LAS VEGAS – A fashionable hotel carved out of a Vegas classic. One of the top celebrity chefs on the planet. And a bit of CSI crime scene investigation at a museum dedicated to the mob.
Great destinations are constantly on the go; firing up new attractions and opening new hotels and restaurants and re-making their current stock. And there are few destinations that can rival Las Vegas.
TravelPulse Canada recently returned from a three-day, action-packed, VIP-themed visit to one of the destinations Canadians love to visit most.
Here’s a look at some of what we found, and some previews of what’s coming up.
Gordon Ramsay at his new Hell’s Kitchen Restaurant in Las Vegas. PHOTO COURTESY CAESARS PALACE
FOOD
It used to be that Vegas was known for cheap, all-you-can-eat buffets. But nowadays you can’t swing a spatula without running into some celebrity chef or other. Our visit took us to several famous dining spots with celebrity cachet, including the new Hell’s Kitchen by none other than Gordon Ramsay. It’s a bright spot right on The Strip in front of Caesars Palace, with hellish pitch forks all around and beaming videos of Ramsay welcoming visitors with a smile you don’t often see on his manic TV shows. We had a truly fantastic pumpkin soup with toasted pumpkin seeds for crunch and chorizo for spice, along with a pretty seafood tower, perfectly cooked Beef Wellington, lovely scallops and sticky toffee pudding for dessert. The other dessert (hey, it’s Vegas, right?) was pineapple carpaccio, which arrived in thin slices and surrounded by smoke from the dry ice they pack inside the serving tray. The restaurant is designed to look like the set on the TV show and has lots of natural light and high ceilings.
A fine lunch at Milos, inside the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Las Vegas. JIM BYERS PHOTO
Another celebrity spot was Estiatorio Milos, located at The Cosmopolitan. It’s operated by Costas Spiliadis, who started his empire in Montreal and now has restaurants around the world. The idea is high-end Greek cuisine, and Milos delivers in spades. The octopus (all their fish is flown in daily from Greece) is as tender as a lover’s kiss and sweet as a Valentine’s Day box of chocolates. Don’t miss the Milos special, with thin slices of zucchini and eggplant that are lightly fried and utterly addictive. They have a great covered, airy patio with tons of light.
Buddy V’s, located at The Venetian, serves up very good calamari, beautiful burrata laid out on heirloom tomatoes and fabulous rigatoni alla vodka with tons of flavour and added chicken if you want to bump up your protein levels. The pasta might have been even better at Osteria Costa at The Mirage, where the emphasis is on Amalfi cuisine. We had excellent meatballs with whipped ricotta, marvellous linguine with clams and some of the best grilled branzino I’ve had anywhere.
Salad Nicoise at Primrose, located at the Park MGM Hotel in Las Vegas. JIM BYERS PHOTO
Located at the new Park MGM Resort and Hotel (the old Monte Carlo), Primrose is a pretty French bistro with a great patio out back. Try the fire-roasted corn, the Salad Nicoise or the filling Croque Monsieur. I didn’t try them but I hear the baked pancakes are a real treat. If you’re in the mood for a steak, you can’t beat Oscar’s, which is run by former mayor and one-time mob lawyer Oscar Goodman. It’s a fun, lively spot in downtown Vegas, which I always enjoy visiting for its old-school environment and brash neon.
The Bacchanal Buffet in Vegas is still going strong. Located at Caesars Palace, it’s a truly remarkable breakfast experience that only costs $40 for a weekday brunch and might just fill you up for a couple days. You’ll find everything from perfectly roasted turkey to mango-jalapeno-chicken sausage, eggs, red velvet pancakes, Chinese dim sum, Sushi (including Spam Musubi, a Hawaii favourite), pizza, yogurt, fresh juices, lump crab avocado toast, prime rib and just about anything else your stomach desires. A truly spectacular place.
A personalized cafe latte at MOzen, inside the posh Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Las Vegas. JIM BYERS PHOTO
Finally, don’t miss a chance for breakfast at the posh Mandarin Oriental Hotel. It’s an oasis of tranquility just off The Strip, with a wonderful bar with great views and even a Moet Chandon Champagne vending machine in the lobby. Their breakfast place, MOzen, features bourbon bacon and truly spectacular brioche French toast with orange crème pâtissière and Grand Marnier sauce. They’ll even do up a café latte with your company symbol if you ask nicely. We didn’t get to go but there’s a new Pronto by Giada at Caesars Palace. The Park MGM Hotel is supposed to add an Eataly Italian market and food shop/restaurant later this year. If it’s as good as the ones in New York it will be a huge hit.
ACTIVITIES
There’s no shortage of outdoor and indoor activities in Vegas. Continuing with the food theme, one fantastic thing to try is a cake-decorating lesson at Freed’s Bakery in suburban Vegas. It’s famous around the world for pastries and cakes and is featured on the Food Network show Vegas Cakes. We got to chat with the owner and cake-makers and learning how to apply the fondant to the cake and squeeze out little icing flowers. It’s a program that anyone can join, and you’ll get to see where the tape the TV show.
A cake decorating class at Freed’s Bakery in Las Vegas is a ton of fun. Freed’s is featured on the Food Network TV show, Vegas Cakes.
