Loving Vegas Living

Christmas dinner at Guy Savoy

cdcunc — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 06:00:43 +0000

After being apart for Christmas last year, Brad and I decided to forego gifts this year and splurge on Christmas dinner. We’ve always wanted to dine at Guy Savoy but have been intimidated by the price, so we booked a reservation to have an unforgettable meal. We chose the Menu Élégance, which included six courses that we would have picked ourselves, and we supplemented it with a foie gras dish from the Christmas Prestige menu that we just had to try. The meal started with a bite-sized foie gras sandwich on a silver toothpick and an amuse-bouche of parsnip soup with scallop tartare. I didn’t get photos of those courses because I was intimidated about pulling my camera out in a restaurant so serious about food, service, and ambiance. But after a table of Japanese high-rollers made a scene over something in their soup, ultimately storming out after the entire waitstaff (including the chef) attempted to defuse the situation, I decided my camera wasn’t the most offensive presence in the restaurant and I proceeded to click away at every course. Both the food and service were sophisticated yet light-hearted, with unexpected flavors hidden in each plate and surprising quips from the waitstaff. Our Christmas dinner was truly memorable, which is fortunate because we’ll have to savor the memories as it will take years to save up enough money to dine here again!

Christmas Eve gathering at Vintner Grill

cdcunc — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 06:00:57 +0000

Vintner Grill is our favorite Summerlin spot for dinner and drinks. We thought it would be a great spot to have a Christmas Eve dinner out with friends. We usually like to eat at the bar, and they were nice enough to reserve a high-top table for us. We planned on having a light meal, but the menu looked too good, and we ended up stuffing ourselves. I had a unique pumpkin gnocchi and a surprisingly flavorful vegan portabella mushroom picatta (picture below), and Brad had the best Caesar salad in town (perfected by the proscuitto) and a crispy free-range chicken. We had no room for dessert but couldn’t help but try the gingerbread bread pudding with an eggnog crème anglaise.

Christmas Eve’s Eve feast at RM Seafood

cdcunc — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 06:00:32 +0000

I had the Friday before Christmas off, so I decided to have a mini-Vegas vacation. I started the day with a 90-minute facial at the Aveda Institute. I’ve been to the Aveda Institutes in Chapel Hill and St. Petersburg, and this one is another good value for great service. Afterward, Brad and I went to the UNLV basketball game versus Cal. I had never seen a UNLV home game and was impressed with the enthusiasm of the crowd. The whole arena was red! The game ended at the perfect time to hit happy hour on the Strip. We got a kick out of the number of people who asked us where we were visiting from. When we said we are locals, they looked at us like we have two heads. Locals can (and should) enjoy the Strip too! We were thinking cocktails and light appetizers, but we found ourselves tempted by the shellfish samplers at RM Seafood. Important lesson learned – rather than asking for a dinner-sized portion of crab and lobster, next time we’ll give the waiter a price point to work with. We ended up with a feast large enough for four!

First hike of 2011

cdcunc — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 06:00:39 +0000

If you look back at my older posts, you can see that hiking used to be a big part of my life. I spent much of 2011 out of town, and when I am in town I’m usually golfing with Brad on the weekends, so hiking has fallen by the wayside. Leigh and Brian wanted to go hiking on a day that was a little chilly for golf, so I finally took a hike in 2011. We did the Calico Tank trail, which I did in 2008 with some coworkers. Like the 2008 hike, I brought the dogs along, but I found that they needed a bit more help up the boulders than before. The dogs and I didn’t make it to the tank because they were a bit rambunctious from seeing so many other dogs (the last part is quite narrow and not conducive to pulling dogs).

Scottsdale Dining

cdcunc — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 19:40:00 +0000

I knew to expect some incredible golf during our week in Scottsdale, but I had no idea the culinary talent in that area. Brad took me to all of his favorite spots, and we discovered some new gems together.

We started with lunch at Barrio Cafe in downtown Phoenix as soon as we arrived. I’m not much for Mexican food, but this place had the freshest ingredients and no rice and refried beans. The tortilla chips were the best I’ve ever had, with almost a flaky crunch, and the dried cranberries in the guacamole were a nice surprise. Nothing kicks off a vacation like Pink Chevy and guava margaritas.

The Hermosa Inn is a romantic boutique hotel built in the 1930s hidden at the end of a residential street. I always thought Phoenix and Las Vegas were very similar, but it’s places like this with a rich history that still survive (and thrive) in Phoenix that set these two cities apart. We took advantage of the $39pp summer menu at Lon’s, where we had gazpacho and a salad with berries and candied pecans to start, hanger steak and Scottish salmon for the main course, and the most incredible homemade candy bar for dessert. The candy bar with its salty caramel and surprising chili pepper kick was so darn good that we came back a few nights later just for champagne and dessert.

