Cranberries Jubilee!

     Cranberries jubilee is a version of the classic cherries jubilee recipe.  Cranberries are full of great rich berry flavor and they are slightly tart.  Many chefs prefer sour cherries instead of sweet cherries  for cherries jubilee, so cranberries fit right in the picture.  Cranberries jubilee is perfect with a good vanilla bean ice cream.
     Ice cream recipes have not been posted in this blog as of yet, because I currently do not have an ice cream maker.  I have made ice cream in the back yard with an old fashioned hand turned ice cream maker when I was a kid.  Later we bought an ice cream maker that had an electric motor.  Shoveling ice around the ice cream drum and pouring rock salt on the ice to make the ice melt quicker is how old fashioned ice cream is made.
     Modern ice cream machines for restaurants are very pricy.  Industrial strength ice cream machines are the best.  High quality rugged stainless steel ice cream makers for home are also expensive, but they yield a high quality ice cream product and they are reliable.  Cheaper plastic ice cream machines for home usually yield a second rate soft ice cream and reliability is an issue.  Insulator bowls that are placed in a freezer then attached to a cake mixer never really hold the necessary low temperature that is required to produce stiff ice cream and they can lead to frustrating moments.
     When I run across a good deal on a used rebuilt small industrial grade restaurant style ice cream maker, then I will start posting ice cream, sorbet and sherbet recipes.  Till then, a good high quality ice cream from a grocery store is the best choice.  Many restaurants and home cooks do purchase ice cream from stores and that is okay.  Try to select a natural ice cream that is not modified with gums, chemicals or corn syrup.  The base of all French style ice cream is creme anglaise.  If you see more than the ingredients for creme anglaise (excluding the flavors added, like vanilla bean, fruit, chocolate etc) on an ice cream container label, then it is not a natural ice cream.
     There are only a few ingredients that are required to make jubilee.  Jubilee is a very popular item in New Orleans.  Jubilees are usually made table side on a serving cart and served immediately.  Jubilee is always served with ice cream and sometimes a few small slices of cake are added.  A scoop of ice cream on top of a slice of pound cake with jubilee sauce is a very nice comfortable dessert.  Some prefer their jubilee without the cake, just like the one in the pictures above and that is okay.  Even though the fat lady said "Let them eat cake," not everybody eats cake!
  
     Cranberries Jubilee:
     Heat a saute pan over medium low heat.
     Add 1/3 cup of sugar.
     Add 1/2 cup of water.
     Add 1 cup of fresh or frozen whole cranberries.
     Add 1 pinch of fresh lemon zest.
     Simmer and reduce till a thin syrup is formed.
     Add 3/4 cup of cranberry juice.
     Add 1 small pinch of cinnamon.
     Add 1 pinch of allspice.
     Add 1/4 teaspoon of finely minced ginger.
     Add 1/2 teaspoon of lemon juice.
     Simmer and reduce the sauce, till it becomes a very thin syrup and till the cranberries become tender.  Shake the pan, so the cranberries cook evenly.
     Raise the temperature to medium heat.
     Add 1 1/2 ounces of Chambord Liquor
     Add 1 1/2 ounces of rum.
     Flambé.  (Always ignite the rum with a long stick or ignitor.  Have some fire extinguishing material handy for safety's sake!)
     Simmer and reduce the sauce, till it becomes a thin syrup.
  
     Presentation:
     These last few steps must be done quickly so the sauce remains hot!
     Take the cranberries jubilee sauce off of the heat.
     Place 1 small slice of pound cake in a shallow dish.  (optional)
     Spoon a little bit of the sauce and a few cranberries over the cake or into the dish.
     Place 1 large scoop of vanilla bean ice cream in the bowl or on the cake.
     Spoon the remaining cranberries jubilee over the ice cream.
     Place a little bit of fresh lemon zest on top of the ice cream as a garnish.
     Garnish the plate with a mint sprig if you have some fresh mint on hand.
  
     The taste of cranberries jubilee is just a little bit more tart than cherries jubilee.  The cranberries are very tender after being quickly reduced with the syrup three times.  This syrup should never be thickened with corn starch!  Cranberries jubilee is a nice easy treat to make!  Delicious!  ...  Shawna  

Pancetta and Roasted Red Bell Pepper Creme Soup

     Pancetta is Italian seasoned dry cured rolled pork belly.  The flavor is much different than regular salt cured bacon or smoked bacon.  Pancetta has a rich dry cure bacon flavor.  Pancetta is sometimes featured in Italian recipes, but more often it is used like a seasoning, especially in fine ragu.
     I usually purchase a thick slice of pancetta at an Italian delicatessen.  Then I only cut off portions as needed, when I use the pancetta for a recipe.  Real imported Italian pancetta or hand crafted Italian American pancetta is the best.  National brand lunch meat company pancetta is second rate.
     Pancetta gives this soup a very interesting flavor!  A hint of a "lightly aged cheese" kind of flavor comes from the pancetta.  Roasted red bell peppers are a nice spring and summer flavor.
     This soup only has a splash of cream in the broth.  This pancetta and roasted red bell pepper soup is actually light on the tummy!
  
     Roasted Red Bell Peppers:
     Roasted red peppers are easy to make!  You can roast them over an open flame, till the skin turns black.  You can also brush the peppers with olive oil and roast them in a 350º oven, till they become tender and the skin is easily peeled off.
     After roasting, peel and seed the roasted peppers under cold running water.
     Trim the stem off.
     Pat the peppers dry with a towel.
     Place the peppers in a container.
     Pour a little bit of olive oil over the peppers.
     The roasted peppers can be stored in a refrigerator for a few days.
  
     Pancetta and Roasted Red Bell Pepper Soup Recipe:
     This recipe makes enough for 2 small portions or 1 large portion of soup! 
     Finely chop 1/4 cup of each of these vegetables:
     - carrot
     - celery
     - onion.
     Heat a sauce pot over medium/medium low heat.
     Add 2 1/2 tablespoons of unsalted butter.
     Add 2 ounces of small chopped pancetta.
     Saute till the pancetta turns a golden brown color.
     Add the finely chopped vegetables.
     Add 1/2 of a minced garlic clove.
     Stir and saute the ingredients, till the vegetables become tender, but not browned.
     Add just enough flour, while constantly stirring, to soak up the butter in the pan and to form a thin pan roux.
     Stir for 30 seconds, till the roux cooks to a white color.  (Do not let the roux turn brown!)
     Add 2 cups of light chicken broth while stirring.
     Raise the temperature to medium heat.
     Bring the soup up to a gentle boil, while stirring occasionally, till the soup thickens.
     Reduce the temperature to low heat.
     Add 1/2 cup of milk.
     Add 1/2 cup of cream.
     Add 1 small bay leaf.
     Add sea salt and white pepper.  (Only add a small pinch of salt, or the pancetta will end up tasting like salt pork!)
     Add 1 small pinch of ground sage.
     Add 1 pinch of oregano.
     Stir the soup occasionally.
     Add 1/2 cup of finely chopped roasted red bell pepper.
     Add 1 pinch of finely chopped parsley.
     Reduce the temperature to low heat.
     Simmer and reduce the soup, till it becomes a thin cream soup consistency.
     Remove the bay leaf.
     Ladle the soup into a shallow soup bowl.
     Sprinkle a few thin green onion slices on the soup.
     Place a small parsley sprig on the center of the soup as a garnish.
  
