartness (don’t think I’m using the right description) for an wonderful blend of sweetness and … The waiter said I had a large portion (the cooks must have seen me) and I saved half to take home to save room for all the rest of the food we would be ordering. I convinced Will to try a “bite,” but he wasn’t feeling it. Hey, I tried.

The sausage & meatballs weren’t bad either, except since I’m 50% Italian and used to my grandmother and mom making homemade everything Italian, I wasn’t blown away. The description on the menu reads, “Hot Italian Sausage, Homemade Meatballs and Roasted Peppers tossed with Marinara served with Warm Bread and Whipped Ricotta-Mascarpone, $9.95″ They could’ve worked on the presentation, in my opinion. Will thought his meatballs were better You can’t even compare the squash to the meatballs, in my opinion. Meatballs: B

The flavor of the butternut squash was so exquisite and a creation that I had never tasted before. A+

Sausage & Meatballs

Next up was the entrees, while in all honesty I could have just eaten the Butternut Squash Cup for a meal (I’m thinking a great lunch place to venture to sometime soon at work…hmmm.) I was torn between the Seared Duck Breast (seared Duck Breast cooked to your liking with Grand Mariner, Warm Figs and Dried Apricots served with Risotto and Fresh Vegetables, $19.95) and the Swordfish. Of cousre I asked the waiter, and he recommended the swordfish over the duck. Even though I was near full, I was so pumped to get our entrees and excited to be trying out a new resturaunt.

The “creme brulee coffee crusted swordfish with vanilla bean pinapple chutney, cinnamon risotto and toasted almonds, $18.95″ came at the perfect time, once my stomach was beginning to settle and ready for round 2.

Swordfish

The swordfish tasted a little too blackened for my liking, but overall it was good. The cinnamon risotto was rather plain in taste, but I felt like they literally scraped a cinnamon stick over the risotto. Cinnamon risotto was definitely one for the books.

The piece of swordfish was a pretty good size, and the mixture of flavors of the cinnamon risotto with the pinapple chutney was nice. I ate about half and saved the rest for the next day–I got a full days worth of meals out of all of my takeouts.. score for a poor college kid!

Will enjoyed his Filet a la troppo, “served with Zip Sauce and Gorgonzola Whipped Potatoes. $29.95″ and while he asked for it medium and it came more medium rare, it was a great cut of meat and the gorgonzola mashed potatoes were superb.

Filet a La Troppo

As if I hadn’t stuffed my face enough, if you know anything about me it’s that I always, always, always, always, save room for dessert.

Will eye-balled a server bringing out some some cannolis right when we walked in, but we didn’t see them on the dessert menu. I could have gotten just about anything on the all chocolate dessert menu, but when we inquired about the cannolis (one of my FAVORITE desserts) our waiter he told us that they did have them as a special today.

The cannolis were filled with a chocolate cream that had a hint of raspberry. Will couldn’t taste the raspberry, but I sure could! These chocolate raspberry cannolis were another “first time” for me, and I will definitely search for this kind next time I’m pickin out cannolis.

Canoli Special

Overall this dinner was FAB-U-LOUS!!! I ate enough for 2 (easily),  and Will & I had a great time celebrating our friendship & our birthdays (corny, I know.)

Thanks Will, my favorite New Yorker!

Times, they are a changin!

I’ve been reading David Meerman Scott’s “New Rules of Marketing and PR” for my New Media Driver’s License class and couldn’t be happier with the assigned text. This book has been published in 22 languages and is crucial for any professional entering the PR and Marketing fields. As Bob Dylan said, times, they are a changin!

No doubt the Internet has affected the way we do things, but how about how we market our business and target our audiences? Meerman Scott’s book is a go-to-guide for any professional looking to understand social media. Meerman Scott focuses on blogging, podcasts, Wikis and RSS feeds, as well as explaining how the Internet has changed traditional marketing forever.

To generate PR for Mr. Scott and his book, I “stumbled upon” Meerman Scott’s website, as well as created a free press release at PR.com. I’m still waiting for the release to be confirmed.

Looking forward to blogging about my delectable dinner last night… soon to come!