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Many thanks and sincere gratitute offered to The Photographer's Bestie... and her husband.  Such a beautiful meal and such lovely company to enjoy it with.  A night to remember!

Amuse Bouche of some sort another... that was delicious!

Warm quail salad

Sauteed ruby red shrimp

Braised Idaho Wagyu Short Rib on mashed sunchokes and celery root

Amazing compilation of delicious chocolates

The Engineer's BEAUTIFUL dessert -- very citrus-y

Rick Moonen RM Seafood

Next up in the Foodie Across Las Vegas tour was dinner at RM Seafood.  We opted to dine upstairs which made me super happy.  Pretty much couldn't have been happier unless Rick Moonen himself had stopped by.  Of course then I would be completely star struck and look like a ridiculous fan.  Oh who am I kidding???

Started off with this delicious amuse bouche of crab with relish.  Teeny tiny yum!

Bread was served with this caviar spread rather than butter... salty and unusual.  Bread wasn't outstanding, though.

My main course:  An assortment of scallops along with some polenta nuggets and some confit sausage.  I was happy. 

Last up... complementary trio of desserts.  Really liked that salted caramel pecan pie on the left.

Mesa Grill

I have never done anything like this before... I think I will again!  I left on a girl's only weekend away from my Critic and Guys and enjoyed 3 1/2 luxurious days alone at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas!  Here's the first thing I have learned... Vegas is not the cheap vacation that it once was.  Still, I managed not to break the bank too much (if you don't count my airfare and hotel price of course).  The other thing I learned is that as much as I say "I'm not Vegas material" I am in one very clear way... the FOOD!  Every single chef I could ever hope to ogle over has a restaurant in Vegas.  Before going I even saw a Food Network show called "Best Thing I Ever Ate in Las Vegas"!  Using that as a virtual guide map and adding in some dreams realized of my own I set out to eat as much and yet as little as possible to experience a food tour of Las Vegas.  I could easily have spent a month just experiencing the restaurants.  The next few posts will highlight a few of my stops.

First up, Mesa Grill.  A restaurant of Bobby Flay's this was a first for me... I have never actually eaten his food.  It was a proud Foodie moment for sure and needless to say I was ecstatic when I found the place for lunch.  Thanks to my "good buddy" Michael Symon's suggestion, I opted for the tiger shrimp with roasted garlic corn tamale.

Before it arrived I received the bread.  There was a raisin one I didn't even bother with, a cheddar jalapeno one, and a blue corn muffin I have heard about and could not WAIT to try.  Perhaps it's a personal opinion, but that blue corn muffin was not my favorite... way to dry and crumbly.  The cheddar jalapeno one was REALLY tasty, though.





Next up, the shrimp and tamale.  This was pretty tasty, but definitely had those under salted components and too salty other parts.  But seriously, it didn't matter to me because all I kept thinking was "I'm eating food that Michael Symon likes!!!"  So the entire experience was a win in my book.  Excellent start to a Vegas weekend!!!

Melrose

I had a chance to go to date night with The Critic and we decided to hit Melrose... repeat for me and a first time for him.  It was amazing, of course.  We spent time in the bar at the same place I sat before and then enjoyed some of the same food.  I had a house salad this time, which had black eyed peas and corn and some other things I can't recall anymore but was alright.  I liked the flavors okay but the star, again, was the main proteins.  Steak for The Critic and the scallops again for me.  We're entertaining the idea of having The Guys come with us sometime but The Photographer has a REAL problem with this and says it should be a place for grown-ups only!  Time will tell.

House Salad

Scallops, served differently this time but I was never told how.  I did like the first preparation better.  But any scallop (cooked correctly) is a yummy scallop in my book!  Rice pilaf in the back wasn't necessary, by the way (not horrible... just not delicious)

Romio's

It just never ever ever gets old. 

New food at Mama's

Went to Mama's again with my girls... 2 of them anyway.  They had some new items on the Happy One-Hour menu so we decided to try a couple out.

Crispy Fennel and Artichokes with a something-or-other aioli.  Good and addicting (of course they are also fried).  Good "bar food"

I should not eat this... I should not eat this... I should not eat this... aka baked ziti mac and cheese.  Yes, it's quite yum.

  

Friday the 13th

Have I told the Friday the 13th story on this blog?

No matter... I'll either tell it once or tell it again.  Back in an OH so long ago time that still feels like a moment ago, The Critic and I were young 20 somethings dating.  After a while of this, feelings of love began to stir (please stop gagging... this is the romantic part).   Ever the planner, The Critic decided to wait until our first Valentine's Day to tell me he loved me.  Awwwww.... he's sweet.

Only we had the day wrong.

Since our first Valentine's Day together was actually a Saturday and we were going to a wedding, we decided to go out the night before.  So after a little while, we realized that The Critic's actual first profession of love for me was on... Friday the 13th.

So now we go out on a date each Friday the 13th (we've missed only a couple).  We had been alternating who plans the event, but lately we're just coming up with something together.  Tonight, The Critic's sister offered to watch The Guys overnight, so we went to Toulouse Petit for their awesome happy hour menu, then to Kirkland for a comedy show (yes, we had some food but it wasn't very memorable and I forgot to take notes so no blog entry for it) and finally to see the Hunger Games.... which I liked a lot.

But here's the repeat of Toulouse Petit.  Most of it was blogged about HERE when I went with Nala and Tanner's mom, but the results were same taste, though many looked quite different.

Corn Grits... still LOVE these

Fried chicken

Fried Bacon

Collard greens -- much prettier this time but a stronger vinegar taste than I remembered... and The Critic doesn't like vinegar.  That's okay.  He ate some yucky mushrooms and I ate these instead.

Pork Belly sliders.  Be ware the big ol' blog of straight dijon that is "gluing" the sandwich to the plate. 

Chocolate lava cake, pistachio inspired this time.  I liked the roasted peanuts a bit better, but it was still good