     The combination of pancetta and roasted red bell pepper is a warm friendly flavor!  Yummy!  ...  Shawna  

Thai Beef Jerky Appetizer & Deep Fried Pompano with Chili Sauce, Ground Pork and Ginger Sauce at the Ocha Thai Restaurant in Las Vegas!

UPDATE!  Ocha Cuisine has moved to a new location that is only a couple blocks north of the old location that was by the Stratosphere Casino on Las Vegas Boulevard. 

Yummy Thai food! 

 
     I wasn't planning on staying an extra day, but Las Vegas was so busy from the biggest convention of the year.  A big convention means that it can be difficult to get a taxi when you are way off of the strip.  I called for a taxi at a local bar off of the strip on Friday, while I was having a chat session with friends and saying my goodbyes.  Well, the cab showed up on time, then some drunk got into my taxi and took off.  After that, I gave up!  I just started making arrangements for an extra night in Las Vegas! 
     The only place on the Las Vegas strip that had an open room that Friday night was the Sahara.  The Sahara's golden days are long gone and the entire casino shows heavy signs of wear and tear.  The Sahara is in its final days.  The Sahara Casino is scheduled to close this spring.  The management says that the closure is for renovations.  Most of us locals think that the Sahara is simply going to be another great Las Vegas demolition party!  When they blow up big buildings on the Las Vegas strip, the demolition event turns into a gigantic farewell party. 
     Many stars from the golden days of Vegas played at the Sahara.  My two favorites were Jerry Lewis and Louis Prima with Keely Smith.  I still listen to Louis and Keely.  Keely was a great entertainer who was very "racy" as far as ladies go back in the 1960's.  Pictures of the Sahara stars adorn the walls.  Elvis!  I like seeing pictures of Elvis Presley at old casinos in Las Vegas.  They always cause a somber moment! 
     The Sahara gave me a room overlooking the strip with a balcony!  That is always a nice view.  I spent my time there knowing that this was the last time that I might be able to stay in this old majestic casino.  Outdated aging casinos in Las Vegas have a hard time competing with the new modern casinos.
     The Sahara is simply falling apart from wear and tear.  Goodbye Sahara!  We will all miss you.
     The Las Palmas to-go order that I wrote about in an article was supposed to be my last bit of food before leaving Las Vegas.  I did not plan to do a second restaurant review at the Ocha Thai restaurant at all.  Its just the way things worked out. 
     Ocha Thai Restaurant is located 2 blocks north of the Sahara on the Las Vegas strip.  I love the food there at Ocha, so I decided to have my departing lunch there while it was convenient. 
     When I walked in through the doors, Ocha Thai was ten times as busy as the last time that I was there.  Part of the reason was because of my very nice Ocha Thai restaurant review that I posted back in December 2010.  I had the Yen Ta Fo entree and I loved the flavor of that great seafood recipe. 
     For this review of Ocha, I decided to order a few items that many people have never seen in a Thai restaurant outside of Las Vegas.  Las Vegas restaurants do not serve "middle of the road food" at all.  Everything is authentic and creative. 
     The two items that I ordered were cooked by the elderly lady chef from Thailand who does most of the cooking at Ocha.  There must have been 60 years of Thai cooking experience that went into the food that I ordered!  Authentic?  Yes! 
     The waitstaff and management at Ocha remember me every time that I stop in for something to eat.  It is not because I am a chef or because I write restaurant reviews either.  Ocha Thai management is still wondering why business doubled since I wrote that review in December! 
     First, I ordered an appetizer that I really wanted to try.  The menu is written in Thai and English.  I ordered Thai Beef Jerky!  The Thai Beef Jerky was described as a nice tender beef brisket in Thai spice.  The beef jerky was sun dried, then deep fried.  I am aware that this dish is not modeled after American beef jerky and that this is a common receipe in Thailand under a different name.  The Thai Beef Jerky was so very delicious!  The flavors struck all of the "I like this!" buttons on my taste buds.  It was fun snacking on the beef jerky while watching the busy restaurant staff.  I felt like some kind of a "Thai Red Neck" while eating a deliciously tender order of beef jerky in a Thai restaurant!  Thailand does have its share of country farm boys, especially in the Issan region.
     The atmosphere at Ocha is quaint, plain and comfortable.  Ocha is a nice place for a quiet meal on the bustling Las Vegas strip.  Ocha is located on Las Vegas Blvd across from the Statosphere Casino. 
     The entree that I ordered was my of my favorite kinds of fish.  A whole pompano!  Deep Fried Pompano with Chili Sauce, Ground Pork and Ginger Sauce!  Pompano do not eat meat.  They are vegetarian fish.  Pompano must be netted to be caught.  Pompano is expensive and rightly so.  Pompano are one of the most prized fish in tropical waters, because the meat is tender, white and full of a delicate nice flavor. 
     I like the technique of cutting gashes in a whole fish and then deep frying.  The surface of the pomano was crispy and yummy!  The white flaky meat underneath was very moist and full of flavor!  That is the result of the deep frying method of Thai cooking. 
     The sauce was a mixture of green peppers, ground pork, Thai basil, green onions, lime and Thai chili sauce with ginger sauce.  Thai chili sauce is also known as Sambal and it has a very rich nice seasoned spicy chile flavor.  I ordered my pompano as hot as the chef would make it.  You have a choice of how spicy hot that you would like the sauce to be. 
     The flavor of the ginger sauce was infused through the chili and tender ground pork.  In Thai cooking, when there are several sauces on an entree, the sauces are always mixed together and not served separately.  The Thai technique is the timing of adding those sauces to the pan, so the flavors do not become "muddy".  Chili sauce is added early with the sizzling pork and vegetables, then the ginger sauce, lime and Thai basil are added late for an excitingly crisp bright flavor! 
     This is real Thai cooking!  Las Vegas food is not "watered down for the middle of the road masses!"  All the employees are Thai at Ocha.  The employees are some beautiful proud Thai people that love to see new customers as well as to welcome regular old customers.  The service was very gracious! 
     My English Playboy Bunny girlfriend stopped by the Ocha restaurant to say goodbye before I left town.  I gave her the leftover few pieces of Thai Beef Jerky and she fell in love with the flavor of the appetizer!  I coaxed her into trying a piece of the pompano.  English people do shy away from whole fish with the head on, so it did take some coaxing!  Pompano is nearly always cooked whole, unless you are in a French restaurant.  I really liked the flavor and freshness of the pompano entree. 
     Ocha Thai was a great choice for a great lunch before flying out of Las Vegas!  Ocha Thai is one of my favorite little restaurants in Las Vegas.  Highly recommended once again, by yours truly!  Yum!  ...  Shawna 

