Sage at Aria --City Center, Las Vegas

While in Las Vegas, we celebrated our hosts' five-year wedding anniversary at Sage in the Aria hotel at City Center. We had lots of options, but Sage not only had several vegetarian dishes that were tempting, but the omnivores were pretty excited about the menu as well.

A cocktail with so many ingredients that I can't even remember them

Luckily, everyone else decided on the tasting menu, so I was able to have tasting sizes of both entrees as well as a starter and my choice of dessert.

I was excited to begin with the burrata as I haven't really done justice to the burrata I've had at home.

DI STEFANO FARMS BURRATA CHEESE

 
Next up was the risotto...unfortunately, the menu has changed and I don't have the official description, so I'll have to make do with my own. Um, it was delicious.

WILD MUSHROOM RISOTTO

 
For the third course, I had the gnocchi. Mr. Eats was quite happy that I ordered the "nyo-kee" and not the "guh-nochee." I love to irritate him by mispronouncing it but I ain't gonna embarrass myself in a nice restaurant just to do so. I am not quite that crazy. This gnocchi is also a bit different from what's listed on the current menu. No surprise, the menu changes frequently based on what's available and what's good.

  BELLWETHER FARMS SHEEP’S MILK RICOTTA GNOCCHI

And then, of course--dessert!

CHOCOLATE GANACHE AND CARAMEL TART

We had a lovely time. It's a large enough space that you don't hear anyone from the neighboring tables, but it doesn't feel cavernous, either. And because it's Las Vegas, the dress code goes from khakis and logo shirts to cocktail attire. A quick look around indicated that at least half the tables were very obviously involved in business dinners. That is, an assortment of mismatched and slightly uncomfortable people who speak with their hands and keep pens in their pockets. I certainly miss visiting on an expense account, but I certainly appreciate being able to eat dinner with friends.

The Grand Canyon

It's not the easiest thing to do, but we decided to take a side trip to the Grand Canyon while out west in Las Vegas. It's less than 300 miles, but a solid five hours or more of driving due to construction and having to drive over Hoover Dam. But for a couple of native Tennesseans, it's a lovely drive through northern Arizona.

Careful planning put us in Kingman, Arizona around lunch time. Kingman is remarkable for being one of only two places in the country that is home to both an In-N-Out and a Cracker Barrel (the other is a suburb of Salt Lake City). According to Yelp, people from Los Angeles and Las Vegas just to have chicken and dumplings. We, of course, went to In-N-Out where Baby Eats enjoyed the fries.

Instead of staying in Grand Canyon Village or just outside the park in Tusayan, we decided to stay on Route 66 in Williams, Arizona. It's a cute and kitschy town that feels a lot more authentic than your average tourist trap. We stayed at The Lodge on Route 66 where we could easily walk to dinner and to the train station (on our next trip, we'll take the train to Grand Canyon Village at least once).

After watching the sunset in the Grand Canyon at Lipan Point, we came back to Williams for dinner. I thought I'd be nice and let Mr. Eats have a steak, so we went to Rod's Steak House. He ordered fish. I had a baked potato. So I can't tell you much about this restaurant except that I felt like I'd been taken back in time. It's one of the many places in town that has changed little in the last few decades to keep a very authentic feel. It was a nice place, though I'm sure all the European patrons inside were a bit put off by the screaming baby.

The real treat was our second day in the park when we made it over to Grand Canyon Village to have lunch in the El Tovar Dining Room. El Tovar is the original lodge built in 1905 and it is grand and beautiful. And the dining room offers spectacular views of the south rim right from your table. It's a wonderful space and the food and service were excellent. When I ordered fries for Baby Eats the server said, "I'll get those out for you right away, if you like." Why yes, actually, that would be nice. Big tip for you, sir.

We went on a weekday at the end of the busy season, so if you go, you might want to make reservations and be sure to time your drives through the park to get there on time. It's 26 miles one way out to the eastern edge but it's slow driving through there so budget at least three hours out and back, including time to take photos and get stuck behind slowpokes looking for wildlife along the drive. Oh, and parking...it ain't easy. We got lucky and got a place right next to El Tovar, but expect to park at one of the outer lots and walk for 10 minutes or so to get into the village.