We didn’t get a chance to visit Red Rock Canyon this visit, but it’s one of my favourite hiking/walking spots in the Vegas area. We did get to explore the desert on a thrilling ride with Sunbuggy Fun Rentals, which offers dune buggy and ATV tours in the desert. We spent an hour bouncing and bumping over rocks and rolling over (okay we got stuck a couple times because we went too slow) taupe-coloured sand dunes. The canyons and ravines are pretty to look at and you’ll get nice views of the surrounding mountains and down to The Strip. Even better, I got to watch a hawk soar through one of the canyons for a brief few seconds. It’s a riot and a half, and they have helpful guides
Our group also got a real adrenaline rush at Pole Position Raceway, an indoor track that offers terrific go-kart rides and races. The track is about a quarter-mile long and you get 12 laps in a race against other competitors. I think I came second out of three of us, which is a silver medal if you think about it. I wasn’t sure how much I’d enjoy it but by the second lap in my electric cart (no emissions) I was gunning it (the karts go up to 75 kilometers per hour) in the straightaway and braking hard around the turns. It’s a great activity, and they also have private rooms for parties, complete with pool tables, giant-screen TV’s and more. There’s one downtown and another in suburban Summerlin, which features a different track layout. Both facilities change their layouts regularly, so you can go back a year later and race a completely different course. You have to be at least six years old and 48 inches tall to drive.
Riding the dunes with Sunbuggy Fun Rentals in Las Vegas. JIM BYERS PHOTO
In addition, we got to spend some time at the CSI crime scene exhibit at The Mob Museum. It’s a lot of fun, and a bit gory if you check out the mock coroner’s table and try to find out how a particular victim died (the photos they use are of real mobsters who were killed). If you’re squeamish, you can try deciphering fingerprints or checking out bullet marks to try your forensic skills. There’s a trained forensic scientist on hand to help. They just opened a new speakeasy bar in the basement, called The Underground. It features house-made beer and moonshine and great old photos and stories about Prohibition, including displays about booze production in Canada by the likes of Hiram Walker. They also have a “use of force” training program where you can fire a CO2 pistol in life-like situations to see how you respond.
Our other activity, if you want to call it that, was a trip to the luxurious spa at the Four Seasons Hotel. I had a magnificent massage with sage, juniper and cedar oil, as well as a eucalyptus rub on my face to open my sinuses. The therapist took time to massage my temples, toes and fingers, too. We didn’t have time but there’s a nice steam room and other areas to relax, and the Four Seasons pool complex is a huge treat that comes with a waterfall and cabanas for rent.
The spa at the Four Seasons Hotel, Las Vegas. JIM BYERS PHOTO
ENTERTAINMENT
You don’t want to hit Las Vegas without seeing a couple shows. We took in the new WOW (World of Wonder) show at The Rio. It’s a show that ran in Israel for more than a year, and they’ve sold more than two million tickets worldwide. They’ve done 250-plus shows in Vegas already. It’s a wide-ranging affair with lots of water and a very cool, 180-degree LED screen behind the stage, which lights up with everything from lions and butterflies to scenes of The Titanic. The performance features spinning roller skaters, wonderful acrobatics, Vegas-style dancing, plate spinners, jugglers, comedians and more. One of the performers, Silvia Silvia, is a Spanish woman who shoots arrows with a crossbow and did very well on America’s Got Talent a few years ago. One of her acts features a series of eight arrows bouncing back and forth across the stage, triggering other arrows. The final arrow pierces an apple on her head. We got to meet with her after the show (I told you this was a VIP trip) and talk about her act, which is pretty scary. “We’ve had some close calls,” she said. “But we try.” She didn’t elaborate. But it sounds insanely frightening to me.
The WOW (World of Wonder) Show at The Rio in Las Vegas. JIM BYERS PHOTO
We also caught the super-talented and swinging act of Matt Goss at The Mirage one night. I’ve seen him play before and loved it. He was away for a while but now has a snazzy new home at The Mirage, an intimate room with great sound. Goss plays a few jazz standards and some of his own songs. He also nails “Hotel California” and “If I Ain’t Got You” from Alicia Keys. When it came time for Hotel California, he told a man in the audience that if he didn’t sing the words right he would be stripped naked and sent into the desert overnight. “Wouldn’t be the first time,” the man replied. Goss has a tremendously tight band, with a wonderful horn section, great background singers and four sexy ladies in rather skimpy outfits who dance around and engage members of the audience. Goss spends a good deal of time shaking hands and bumping fists with folks at the show, as well. We got to chat with him after the show and he was a real gentleman.
If you’re looking for more, be aware that Gwen Stefani will kick off a residency program at Planet Hollywood in June. Lady Gaga will begin her own residency at the posh, new MGM Park Theatre in December, and that promises to be one very hot ticket.
One of the swimming pools at the Park MGM in Las Vegas. JIM BYERS PHOTO
HOTELS
We bedded down each night at the new Park MGM hotel, which has been carved out of the old Monte Carlo. The lobby features cool, calming tones of soft green and a huge series of branches hanging from the ceiling. There’s a moving image of gracefully swaying trees behind the front desk, and tons of lovely marble. Some rooms feature dark red walls, but mine feature that same soothing green tone, with a large shower and pretty photos on the wall. It’s a huge place and they could use another Starbucks for coffee-deprived patrons in the morning, but I quite enjoyed the stay. The pools might be the best feature, with three to choose from and a large hot tub with powerful jets to massage your back and tired feet. They also have nice cabanas for rent. And you’re only a few steps from the T-Mobile arena and the new MGM Park Theatre where Lady Gaga will soon be performing. The Park itself is right outside your door, a wonderful, car-free area with comfortable seating, sidewalk cafes, towering, lacy sculptures and desert trees for shade that runs along the north side of New York, New York. It’s one of my favourite areas along The Strip.
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