London Broil, Roasted Red Pepper and Muenster Cheese Grilled Sandwich with Chile Scallion Mayonnaise

     I do not know why hungry chefs like to make sandwiches with odd ingredients for themselves in restaurant kitchens while working.  Maybe, it is because a sandwich is a trial ground for flavor experiments.  Maybe, it is because a sandwich is easy to eat, while standing and on the phone placing food orders with purveyors.  Who knows?
     While apprenticing, I worked fourteen hours a day with no breaks in an Italian restaurant.  I was very busy and I never took the time to sit down and eat a meal.  Half of my life has been spent eating while standing on my feet!  In a busy restaurant, there is no time for breaks.  There is always something that needs to be done.

     By working with devotion like this, I became a sous chef after only a few years in the restaurant business.  It seemed like every restaurant that I was hired at, required me to be the "clutch" player.

   
     Preventative Medicine For Cooks:
   
     Having an athletic background was a big help to me when working long endless hours.  It takes stamina to work all day.  Many chefs do not realize how important good posture is while cooking, till later in life when they have severe spinal, hip, elbowor knee problems.  Just like the Native Americans say, stay on your toes and walk on the balls of your feet!  Walking or standing flat footed can cause severe pain by the end of a long day in a restaurant kitchen.
     Lifting heavy objects with your legs will keep your spine from being injured.  Developing shoulder and forearm strength will keep elbow problems from occurring.  The best forearm exercises are reverse curls.  Reverse curling of weights will not make the biceps bulky.  Reverse curling is one of the most important exercises for professional motocross racers.  Reverse wrist curls and squeezing stiff spring hand grips is the best way to prevent wrist problems.
     Taking the time to do knee bends and quadricep exercises will prevent knee injuries.  Toe ups are done by placing your toes on a 2x4 board with your ankles on the ground then rising to stand on your toes.  This exercise is the best way to prevent ankle injuries.  Kitchen floors can have some very slick slippery hazards.  A few judo or martial art classes will teach a cook how to fall, without injury occurring.
     As far as the best way to learn to move fluidly and to keep sure footing, while keeping your balance on a slick kitchen floor is concerned, there is one thing that will help.  Learn how to dance!  I am a great dancer!  I used to dance on the floor and on stage at a few Las Vegas clubs not too long ago.  Dancing is the best exercise of all for staying sure footed on a slick floor!
     I figured that I would write this little preventative medicine topic for those who are just starting their cooking career.  Always accept healthy advice!  Working long hours, injury free, with no pain is a much better chef experience, than looking like the walking wounded!  Not gaining excessive weight is very important for a long term career as a chef.
   
     London Broil:
     London broil is a cooking term and it is not a name for a cut of beef.  London Broil has nothing to do with London England.
     There are two different cuts of beef that can be used to make a London Broil.  One choice is an ordinary flank steak.  The second choice is a top round steak.  Top round steak has recently been incorrectly written by bad food writers as being the wrong choice for making London Broil.  Top round steak was the original London Broil.
     The very "old school" chefs who were cooking in the 1930's through the 1980's will tell you that a tender top round steak is the original cut for making London Broil.  The history of London Broil is obscure, unless you had the pleasure of working with some of the very old chefs in Yacht clubs while apprenticing like I did.  Yacht club cooking is tradition!
     A fat cap is attached to one side of a thick top round steak.  The grain of the meat runs lengthwise like a flank steak.  In the old days when beef had more natural fat marbling,  the top round section was much more tender.
     A great chef that I worked with in Philadelphia also explained this to me when I asked why he was using flank steaks for a London Broil special that we ran that night.  The chef said that the flank steak is the incorrect choice of meat for a London Broil, but it was cheaper and the customers did not know the difference!  The chef said that traditionally, the London Broil is made with a top quality thick top round steak with the fat cap attached.  Philadelphia is the city of tradition, so that great Philadelphia chef did know his stuff!
     If you refer to a commonly used internet encyclopedia site for all your cooking questions, then you will be laughed at by many chefs for learning the wrong information.  I browse the internet for food definitions and food topics occasionally.  I do notice when incorrect information is posted.  Today, I noticed an encyclopedia site was absolutely wrong about their information concerning the topic of London Broil.  Perhaps the managers of the encyclopedia site were customers of that Philadelphia chef who stated that his customers were too stupid to know the difference!
     I know the difference!  Flank steak has much less flavor with a cold lifeless after taste.   A thick top round steak that was cut with the fat cap attached from a side of prime marbled beef, will have ten times as much flavor when it is cooked as a London Broil!
     Marination time for a top round steak is minimal.  When sliced at a 45º angle across the grain of the meat, a top round steak will show thin streaks of fat marbling.  The meat grain of a flank steak is only surrounded by a thin sinew, instead of marbled fat!  Therefore, you get that cold dead meat aftertaste.
     There is a gelatinous streak of low quality fat that runs with the grain of the meat on the joined side of a poorly butchered flank steak.  You cannot cut the fat streak off of a flank steak, without wasting at least a one inch thick layer of meat!
     For a top round steak, the thick layer of fat is a cap along one of the long edges of the steak.  After roasting, you can simply trim the fat cap off of the edge of the steak before you carve each portion!
     When I was apprenticing, the old yacht club chefs were 65 and 70.  I just took their word for it, without question, when they stated that "In the old days, London Broil was made with a top round steak."  Those two old yacht club chefs were from the golden years of American Steak Fine Dining.  They knew!
  