The view from our table--overlooking the south rim of the canyon

Fettucine Pomodoro

After lunch, we took a walk along the rim where I encountered a tarantula for the first time in my life. Just hanging out on the trail. Not cool. But at least it wasn't a scorpion. And the views were worth it (and now I can say I've seen one in person -- in the wild!).

After taking a few cheesy family photos at the big sign at the entrance of the park, we headed back to Las Vegas in the late afternoon. More good planning meant that we drove into Kingman around dinner time for one more trip to In-N-Out!

Déjà vu Las Vegas

So I wonder what kind of hits I’ll get from this title? No, we didn’t hit up any adult entertainment, but we did go to some of the same places and eat the same food we’ve had before. It’s just that good.

Gelato
I’ve had a lot of gelato, including Grom, which is said to be the most authentic in the U.S. But my favorite by far is the gelato at the Bellagio. I tried some other flavors, but I got dulce de leche (again). It is so decadent and delicious. So much so that it didn’t even bother me that afterward I had no room to have a treat from the Las Vegas version of Serendipity 3 in front of Caesar’s Palace. Mr. Eats went with an authentic flavor, the stracciatella.

Chinatown
There are dozens of great Asian restaurants to choose from just within Chintatown, but we went back to KungFu Plaza. And I had the tofu with black fungus again. Despite the fact that there is an entire page devoted to vegetarian dishes. Why? It was that good. It’s not the most authentic Chinese food, but I loved it. We also got a vegetarian tom yum soup that was large enough to serve a table of six. The lemongrass and chili brought tears to my eyes, but it was too delicious not to eat.

And the staff there is wonderful. And not just because they oohed and ahhed over Baby Eats, but also because another patron had detailed questions about gluten free options that they were happy to answer (and happy to accommodate).

Bagels and Donuts and Sweets, oh my!
Yeah, we went back to the Bagel Café. That’s a pretty tame name for such a wonderful place. It is the most authentically New York style I’ve seen outside New York. Challah French toast! Bialys! Knishes! Latkes! I carb loaded and then left with $30 of pastries (I so love black and white cookies) and bagels. Yum.

And of course we went back to the Mermaids casino late one night to indulge in a fried Twinkie and some fried oreos. With a spectacular Alice Cooper “tribute artist” performing just outside on Fremont Street, I’d say this was better than going to the fair.

Also, if you’re in Las Vegas and you have the chance, go to Ronald’s Donuts. It was recommended to us by a friend. These donuts are so good that I didn’t even have time to take a photo before a dozen were gone. My favorites were the lemon cream and…heck they were all good. A dozen will cost you less than $10. And they’re vegan. Yes, vegan donuts. I didn’t know that until I read it on yelp. And Mr. Eats didn’t know it, either. They’re wonderful. And the staff there is friendly and helpful. But bring your cash…they don’t accept checks or credit.

Day 9 - Las Vegas - A sweet send-off

I'd warned the SO that even though 8 nights seemed like a long vacation that we'd not be ready to leave at all and I was right. But our hosts gave us a sweet send-off by taking us to the The Bagel Cafe (aka around their house as "The Jew Deli"). A place simply called The Bagel Cafe set in the middle of what looks like an early-90s office park? Uh, okay.

Oh, but don't let the simplicity of the name and the unassuming location fool you. This place is awesome. An authentic Jewish New York Deli run by authentic New York Jews but in Las Vegas instead (ostensibly to serve the large Las Vegas Jew population). I could hardly contain my excitement upon entering the cafe and seeing the huge counter holding tons of sweet treats, breads, bagels and even bialys. But there was breakfast to be had.

We decided to dine family style, pretty much. An order of cinnamon challah bread french toast, the "home-made cheese-filled blintzes," a potato knish (baked on-site rather than the fried version flown in from New York), and matzoh brie with apple sauce. That french toast was huge. Four of us couldn't finish it off even though it was just about the best french toast I've ever had in a restaurant (though the Pancake Pantry's sourdough french toast is pretty damn good).

