Getting prepared

I haven't been blogging about the food I'm eating lately because it's largely been salads in preparation for what will be a very decadent gastronomical excursion to Las Vegas and Laguna Beach. My eyes are bleeding from staring at the computer and scouring forums and websites to choose the best places to dine.

Though I have to say that my first decision was not difficult. After reading about Claudia's dinner at one of Mario Batali's joints in New York, I decided I just had to check out one of his places for myself. Claudia informed me that he had places in Las Vegas and I settled on B&B Ristorante in the Venetian. Hello sweet potato lune, you shall be mine. We have reservations for Saturday night at 7:30. Afterward, I plan to hoof off some of those calories by walking up the strip toward the Bellagio, but we shall see. I hope I don't eat myself into misery. Though I know Claudia is hoping I try.

The choice for dinner for our one night in Laguna Beach wasn't terribly hard, either. We're tourists, so the experience and the view are as important as the food. So I chose k'ya in La Casa del Camino hotel (a runner-up to my choice of accommodations, the Casa Laguna Inn & Spa). You had me at "three cheese macaroni," k'ya.

Still up for grabs on our agenda is Friday night. I have had a lot of good food in Las Vegas and I'm very tempted to go back to one of my favorite restaurants (which include Crustacean--apparently now closed--and Nobhill), but we have a busy day scheduled and I'm thinking of staying off the strip and going for something a little more casual. Since Nashville is pretty much void of really good, vegetarian-friendly Chinese food, I'm tempted to head to China Town. Kung Fu Plaza got a positive review for vegetarian items, though it is also a Thai restaurant. Harumpf. I'd prefer dim sum, but finding vegetarian dim sum outside of New York or California is likely pretty...unlikely. I'm also considering Agave for dinner. Mexican food is different out there than it is here...I would hit some of the specialty vegetarian places, but I'm travelling with a non-vegetarian. So I'm trying to be considerate (despite his insistence that we visit In-N-Out and have sushi while there). Also still open is lunch on Saturday. Other lunches will probably come from Whole Foods which is, luckily less than a mile from my hosts' home. I do know that I will be visiting the Bellagio for some gelato. Oh yes.

So that's what I've been doing with my time lately. We leave tomorrow and come back "Friday week" as they say in these parts. I'll have a full report.