     London Broil:
     The marinade for this London Broil is made specifically for this sandwich!
     Place a 6 to 8 ounce top round steak with the fat cap attached into a shallow pan.  The top round steak should be 1 1/4" to 1 1/2" thick
     Season the steak with sea salt and black pepper.
     Add 2 pinches of cumin.
     Add 1 pinch of ground celery seed.
     Add 1/4 cup of dry red wine.
     Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil.
     Allow the meat to marinate at room temperature for twenty minutes.  (Top round steak takes very little marination time.)
     Heat a broiler to high heat.  (London Broil is never char grilled.  It is broiled from a flame above the meat!)
     Remove the steak from the marinade and place it on a broiler pan.
     Broil the steak, so it is close to the flame.  London Broil is best when the meat is caramelized brown and the juices are sealed in.
     Flip the steak often, so the meat cooks evenly.
     Every time that you flip the steak over, brush the steak with a little bit of melted unsalted butter.
     Cook the London Broil to your desired state of doneness.  I prefer London Broil to be cooked rare to medium rare, just like in the old days!
     Place the finished London Broil on a cutting board and let it rest for one minute.
     For this sandwich, wait to slice the London broil, till the cheese starts to melt on the grilled sandwich bread!  Use a very sharp long carving knife to cut thin whole slices of meat at a forty five degree angle across the grain of the meat.
     
     Chile Scallion Mayonnaise Recipe:
     Place 4 tablespoons of mayonnaise in a small bowl.
     Add sea salt and black pepper.
     Add 2 pinches of ground ancho chile powder.
     Add 1 small squeeze of lime juice.
     Add 1 finely minced green onion or scallion.
     Add 1/2 teaspoon of dark chipotle pepper sauce.
     Add 1/2 teaspoon of dijon mustard.
     Stir the ingredients together.
     Set the chile scallion mayonnaise aside.
  
     London Broil, Roasted Red Pepper and Muenster Cheese Grilled Sandwich with Chile Scallion Mayonnaise:
     Heat a griddle or a large saute pan over medium heat.
     Brush the pan with melted unsalted butter.
     Place a few large pieces of roasted red bell peppers on a roasting pan.
     Heat the roasted red peppers in a 350 degree oven, till the become hot.
     Brush 2 slices of whole grain wheat bread with unsalted butter.
     Place the slices of bread on the hot griddle or saute pan.
     Place a few thin slices of muenster cheese on the bread slices.
     Start slicing the finished London Broil!  About 4 to 6 ounces of sliced London Broil is plenty.
     When the cheese melts a little bit, spread the chile scallion mayonnaise over the cheese on both slices of bread.
     Place a 4 to 6 ounce sandwich portion of the thinly sliced London Broil on one of the bread slices in the pan.
     Remove the warm roasted peppers from the oven.  Place the peppers on the cheese on the other slice of bread.
     Use a spatula to place the two sandwich halves together, after the grilled bread becomes lightly toasted.
     Set the grilled sandwich on a cutting board, slice it in half and set it on a plate.
     Garnish the plate with parsley sprigs and pickles.  The pickles on the pictured plate are Chicago Sport Peppers, a baby dill pickle and a Persian Pickled Turnip.  I placed a couple of ripe plum tomato wedges on the plate too.
  
     This is a very nice grilled sandwich for spring and summer!  Grill sandwiches with cheese are very comforting.  The chile scallion mayonnaise is perfect for the cumin red wine marinated flavor of the London Broil!  Muenster cheese is very smooth and mellow with beef.
     I like pickles with sandwiches!  Especially in spring, when you do not need excess amounts of starch while trying to burn off that layer of winter fat!  I do admit that I like the color pink and the pink colored Persian Pickled Turnips are my favorites!  Yum!  ...  Shawna                    

Las Palmas Mexican Grill at Commercial Center, Las Vegas!

Las Palmas Mexican Grille is one of the most popular Mexican restaurants in Las Vegas! 

    
     The dining area at Las Palmas is huge and casual.  On Friday and Saturday nights, Las Palmas hosts some very large mariachi parties and the restaurant becomes more like a night club atmosphere. 
     I did not take the time to dine at Las Palmas on the day that I stopped by for lunch.  I usually meet up with a few local friends at a very popular bar at Commercial Center where the drinks are cheap and expertly made.  In the afternoons when peace and quiet is desirable, after a few days of major partying on the Las Vegas Strip and at Fremont Street, I go to this bar for refuge! 
     Anyway, after dining in several fine restaurants, I simply wanted to enjoy a nice Mexican To-Go order from Las Palmas, just like I used to do in my old Las Vegas days.  Ever since the no-smoking law was passed in Las Vegas, no bars can serve food where there is smoking.  Bartenders and management offer to-go menus from nearby restaurants to please hungry customers.  There is always a way around a stupid archaic law!  One alternative bar that I frequent, went as far as to open a to-go food restaurant next door to the bar, so they could continue to profit from food sales! 
     Worn out, tired and after two cocktails, I became very hungry while chatting with friends at the bar in Commercial Center.  I asked if anyone else was hungry for Mexican food at the bar.  Those who were hungry gave me their food orders and I walked across the plaza to pick up a few to-go orders of Las Palmas Mexican food. 
     Las Palmas is not the only great restaurant in Commercial Center on Sahara Blvd.  The best Thai restaurant in the world is also at Commercial Center.  Lotus of Siam has always gotten raving critical reviews.  The chef is a master Thai chef.  There is Salvadoran food, Korean reastaurants, Kareoke Clubs, Chinese Food, Korean Markets, Mexican food, Indian food and a great Japanese Sushi restaurant in Commercial Center.  With competition like like, you know the par of the food is set at a high level.
     Bars and clubs?  They are all alternative!  There is a leather bondage dungeon, a Hip Hop club, the world famous Green Door swingers club, several gay bars, a gay bath house, sexy fashion shops, hookah lounges and a transgender club at Commercial Center.  Commercial Center is my kind of freaky fun place!  It is a little bit wild at night time there! 
     While I waited for the food at Las Palmas, I ordered a very nice Patron Tequila Margarita!  The margarita was served in a very large stemmed old fashion Mexican margarita glass!  The salt rimmed margarita was so very perfect!  It was one of the best margaritas that have I ever had.  By the time that I finished my margarita, my to-go order was ready.  So I walked back to the bar with the stack of to-go food that everybody at the bar had ordered from Las Palmas. 
     The chicken burrito that my friend had ordered was absolutely delicious!  Yes, i sampled a bite!  Every plate of To-Go food at Las Palmas is garnished and served with many nice accompaniments.  I had the Carne Asada Tampiquena.  This is a traditional Mexican steak recipe that is served with an enchilada under the steak.  Several sauces accompany this Carne Asada Tampiquena!  The freshly made guacamole was incredibly good!  Everything was perfect on all of our to-go orders, just like it always was, before I accepted work away from Las Vegas.  There was not a spec of food that was leftover after we all were done eating!  The food was delicious! 
     Las Palmas is very popular with the local Mexican population in Las Vegas.  When Mexicans gather at a mariachi club, it is because they want to be with other countrymen, just like in Mexico.  Things can get very wild very quickly if you are not into the Mexican way of having a good time.  It is really just a matter of the question "do you fit in with the crowd?"  If you do not fit in or feel comfortable, then go somewhere else!  This all has to do with a thing called respect!
     The reason I posted this restaurant revue as a to-go order is because of the high demand for to-go food in Las Vegas!  Every restaurant that is near the Las Vegas Strip casino resorts do offer some very nice extensive to-go food menus.  That is part of the business.  Visitors of Las Vegas like to bring food to their rooms when they are tired or relaxing!  Las Vegas is the greatest city in the world for gourmet to-go food!  Las Vegas also has some of the greatest Mexican food in the world. 
     Many Commercial Center restaurants deliver food to guests in rooms on the strip!  In my case, we wanted food in an bar that had to obey an "archaic smoking ordinance law" while having cocktails.  To-go food was the answer and it is welcome in Las Vegas local bars.  Delicious Las Vegas Mexican food!  Yum!  ...  Shawna