And the blintzes. Wow. The SO had never had blintzes and was very happy to have them sitting at his plate (he shared...reluctantly). I didn't try any of the matzoh brie since I wasn't in the mood for eggs; I focused on the knish. I'd had one while I was in New York and was rather disappointed. I mean, how could I possibly not like mashed potatoes inside of bread? But I didn't. So I was a little hesitant about this one. But it was delicious. Now I know that I prefer baked over fried (which is hard to imagine).

But the real story here is what I didn't get any pictures of...the desserts. While we were waiting on food, I hit the counter. There were hamentashens and linzer tortes and rugulah and black and whites and everything else you can imagine. So I stocked up for the return flight home. My only regret is that I didn't get more. My haul:
One small black and white (I should have gotten ten--they were orgasmic)
One each of almond, chocolate and mango rugulah
One sugar pretzel (plain and chocolate dough wrapped into a pretzel shape and sprinkled with sugar)
and the piece de resistance: the chocolate cigar

How can I express my love for the chocolate cigar in words? I cannot. But I will try. When I saw it, I asked the guy behind the counter what it was. "Well, it's got chocolate chips and chocolate cake crumbs and chocolate and it's..." Stop right there. You had me at chocolate cake crumbs. Anyway, all of these things plus some pastry dough are combined, cooked and then topped with more chocolate and powdered sugar. I really wish I'd bought ten of these. I need to call these guys and see if they'll FedEx me some stuff. Because very little of these goodies made it off the plane. I imagine there were some very jealous people around us on that flight. The Bagel Cafe: licked-clean thumbs up.

And that's it for my trip. I'm back in Nashville--wearing muumuus and detoxing by eating mostly salad and Gardenburgers in hopes of getting back into real clothes. But dreaming of crepes, sweet potato raviolis, and chocolate cigars.

Days 7 & 8 - Las Vegas

Day 7 in Las Vegas was the SO's birthday. My plan was to head out for a day in Death Valley and then to head back to Vegas so he could have sushi for dinner. So, there's not much to write about unless you want to hear about how much he loved the dead sea critters he ate at a local place that our hosts recommended, Sushi Avenue (and treated us to--thanks again for dinner!). Me, I had a vegetable roll and some veggie tempura.

Day 8 was another day meant for relaxation and hanging out with our hosts. But it was also our last night in town and the last opportunity to see the fountains at the Bellagio (cancelled due to wind when we were on the Strip Saturday night), so I referred back to some of the notes I'd taken before the trip and decided on Agave, a high-concept Mexican junt near where we were staying and just across the street from the Red Rocks Casino.

Typically, I'm against high-concept restaurants where it feels like the menu was created by the marketing department rather than by a chef, but one thing I will say about those types of restaurants is that you can always count on them to serve pretty good food. And Agave actually served very good food.

They start you out with a trio of salsas on a cute little stand. There's a salsa verde, a red salsa (with a tast of lime and cilantro) and a smoky black bean salsa. All three were excellent. The red salsa in particular tasted very bright and fresh.

We ordered guacamole as an appetizer before we saw the salsa trio. We probably wouldn't have ordered it, but I'm glad we did. It was fresh and chunky (I love big chunks of avocado in my guacamole) and very good. And the portion was huge. We couldn't finish it (and I rarely leave good guac behind).

For dinner, I struggled in choosing between the portabella mushroom tamale and the potato and portabella mushroom tacos. I decided on the tacos on the server's recommendation and was not disappointed. Normally, I wouldn't eat a taco stuffed with potato (hellooooo, starch) but I was curious about how they'd blended these tastes into something that was, well, Mexican. Obviously, the asadero cheese, cilantro and lime helped a lot. In fact, the potato seemed to be there mostly for its texture, which worked well with the mushrooms and lettuce. It was cooked just enough to be fluffy at first and then creamy once chewed. And I know I mentioned the lime, but I was very appreciative of how generous they were with the limes, allowing a wedge for each taco. Because I really love lime juice, particularly with Mexican food. Anyway, there were three tacos on my plate and I just couldn't make it through the third one, even though I tried really hard. That potato takes up a lot of room in ye olde stomach. But the SO was kind enough to nearly polish it off, despite having three tacos of his own (he went for the taco sampler--again, filled with sea critters though only after joking with me about ordering the goat).