Another historic boutique hotel is the Royal Palms (built in 1929), and its restaurant, T. Cook’s, has both a fancy dining room and a laid back lounge. Their lunch combos let us sample several different tastes (lobster and fennel bisque, chicken and brie panini, sweet potato fries, caprese salad, fish taco, fresh fruit). The friendly bartender made a wicked margarita, and we returned later in the week for cocktails while a talented jazz duo played. I wish we could have packed this place in my car and brought it back to Vegas.

I would have never expected to find a farm just minutes from downtown Phoenix. Quiessence is tucked in the back of the farm property and changes its menu nightly according to what produce is available. It wasn’t cheap but the ambiance, freshness of the food, and unique presentation made it worth it. Shown below is the stuffed pheasant wrapped in prosciutto.

Ever since I met Brad, he has raved about his meals at See-Saw in Scottsdale. One of the appetizers he loves to make at home, king crab meat with avocado and grapefruit in a basil sauce, was even inspired from his favorite dish at See-Saw. See-Saw fell victim to the economy, but Chef Nobuo Fukuda opened Nobuo at Teeter House in downtown Phoenix. The name and location may have changed, but the Japanese small plates were as brilliant as Brad had described them. Below are photos of salmon in basil oil and hamachi with avocado, grapefruit, and white truffle ponzu.

We’ve read about Pizzeria Bianco in several food magazines, and we’ve been wanting to to try this pizza that many say is the best in the US. It’s located in a small historic building across from Teeter House and doesn’t take reservations, so we chose a time between lunch and dinner to try to avoid the crowds. Brad had his usual Margherita and I had the Bianco Verde (below), and while the pizza was as chewy and flavorful as we had imagined, we were surprised to find that we actually prefer the pizza at Due Forni, which is conveniently located around the corner from us in Las Vegas. No need to drive 6 hours to get remarkable Neapolitan-style pizza

More photos from our trip here

Scottsdale Golf

cdcunc — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 18:42:55 +0000

Brad and I took a week off work to spend the hottest week of the summer (115+ degrees) where else but in the desert. We stayed at the Westin Kierland Villas and played golf four days. The courses were incredibly beautiful, with lots of cactus and critters, and I played the best golf of my life that week (two 92s!).
Westin Kierland Golf Club (with the villas we stayed in on the right)

Troon North Golf Club

The Boulders

We-Ko-Pa Golf Club

More photos here

Memorable Flowers

cdcunc — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 20:09:46 +0000

After my dad passed away, my mom and I were overcome by the number of cards, prepared meals, and flowers that we received. Here are some closeups of the beautiful, colorful bouquets that are cheering up our house right now.

Petra Greek Taverna

cdcunc — Fri, 20 May 2011 05:22:01 +0000

Tivoli Village recently opened, defying the odds against new retail spaces in a sagging Las Vegas economy. While there aren’t many stores open yet, it does bring some new choices to Summerlin, and many stores seem to be locally-owned. I met up with my best Las Vegas girlfriends, Sally and Melissa, for happy hour at Petra Greek Taverna. Petra is a hip bar and everything on its Greek menu, aside from the pizza, was delicious.

Zucchini chips – I want to known their secret for getting the batter so incredibly light. Perfectly fried and horribly addicting. So good I insisted that we order another round.

Tzatziki dip with pita – I usually prefer my dip with a creamier consistency and my pita a bit fluffier, but the flavor was right on.

Petra fries – perfectly cooked fries…the feta cheese was a nice touch but it often fell off the fry before it reached my mouth.

Spanakopita – classic Greek appetizer though a tad on the small side.

The Petra pizza – just awful…the abundance of tomato sauce and sprinkles of flavorless cheese make me think they picked this up on the freezer aisle.

Mini Petra cocktail – frozen blend of orange juice, pineapple juice, Bacardi 151, and champagne with a float of (I believe) Chambord…my new favorite summer drink! Be sure to plan on shopping your buzz off.

Salt Lake City

cdcunc — Thu, 12 May 2011 15:23:21 +0000

I took a quick trip to Salt Lake City for work. I was looking forward to visiting the area around Temple Square, but I made the Family History Library my priority as I have been desperately searching for information on several relatives as part of my genealogy research. On my free day, I spent five hours at the Family History Library and made absolutely no progress, but afterward I did manage to get a few shots of the colorful flowers that were blooming and some “big city” architecture.

East Lake Woodlands

cdcunc — Sun, 08 May 2011 23:52:14 +0000

This week, the Golf Tampa Bay Meetup group played the north course at East Lake Woodlands. I was not expecting so much water and bunkers, and I’m glad I had plenty of balls in my bag. The wildlife on the course was a neat surprise.