Lunch at the Wicked Spoon Buffet in the Cosmopolitan Casino, Las Vegas!

The Wicked Spoon Buffet is a great place for lunch in Las Vegas!
   
     A friend of mine picked me up at the Las Vegas airport on arrival from Chicago.  I offered to buy lunch at the Cosmopolitan Casino and Resort, before checking into my room at Caesars Palace for the convention that I was going to attend.  The reply from my friend was yes, of course!
     The Cosmopolitan is like no other Casino and Resort!  The decor and architecture is very modern and hip.  Pop art and intriguing modern art sculptures adorn the entire Cosmopolitan Resort.  Cosmopolitan is part of the City Center Complex on the Las Vegas Strip.  City Center is a stunning shopping, condominium and casino resort complex that cost over 8.5 billion dollars to build.  City Center, Aria, The Mandarin Oriental, Crystals Mall and Vdara are operated by MGM.  The Cosmopolitan is owned by the Deutsche Bank.  The two very different resort operations do not clash.  In fact they seem to compliment each other in many ways.  The public atmosphere of competition between the two different companies seems to be at a minimum, because the Cosmopolitan appeals to a slightly different clientele, than the clientele that is attracted to the MGM City Center.  Personally, I like the MGM City Center properties and I am treated like a VIP there, but I always seem to spend a good portion of my time visiting the Cosmopolitan.  I like the way both resorts are run!
     The Cosmopolitan's Wicked Spoon Buffet is difficult to compare to any other buffet in the world!  The Cosmopolitan Buffet is very special, creative and fun!
     The atmosphere is casual.  The dining room is very modern, chic and stylish.  The table settings are top of the line.  The silverware is an artistic statement in itself.  I have never seen silverware that was more interesting on a buffet dining table.
     During my lunch visit, the Cosmopolitan waitstaff was very attentive, friendly and outgoing!  Our waitress had a great sense of humor and she was more than helpful at describing the food items that we had questions about.
     I was at the Cosmopolitan for opening day a few months ago.  I posted a very nice restaurant review of breakfast at the Wicked Spoon Buffet on opening day.  For an opening first day of business, the Cosmopolitan exceeded all of my expectations!  The breakfast food was artistically presented and it tasted great!  Creative breakfast food has recently become a solid trend in Las Vegas and The Wicked Spoon seems to have the creative edge.
      The Wicked Spoon lunch buffet was even more to my liking than breakfast!  The preparation of each item on the buffet was superbly crafted.  The presentation of each item on the buffet modern and artistic creative flair.  The flavor of each item on the buffet was correct, authentic and very tasty!  The chefs at the Cosmopolitan lunch buffet are very talented and well trained.
     The variety of the Wicked Spoon's buffet menu items was extensive.  There were so many great gourmet items on the buffet.
     The cold station had the finest variety of imported cheese that I have ever seen on a buffet.  Smoked meats, seafood, fine olives, imported Italian lunch meats and a large variety very nice breads were some of the choices.  The large variety of gourmet salads were served in small individual portion dishes.  You simply choose a salad and placed the small dish on your plate!
     The Chinese, Thai and Japanese area of the buffet had many great items that were presented in small paper Chinese restaurant to-go food baskets!  That was a very chic modern presentation for a buffet to employ!  You simply select a Chinese to-go containers entree of your choice, set it on a plate, then have a to-go style meal back at your table!  My friend at the table asked "What did you get from the Chinese To-Go joint?"  I just laughed and dug into the good Chinese food with my chopsticks.  This lunch buffet was fun!
     French fries?  Try sweet potato fries that are served in a paper lined miniature deep fryer basket!  That is a very nice touch!  Miniature sauteuse pans are used to present many of the stewed or sauced items on the buffet!  I had a miniature pan of a very refined English beef stew that was very comfortable tasting.  The stew was so well crafted, that it was actually very pretty to look at.
     Another miniature pan that I sampled was filled with a portion of truffle infused au gratin potatoes!  That is a very high quality gourmet item for a lunch buffet!
     The carving station had a very nice beef roast that was cooked rare, gourmet sausages, roasted chicken and ham.  That is a very nice variety of great carving items for lunch!  I personally consider prime rib, roasted sirloin or roasted tenderloin to be evening buffet offerings that come with a higher price.  Prime rib is now not usually served at the finer Las Vegas buffets for lunch.
     The wide variety of vegetable preparations to choose from were mostly gourmet vegetables.  I like broccoli rapini very much!  I couldn't resist the perfectly sauteed broccoli rapini and I had two helpings!
     Eggs benedict is also served for lunch at the Cosmopolitan buffet.  In a town like Las Vegas that has no clocks on the walls, a breakfast offering in the afternoon is a requirement!
     There were plenty of great seafood entrees to choose from for Lunch at the Wicked Spoon.  The fried chicken was served in a miniature deep fryer basket.  The fried chicken had a very yummy flavor!  Of course there were a variety of gourmet pizzas offered.  The sushi was very nicely crafted and very appealing!  The buffet even had a Korean item in the Asian section.  I love Korean food!  I really liked the pork belly sliders on steam buns!  Nowhere else can you find that item being offered on a buffet.
     I have described the buffet items as having a wide range of very different tastes, comfort levels and gourmet flavors.  The Cosmopolitan lunch buffet is exactly how a Las Vegas gourmet buffet should be!
     The dessert area of the Cosmopolitan buffet has some of the finest, cutting edge, expertly crafted desserts that I have ever seen in any restaurant or buffet!  The use of edible pure gold foil to garnish the desserts at the Cosmopolitan buffet has become a signature touch!  A wide variety of chocolate desserts, flourless chocolate cakes and chocolate tarts were presented in some very unusual creative modern ways.
     I had a chocolate ganache miniature chocolate ice cream cone as one of my dessert choices!  That idea of presentation was ingenious!  A ganache truffle filling is gourmet item.
     There were so many desserts to chose from, that I felt like a kid in a candy store!  I liked the miniature creme anglaise custards that had some very artistic toppings.  My favorite little miniature item was the very rich chocolate lolly pop!  It tasted like a very dense chocolate pate.  There was a nice variety of very colorful desserts that were presented as lolly pops!
     The white chocolate covered fresh strawberries that were dipped in crushed hazelnuts nuts were yummy!  You even had a choice of toppings and types of chocolate on the chocolate coated strawberries!
     The peanut butter plum jelly and plum macaroon cooky was so very cool!  It had a very cool purple color.
     My friend was trying to act like he was not impressed with the food, like most of the Las Vegas locals do.  I could see that he was having the time of his life under that poker face!
     I highly recommend the Cosmopolitan's Wicked Spoon Lunch Buffet for all the right reasons!  This is the most fantastic, artistic lunch buffet in Las Vegas!  The Cosmopolitan Casino and Resort is a place that you must experience!  The Wicked Spoon Buffet is perfect for those who are adventurous and fun.  So very yummy and stylish!  mmmmm!  ...  Shawna    