Obviously, there was no room for dessert. This was an incredibly filling and satisfying meal. Even an hour later when we were at the Paris casino, I had no interest in a dessert crepe. Whew. Agave: thumbs up.

Next up: our last day in Las Vegas ends with a treat at Bagel City.

Las Vegas - Day 3 with world-famous chefs

By now you may have figured out that I put a lot of work into planning this vacation. Eating is one of my favorite things to do and I am not one to take chances of missing out on something great. So our Saturday plans were to hit the Las Vegas Strip, home to an extensive collection of restaurants by a dizzying number of world-renowned chefs.

We hit the strip early, parking at New York New York toward the southern end of the strip. After a ride on the coaster (for the SO), we hit the street and went toward the Bellagio for a little snack--gelato. I had authentic gelato at Grom in NYC, but to be honest, it didn't really live up to the gelato I remembered having at the Bellagio. It's Americanized a bit--a little sweeter and a little creamier and the flavors are more catered to American tastes (pistachio, cookies and cream, etc). So while not authentic, I will say that it's is the best American gelato there is. It beats the pants off any standard ice cream and even Luv-It's frozen custard. We got a combo of dulce de leche and tiramisu. It is so unbelievably think and creamy. And did I get a picture? No, of course not. Eyes on the prize and all that, I guess. Bellagio gelato: thumbs up.

We finished up our gelato while walking through the lobby and gardens at Bellagio (the SO had never seen those beautiful Chihuly flowers) and then headed over to Caesar's Palace for lunch. There are a lot of restaurants in the Forum Shops, but I steered us toward Spago. We initially thought we'd split a pizza, but the server suggested it might be too small, so we got two (we could have easily split the pizza, but he didn't know we'd just had gelato of course). I ordered a margherita pizza and the SO ordered a portobella and carmelized onion pizza. The pizzas are authentic Neapolitan style and are so fantastically delicious. Though I generally prefer New York style pizza, I will say that the pizza at Spago is really how pizza was really meant to be. A sturdy, but not too thick crust, fresh mozzarella and other fresh and vibrant ingredients make these pies well worth the fifteen or so dollars each that they cost. And, hey we were on vacation so we opted to get some beer with our pizza. That was the only disappointment at Spago. I suppose that due to some distribution issues or back-kitchen dealing, the only Italian beer they had was Moretti (owned by Heineken). I much prefer Peroni and though they should be similar, I found that Moretti pretty much just tasted like Heineken. Which is not the taste I wanted with my amazing authentic Italian pizza. Regardless, Spago: thumbs up (Moretti: thumbs down).

After walking off a few of the calories we consumed and working up an appetite for dinner, we left the strip to get cleaned up for the night's big event: dinner at B&B Ristorante in the Venetian (better link here). B&B is Mario Batali's small restaurant with partner Joseph Bastianich. I say small because by Las Vegas standards, it really is. It has a very intimate and boutique feel about it. Though it's rather open, so it's not very quiet. And by "intimate," I don't mean romantic--I mean the tables are crammed in so that servers and staff have to turn sideways to walk between them. But that only detracted from the experience a tiny bit. My hosts in Las Vegas were actually surprised by my choice considering that the B&B menu features quite a few odd (by American standards) critter bits, such as oxtail, lamb's brain, and sweetbreads. But I didn't feel a bit limited in my choices at all.

The recommended way to eat at B&B is via a tasting menu or to start with an appetizer (antipasti), then have a pasta dish (primi), then an entree (secondi) and then a cheese or dessert. Frankly, I don't know how anyone could eat that much food and I knew better than to try. Our dinner was started with a bruschetta (compliments of the chef) with a chickpea topping. Next, we split the appetizer of goat cheese truffles. There were three truffles--one rolled in poppy seeds, one rolled in (I think) paprika or curry powder and one rolled in the wild fennel pollen. The flavor combinations were excellent, but I would say that the appetizer was actually a bit larger than it really needed to be. I rarely leave cheese on a plate, but I'd pretty much had my fill of it just eating less than half of what was available. This appetizer could have easily been split by four people.