Shawna's Favorite! Red Fire Devil Ramen Noodles with Pepitas and Shrimp

     I really had to cook this ramen recipe to please myself today!  Sometimes I need my medicine.  My medicine is very hot spicy chile peppers!
     I usually have a steady diet of hot chili peppers or hot sauce in my personal food.  Ever since I started this recipe blog, the chile pepper diet has gone by the wayside.  My skin, sinuses and my health were far better when I was eating a steady diet of hot chile peppers.
     In restaurants that I worked in, nobody willingly wanted to sample food that I prepared for myself!  I had a reputation for cooking light meals for myself in restaurant kitchens that were so spicy hot, that the other chefs were scared to even ask what I was eating.  I could not wait for someone to get interested in what I was eating, so I could coax that person to try a bite of my dinner!  Many cooks that were naive enough to sample my personal spicy meal, simply spit out what I made and they ran for a water cooler in a big hurry!
     Mexican cooks used call me crazy for eating so many hot peppers.  I have never met a Mexican cook that liked hot chile peppers as much as I do!  Mexicans do have a reputation for using hot chile peppers in their cooking, but many Mexicans prefer milder flavors.
     The best reaction that I had to my chile pepper kitchen meal was when a real "tweaky" party animal kind of waiter was watching me eat a few raw green hot chile peppers.  The waiter asked what kind of peppers I was eating.  I saw a chance to set up another victim for a hot chile pepper overdose experience!
    The waiter asked how hot the chiles were.  I responded by telling the waiter that the peppers were Carolina Red Chiles that were still in the green stage of growth.  I told the waiter that these Carolina chiles were very spicy hot and there was no way that he could handle one!
     The waiter said that he would eat one of my home grown chile peppers if the Mexican cooks and myself would all pitch in and wager $10.00!  The Mexican cooks looked at me with straight faces.  They did not even bother to wink!  I told the Mexican cooks to not even bother getting the money out of their pockets to cover the bet, because our side of the wager was a lock!
     I then warned the waiter about how there was no way that he could hold one Carolina Red Chile down, without getting sick!  What I said only made the waiter mad and eager to pounce on the hot pepper eating wager opportunity.
     Carolina Red Chiles are not commercially marketed.  They are relatively unknown and very little information is written about them.  Carolina reds are very spicy when they are mature and red colored.  When Carolina Reds are still green colored, they have a very intense strong "cured tobacco" flavor and they contain much more hot capsicum oil than when they are a mature red color.  Carolina Reds are long thin peppers with a small bell pepper shaped tip.  The heat from a green colored Carolina Red is far more intense than a habanero pepper and the hot pepper flavor lasts much longer!
     The waiter tried to eat the entire green Carolina Red chile pepper at one time, because that was the agreed stipulation of the hot pepper eating wager.  He chewed the hot pepper a few times and this really weird look came over his face!  I have never seen somebody freak out that bad from a hot chile pepper!  He ran to the kitchen sink and was trying to force himself to "throw up" the Carolina Red chile pepper before he had to endure the entire long lasting burning sensation.  Unfortunately for us, the waiter succeeded in expelling the hot green Carolina pepper and whatever else he ate for his last few meals.  The sink was a catastrophe.
     The Mexicans were so cool in that kitchen that we did not even laugh or watch.  We listened!  We just winked at each other and I asked the huge Mexican executive chef to kindly ask the waiter to clean up the mess that he just made in the sink!  The Mexican executive chef walked over to the water and started rubbing his hand on the waiter's back like the waiter was a little baby.  He asked the waiter over and over if he was okay, in a tone of voice that sounded like a dad who was talking to a little baby!  The Mexican chef was saying things like "Poor little baby!  Do you want me to find your mommy?  You poor little thing!"  The Mexican cooks and I could barely keep straight face at this point, but somehow we managed to keep our cool.
     After a chugging down a gallon and a half of cold water and a quart of milk, the waiter was finally able to respond to the chef's question and gasped that he was okay.  The sweaty pale looking waiter said that he had eaten a lot of chile peppers during his lifetime, but he had never eaten a chile pepper that had as much fiery intense spicy heat!
      My response to the waiter was, "Where is our twenty dollars?"  We doubled the wager to $20, if the waiter would agree to eating the entire green Carolina Red chile pepper at one time!  Our side of the wager was a lock!
     After that incident, the Mexican cooks referred to the waiter as the little baby girl!  The Mexican cooks and I never laughed about the waiter getting sick from trying to eat one of the peppers that I was snacking on.  It was more important for us cooks to maintain our cool and keep our bad looks going on!
     Later, the Mexican executive chef asked me what kind of chili pepper I gave to the little baby girl waiter.  I told the chef that it was a green Carolina Red Pepper.  He smiled and asked if he could have a few of my green Carolina peppers!  I said sure!
      The health benefits of hot chile peppers are anti rheumatism, anti arthritic, anti ulcer, strong immune system booster, analgesic, mood elevator, system cleansing, antibiotic, anti parasitic and anti cancer.
      It is the endorphin rush from hot chile peppers that keeps most hot chile pepper heads coming back for more!  I must admit that I do feel much better after eating hot chile peppers.
     This chile pepper ramen recipe is my favorite ultra spice version.  The flavor is nice, if you can stand the heat.  I have made chile ramen recipes with more than 8 pureed orange habanero chiles, with no tomato sauce added a few times.  That recipe is insanely hot!  This blog recipe is not quite as strong as that version.

     Habanero Hot Sauce:

     Ripe orange color habanero peppers can be found at nearly any asian market, Mexican market or regular grocery store.  Wear rubber gloves when handling habaneros, if you have sensitive skin.  This recipe is written in a way that requires minimum direct contact with the habanero peppers.  A food processor, blender or blending wand is required for pureeing this sauce.  The sauce is pureed twice, so it becomes a very smooth consistency.

     Remove the stems from 1/2 pound of orange habanero peppers. 

     Use a knife to slice halfway through each pepper, but do not cut the peppers in half.

     Place the peppers in a stainless steel sauce pot.

     Add enough water to cover the peppers, with 2" of extra water.

     Add 4 cloves of garlic.

     Add 1/4 cup of chopped onion.

     Add 1/2 teaspoon of cumin.

     Add 1 teaspoon of coriander.

     Add 1 1/2 ounces of cider vinegar.

     Add 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil.

     Add 1 teaspoon of sea salt.

     Add 3 pinches of white pepper.

     Place the pot over low heat.

     Allow the ingredients to gently simmer, till the peppers become soft.  (About 1 1/2 to 2 hours.)

     Allow the liquid to reduce.  Only add enough water to keep the peppers covered with 1" of liquid.

     Remove the pot from the heat and allow the ingredients to cool to room temperature.

     Puree the ingredients with an electric blending wand, a food processor or a blender.

     Return the thin puree to the stainless steel pot.

     Place the pot over low heat.

     Gently simmer and reduce the puree, till it becomes a thin puree sauce consistency.

     Remove the pot from the heat and allow the ingredients to cool to room temperature.

     Puree the sauce a second time, so it becomes very smooth.

     The orange habanero hot sauce should look like the finished product photograph above!

     The orange habanero hot sauce has a long shelf life, if the sauce is kept refrigerated.   

     Red Fire Devil Ramen Noodles with Pepitas and Shrimp:
     Heat a sauce pot over low heat.
     Add 2 cups of water.
     Add 1/2 cup of shrimp broth.
     Add 10 dried pequin peppers.  (Bird Peppers)
     Add 1 large dried chopped chipotle pepper.
     Add 1 finely chopped ghost pepper.  (Ghost peppers are the hottest chile peppers on earth, according to many people.  I have had rare tropical peppers that are not listed in any books, that are much hotter!)
     Add 1/4 teaspoon of dried ancho chile powder.
     Add 1/4 of cayenne pepper.
     Add 2 pinches of garlic powder.
     Add 3 pinches of onion powder.
     Add 3 pinches of ground anatto.
     Add 2 pinches of cumin.
     Add sea salt and black pepper.
     Simmer the dried peppers for about twenty minutes, till they become reconstituted.
     Raise the temperature to medium high heat.
     Bring the chile chile broth to a boil.
     Add 1 portion ramen noodles.
     Boil till the ramen noodles become halfway cooked.
     Add 3 large peeled and deveined shrimp.
     Add 1 thick sliced plum tomato.
     Add 1/4 cup of tomato puree.
     Add 1 teaspoon of lime juice.
     Add 2 tablespoon of habanero hot sauce.
     Boil till the noodles become fully cooked.
     Remove the pan from the heat.
     Use tongs to place the sauced ramen noodles in the center of a shallow bowl.
     Place the three shrimp around the ramen noodles.
     Place the tomato slices on the noodles.
     Quickly reduce the sauce, till 1 cup remains.
     Pour the sauce over the noodles.
     Sprinkle two thin sliced green onions over the noodles.
     Sprinkle some toasted pepitas (toasted calabaza seeds) over the noodles.
     Garnish with a parsley sprig.
  
     Yummy and very spicy hot!  The flavor of this nicely seasoned chile pepper recipe does have a lot of chile pepper flavor from the variety of dried peppers in this recipe.
     Everybody has a favorite way to cook their ramen noodles.  This is my favorite way to prepare ramen!  I ate this spicy ramen recipe with a smile on my face.  I did not even need a sip of water!  I really like very spicy hot chile peppers and I am not afraid to post spicy recipes at my food site.  Skip over this recipe if you cannot handle the heat.  Aye chihuahua!  Yum!  ...  Shawna

Peking Duck and Shrimp Tacos at the Main Street Grill in the Fremont Casino, Las Vegas!

Yummy gourmet tacos in an old fashioned Las Vegas steak house grill atmosphere!
    