Instead of going for an entree, we decided to have pasta and save room for dessert. I chose the sweet potato lune (a moon-shaped ravioli) with sage an amaretti. The ravioli was very delicate in taste and served with an equally delicate and light sauce over which and amaretto cookie had been shaved (in the style of grated Parmigiano Reggiano) which gave it a hint of sweetness. It was divine. The flavors stood out yet blended perfectly. And the sommeliere recommended a fine Pinot Grigio to complement my dinner (side note: The by-the-glass serving is quite generous and they bring it to your table in a small carafe so as not to overfill your glass--a very nice touch).

And now, for dessert...after reading Claudia's recollection of her dessert at Otto, I have to say that I was overly excited and giddy and probably too eager to get through my meal and on to the big show. The SO ordered the cannoli, so I had to go for something different. I considered the panna cotta but it had a shot of espresso in it and that combined with the sugar would have had me up all night long. I also considered the bomboloni, but on the server's recommendation, I chose the ciccolato. First off, I will say that the cannoli was (of course) the best I'd ever had and not even playing in the same league or even game as the stuff you get here locally. I'm certain that it was the quality of the ricotta that really set it apart. Next I will say that if you like bread pudding, you will most certainly like the ciccolato. I don't like bread pudding. I don't like bourbon. So I made a huge mistake in ordering this dessert. The SO enjoyed it immensely, but I felt that the "bourbon caramel" was too heavy paired with such a heavy dessert--so much so that it overpowered bites of the vanilla bean gelato as well (and I felt that there was just too much of it served with the dessert). It was too bourbon-y and sweet at the same time. In retrospect, I should have just ordered the bomboloni and let the SO enjoy two desserts, but I was in a luné haze, I suppose. B&B Ristorante: thumbs up (though avoid the ciccolato unless you really like bourbon).

Next up: Laguna Beach, California.

Day 2 Las Vegas

I promise that my gastronomical excursions became more exciting as the week wore on, so bear with me.

We woke up Friday morning to a typical bright, sunny, and soon-to-be warm day in the late winter desert. I had plans for us to visit Hoover Dam, so lunch had to be quick and not too heavy, so we headed for the food bar at the local Whole Foods. The food bar is $7.99 per pound so you have to be smart about what you load up on. Also, it's hard to shove bite-size portions of foods you want to try in the recyclable containers they provide, but I managed. I got about a $5.00 salad--a little heavy thanks to some chunks of feta, but everything I got was tasty. The SO? He's not a frequenter of food bars and got (what I thought) was far more than he could eat. It weighed in at a whopping $12.00. He finished it off, though (with a little help from me). Whole Foods bar: thumbs up.

After the visit to Hoover Dam, we came back to Las Vegas via I-15 along the north side. I remembered seeing a thread on chowhound.com about a frozen custard stand in that area (that was difficult to find), so I entered the info into the SO's GPS and it took us right to Luv-It (I wonder how often this establishment is confused for some other type of business considering its location). I can't recall the name of the sundae we got, but it included caramel, bananas and "jimmies." I had to ask what jimmies were and was told they're chocolate sprinkles (apparently this was a topic over at Slashfood). Now I know. You crazy Yankees and your weird words. Anyhoo, this stuff was just as good as I'd heard. Smooth, creamy, and ridiculoulsly rick like a good frozen custard should be. Luv-It: thumbs up.