     Fremont Street is where the Las Vegas casino scene started many years ago.  The first casino downtown was the Golden Gate Casino.  The historic Golden Gate Casino is one of my favorite places in Las Vegas!  I love the piano bar deli at the Golden Gate and the old fashioned diner there.
     Many casinos from the old days have disappeared, but the remaining antique historic casinos still remain open for business on Fremont Street.  Binion's is another comfortable old west casino that is a favorite of mine. 
     The Fremont Casino will always be one of my favorite downtown casinos.  The Fremont Casino has a comfortable nice Hawaiian style buffet that is called the Paradise Buffet.  I have dined at the Paradise Buffet many times in the past.  By far, the best bargain at the Paradise Buffet is seafood night!  Sushi, great raw and steamed seafood and plenty of nicely prepared seafood entrees are offered on seafood night.  The atmosphere is very luscious and green, just like paradise!  The wait staff is superb at the Paradise Buffet too.
     The Paradise Grill at the Fremont Casino is one of downtown's favorite places to grab a quick bite to eat.  When I first moved to Las Vegas, I was surviving on cheap food till I found steady work.  The Hawaiian Saimin Soup at the Paradise Grill was my favorite cheap healthy meal.  The Paradise Grill has many other Hawaiian favorites to offer.
     This was the first time that I tried the Main Street Grill in the Fremont Casino.  The atmosphere is like an old fashioned Las Vegas formal steak house.  The dining room is dimly lit and the attention is on great steaks and cocktails. 
     I was in the mood for something light and creative instead of a steak.  The Peking Duck and Shrimp Tacos sounded like a nice combination of flavor!  I asked what the soup of the day was.  The waiter was very inexperienced and he did not take me as a customer too seriously.  Sometimes you do get bad service downtown, because the waitstaff at downtown restaurants have to deal with some unrefined, rude customers that are really drunk from days of partying, but that is par for the course!  Dealing with bad customers does cause a carry over effect to good customers.
     The waiter told me that the name of the soup was hard to pronounce!  He said it was "seafood something."  I actually started to play a guessing game to help his memory.  He finally said the soup du jour was a seafood bisque. 
     The waiter was wrong.  The soup turned out to be a very nice Manhattan Style Seafood Chowder!  I just laughed it off and enjoyed the nice bowl of soup.  The soup was a nice American style favorite that was comfortable to eat.   
     It seemed like no employees had a professional attitude at the Main Street Grill at the Fremont Casino.  This is also a sign of the times.  Las Vegas is in an economic depression, so much of the highly paid expert restaurant help have been laid off from their jobs.
     My entree arrived at the table!  The flavor of the peking duck and shrimp tacos was very nice, but I could tell that the plate was put together by second rate cooks.  The plate was designed by the old American code of simply filling the pate with an excess of ingredients.  I honestly had a hard time finding the buried taco shells!  This was strictly a plate of "Old Style American Grazing Food"!  So I grazed!  Go for it and go with it!  A high horse is not my kind of ride anyway!
     I was very "burnt out" from excess partying around town and it had been a long time since I had sleep.  So grazing with no manners was just fine with me at that time!
     I noticed that everyone else at the Main Street Grill were dining on some very nice looking steaks!  I really "missed the boat" by not ordering a steak instead of something creative.
     Next time, I'll take the cue from the old fashioned steak house atmosphere and order a steak at the Main Street Grill.  The Peking Duck and Shrimp Tacos were just "okay" on the quality scale, but they did have a nice flavor.
     If you want the best food in the house at the Fremont Casino, then I highly suggest the Paradise Buffet!  If you are in the mood for a light snack, then the Paradise Grill is a good choice.  If you want a good western cut of beef for a steak, the The Main Street Grill is an okay choice.
     I recommend the Main Street Grill, even though the service was not up to par.  I have seen them do better in the past.  Since I am an experienced chef, I do realize every restaurant has a bad moment.  Ce est la vie!
     Everything is quite different downtown on Fremont Street in Las Vegas.  Downtown is not as classy as the strip, but it is "bar hopping party time central"!  The prices are lower and more food lands on the plate.
     The overhead light show of the Fremont Street Experience is the Main attraction.  There are several band stages on Fremont Street too!  All the entertainment is free.  Old Vegas!  Yum!  ...  Shawna  

Lunch at The Buffet at Aria in City Center, Las Vegas!

     As you already probably know, Aria is my favorite resort and casino in Las Vegas!  The atmosphere, quality, architecture, design and modern decor are very appealing to me.  The hotel rooms are very modern and hi tech!
     I was at the opening night at Aria last year.  My initial reaction to Aria was shock and awe!  Later I booked a stay at Aria.  I loved the quality of the accommodations at Aria!  I have a "thing" for feather pillows and fine Egyptian cotton linens.  Aria has splendidly comfortable rooms.  The overall theme of the Aria resort is a mix of ancient India, modern India and futuristic modern.
     This trip to Las Vegas, I booked a very special night at Aria for my birthday!  I couldn't have chosen a better place to stay.  I like Aria that much!
     Aria has some of the finest chefs in the world and some of the greatest restaurants in the world.  I posted restaurant revues of Aria's Julian Serrano and Lemongrass restaurants this week.  Both restaurants serve fabulous cuisine!
     Las Vegas chefs at the fine buffets in Las Vegas are quick to write menus for the change of season or the change in weather.  The weather this spring day at Aria was very sunny, comfortably cool with a brisk cool high desert breeze of clean fresh spring air.  The food items that were served at the Aria buffet that day reflected upon the very refreshing cool sunny springtime weather that Las Vegas was having.  Lighter fare and very casual snack type food was the theme of the day!  The Aria buffet was like going to a gourmet picnic on a picture perfect early spring day!
     The Aria buffet was very special to many guests who were there that day.  A large group of people from Italy dined at the table next to me.  What was funny to me about the Italians who sat next to me, was that the same group of Italians dined at the table next to me last year when I dined at Aria!  I remember the Italian group because the daughter of the parents in the group was remarkably beautiful and the men never stopped talking!  I love dining next to lively people in a casual atmosphere!
     The fine buffet at Aria reflects upon Aria's Indian theme.  There is a major serving station at the Aria buffet that is devoted to fine traditional Indian cuisine.  The Indian serving station has a tandoori oven!  I arrived at the Aria buffet as breakfast was ending and as lunch was beginning.  The Indian cooks at Aria set up their station and began making fresh nan bread with the tandoori oven as customers watched.  Nan bread is interesting to see as it is being made in the very hot tandoori oven! 
     A few of the select breakfast items were served during the early lunch as brunch items.  That was nice for the customers who wake up late, like I do. 
     The Mexican offerings could have had a little more pizazz. 
     The seafood section was dissapointing for only one reason.  There was no sushi being offered.  But with a spring picnic theme, who needs a sushi chef anyway!  I like smoked salmon and that was off of the menu too.  The menu that day was more  like a comfort food picnic menu and I quickly adapted to the theme. 
     Gourmet pizzas, Portuguese Sausage, Italian Lunch Meats, Pickled Herring, American Style Macaroni Salad, Kimchi, Salmon Pate, Vegetable Ragout, Watercress Salad, Shrimp and Crab Legs were my light spring snack lunch choices.  I tasted a few of the sophisticated gourmet salads too.  The salads were very refreshing! 
     The Picture of the Eggs Benedict with a side of stewed pinto beans had a very nice salad of broccoli rapini and jicama! 
     As you can see, I do not pile food on a plate at the finer Las Vegas Casinos like many customers do.  I like a pretty plate even when at a fine Las Vegas Buffet.  There were many more heavier items on the buffet that I chose not to try that day, because I did want a lighter fare lunch with some variety. 
     The three petite desserts that I had were incredibly delicious!  The red colored meringue dessert is actually a modern keylime pie!  The Chocolate dessert was very rich and nicely prepared with exciting detail!  The Italian Strawberry Gelato was fantastically refreshing! 
     Overall, The Aria Buffet was perfect for a light lunch on this beautiful Las Vegas spring day!  The Aria Buffet is a great place to enjoy lunch and the service is great!  The Aria Lunch Buffet has an ever changing menu.  The chefs do not offer the same entrees repeatedly through the week.
     I honestly recommend the bright and sunny Aria Buffet for anyone enjoying a stay in Las Vegas!  The spring picnic theme experience was rather comfortable and pleasant!  Yum!  ...  Shawna