Later on, for dinner we headed over to Chinatown (Spring Mountain & Valley View) because we have a lack of good Chinese food here in Nashville that's vegetarian friendly. There were several dim sum places but I couldn't get any good information on how much there would be for me to eat, so I went with a recommendation I read on the Happy Cow directory for Las Vegas, KungFu Plaza. Though I found a lot of things that looked good on the menu, I wanted to go with Chinese instead of Thai, so I chose the stir-fried black fungus and tofu in ginger sauce. Sounds appetizing, no? Silly me, I just thought "black fungus" was just an odd translation of some type of mushroom. But what arrived on my plate was indeed a fungus. It looked like something scraped off the top of month-old soup sitting in the back of the refrigerator and had the consistency of pudding skin. Knowing that anything and everything is fair game for the dinner table in China--including many things I would never, ever eat--I tried it anyway. And it was delicious! Black fungus--I now know--is like tofu in that it typically has no taste of its own. Both the fungus and the tofu were then perfect centerpieces for the very delicious ginger sauce. The portion was quite large, which was a good thing as the SO happily finished it off after being somewhat disappointed in a bland chicken dish. Slowly but surely he's learning that vegetarian food is not boring and can sometimes be a lot better than non-vegetarian food! If only I'd convinced him to order the Tom Ka soup with tofu instead of chicken...though I would have left miserably full. The soup comes in a huge metal vessel resembling a bundt pan that has a sterno heater to keep it warm. It's a large amount--easily enough soup for four people. The SO hated to leave it behind, but we were headed downtown to Fremont Street. KungFu Plaza: thumbs up.

Fremont Street is where the older casinos are located. It's a little more old-school and not quite as family-friendly as the Strip. Our trip coincided with a race, so Fremont Street was packed with NASCAR fans who were quite rowdy. We walked around a bit and did some peoplewatching as well as seeing a couple of the light shows going on overhead every half hour but as the night wore on, I found myself getting a small case of the munchies. Hey, luckily enough the Mermaids Casino had a snack bar. Fried Twinkies! Fried Oreos! Frozen chocolate banana on a stick! All for 99¢ each! Yes, please! Sadly, we were informed there would be at least a 15-minute wait for the deep-fried goodies and we were dead tired, so we settled for just one frozen chocolate banana on a stick (also rolled in walnuts--yum!). For whatever reason, I did not get a picture of my late-night treat, but it wasn't terribly photogenic anyway. But it was tasty. Mermaids Casino: thumbs up.

So that was what we ate during our first full day of vacation. Next up: Spago and Mario Batali's B&B Ristorante.

First night in Las Vegas

Taking a hint from Claudia, I'm going to go day-by-day in recounting my culinary adventures in Las Vegas. Though exciting as that may sound, my first experience was with Del Taco. I'd just spent four hours on a plane, it was late, and I was hungry. I rarely have fast food, but I thought, "what the heck?" And now I have a new favorite fast food joint.

My eyes immediately went to the "Veggie Works Burrito." I figured it would be loaded with stuff I don't like but no--beans, cheese, lettuce, tomato, guacamole, sour cream, and red sauce. Not really "veggies" but all stuff I like (it tasted much better than it looks in my photo). Second, I spied crinkle cut fries. Yes, please. And when they say "macho" size, they mean it. My fries came in a cup larger than one I'd normally order a drink in. But I ate them. According to the website, I consumed about 1200 calories in fifteen minutes. But it was worth it. I love Del Taco. And I just discovered that a local company bought Del Taco in 2006, which is why they're slowly popping up around Nashville (including a location near my home). This is not good news for my waistline.

I only hope that the local employees are as nice and gracious as the ones I encountered out west. Like I said, I don't get fast food often, but when I do, I generally expect lackluster service and a surly attitude at best. I visited the Del Taco on Sahara in Las Vegas and one on the western edge of Twenty Nine Palms, California (not knowing there would be another one just up the road and closer to the entrance of Joshua Tree National Park) and got stellar service at each. And the employees all seemed to actually enjoy being at work. The kitchen area is really open to the front so you can see what's going on. And it's not scary at all. In California, the lady making our burritoes talked to us while she was preparing them--even offering up the advice of taking a fork with us. For the sake of research (of course), I'll visit my local Del Taco soon. I love that there's an item on a menu at a fast food restaurant that I can just quickly order and go without having to qualify with a hundred requests. Veggie Works, despite your copious calories and sodium, I dearly love you. I hate that my physique can only afford to have one of you at a time. Though I guess I could hold the sour cream...

Next up: Whole Foods (the big salad) and Kung Fu.

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.