waiter rant

One of the first books I read this summer was Waiter Rant by a cynical Steve Dublanica (The Waiter) and it was laugh-out-loud funny. It came out in paperback in Aug. 2009, so I am about a year late in finding it.  You can get an idea of his humor from an article on his blog by the same name.

Below is a humorous list by the NY Times of 100 things restaurant staffers should never do.  Dublanica follows each item on the list with his own commentary.
http://waiterrant.net/?p=1485

The book also includes an appendix with rules on how to be a better customer.  Jennifer says it's always a bad sign if the customer walks into a coffee shop and orders hot tea...kind of like when I walk into a coffee shop and order Diet Coke.

You can also read friend Mandy's rules here
http://mattmandymitch.blogspot.com/2009/08/tips-for-dining-out-diatribe.html

can be purchased here
http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780061256684

skyline

This foodscape (food landscape) was commissioned in 2009 by the Good Food Channel. Among Warner's renderings of London's landmarks, he designed, set and photographed leek, cucumber and cloves for The Fire of London Monument; bread and cereal for Canary Wharf; melon and green beans for The Dome, and beans, celery, pineapple and more for the Tower Bridge. Photo courtesy of Carl Warner.

do salt and pepper count as ingredients

This is a fun interactive website for those who can cook and have something besides PBR and Diet Coke in the fridge. 

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/2p71ER/www.cookingbynumbers.com/frames.html




On this site, when I click that I have only eggs in the fridge, it responds that I have "100% of the one ingredient" needed for a fried egg!  Brilliant!!!

Image via Wikipedia

For the eggs in a basket, I think you actually need 2 ingredients.  About a half-pound of butter would not hurt these either.  Now that I think about it, I need to add bacon to the fridge, too!

Image via Wikipedia

Very good for those who can't make up his/her mind about what to cook.  Or for lazy cooks.  Rated good for the website's fun factor.

Real cooks will probably be exasperated, rather than inspired by this site.

fear of choosing in las vegas (part two)

also at the Grand Canal Shoppes...

Aquanox, the Tom Moloney seafood restaurant 
which features fresh seafood 
flown in daily from around the world and a decor designed to 
evoke the colors of the ocean.

super-chic steakhouse

Outside on the Strip
we  found the commercial chains

 Jennifer refused to leave until we had tried one of the many buffets Las Vegas is famous for.

Our only semi-celebrity spotting took place at Planet Hollywood's Spice Market Buffet of Buffets 
where we spied two NBA's in line with their families.  
On a related note, Lebron James was at the Venetian Tao Beach Club
 at our hotel just after defecting from the Cavaliers.  
He was "hosting" parties to celebrate his signing with his new team.
http://www.vegasnews.com/28425/lebron-james-dwayne-wade-chris-paul-michelle-williams-at-tao-beach.html

The food choices included the usual soup and salad, breads, and desserts.However, the B of Bs also offered tastes from around the world:  Asian, Mid-Eastern, Italian, Mexican, and seafood, beef, and pizza.  There are many choices and the food quality is above average for a buffet.  The B of Bs has a 24-hour pass for $39.99 which is also good at six other casino buffets.  We opted for the $18.99 one meal pass and it was more than enough food for us.

Also located in Planet Hollywood is the Earl.

On the other end of the dining spectrum (also on the other end of the Strip), we found

Slots A Fun with its foot longs

and

Lots a shots at Rockin' Ritas located in Circus Circus

 with its mini dogs

Orange chicken with jasmine rice (just ok) in a cute presentation, but with TERRIBLE service.  
I guess that if you have enough of Rita's shots, the service won't matter.

All in all, there is something for every diner in Las Vegas.  The dining options are endless.  It's just hard to decide which restaurant to try first!

Unfortunately I do not have pictures or reviews of all the places that we ate.  Often I was so hungry when I got my food that I just dug right in without taking a photo!

fear of choosing in las vegas (part one)

Today's blog goes far from the food of Savannah because this year for our annual birthday trip, Jennifer and I went to Las Vegas.  There we found everything from $1 Margaritas with all-you-care-to-eat bacon to Nathan's hot dogs and  99-cent fried Oreos and Twinkies.  Yes, you know I noticed the egregious apostrophe error.

We also found that LV is a mecca for well-known chefs looking to open new restaurants.  Twenty-one restaurants were listed in our hotel, scattered in the nooks and crannies of the luxury designer Grand Canal Shoppes in the Venetian and on into the Palazzo next door.  Featured chefs include Tom Moloney, Mario Batali, Thomas Keller, Emeril Lagasse, Wolfgang Puck, and Kevin Wu.

According to Forbes.com:

Once upon a time, celebrity chefs would merely put their name on a Vegas outpost, and never return. But those days are gone.

Today Vegas is a who's who of celebrity chefs, includingWolfgang Puck, Tom Colicchio, Emeril Lagasse, Joël Robuchon, Thomas Keller and Mario Batali. These famous chefs actually care about the food that's being served in their name--and their presence in Sin City makes Las Vegas one of the top food cities in the U.S. The only problem? Choosing which restaurants to hit while you're there.

And that was our dilema, too...choosing a restaurant from such a large selection.

That's the Venetian in the background, or at least a small portion of it.

Inside the Grand Canal Shoppes

Mario Batali and Joseph Bastianich's B&B

Fresh seafood is placed in the window of the 

Venice-inspired Canaletto each morning.

We stopped to admire the glass sculpture in the High Limit Lounge of The Mirage on our way to the Cirque Beatles tribute show LOVE. 

If you can see only one show in LV, this is the one. 
Music in the show:

1. Because

2. Get Back

3. Glass Onion

4. Eleanor Rigby/Julia (Transition)

5. I Am The Walrus

6. I Want To Hold Your Hand

7. Drive My Car/The Word/What You're Doing

8. Gnik Nus

9. Something/Blue Jay Way (Transition)

10. Being For The Benefit of Mr. Kite!/I Want You (She's So Heavy)/Helter Skelter

11. Help!

12. Blackbird/Yesterday

13. Strawberry Fields Forever

14. Within You Without You/Tomorrow Never Knows

15. Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds

16. Octopus's Garden

17. Lady Madonna

18. Here Comes The Sun/The Inner Light (Transition)

19. Come Together/Dear Prudence/Cry Baby Cry (Transition)

20. Revolution

21. Back In The U.S.S.R.

22. While My Guitar Gently Weeps

23. A Day In The Life

24. Hey Jude

25. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)

26. All You Need Is Love

Humorous menu at First Food and Bar

We decided on Wolfgang Puck's Postrio one night 

and they started us off right with melt-in-your-mouth homemade

bread served with fresh butter.

I ordered the Jumbo Shrimp Cocktail and it lived up to its name.

A half-dozen fresh, delicious shrimp with homemade horseradish cocktail sauce

Jennifer ordered the meatloaf on cauliflower puree with tempura fried onion rings 
accompanied by a pomegranate mojito.

I opted for the Atlantic Salmon with artichokes and fingerling potatoes.  
Including drinks, appetizer, and main course, pricing was well below the that of comparable restaurants in Savannah (The Pink House or Garibaldi).  The food was outstanding and service was impeccable!  We felt like pampered guests.

After dinner we crossed St. Mark's Square to the gelato carts 

and faced the challenge of deciding which flavor to order.

I finally decided on coconut rum 
and 

Jen's choice was stracciatella gelato 

(cookies and cream).

An early morning surprise was Cafe Presse which serves some 
kind of special Italian coffee Jennifer was really excited about.  
I was equally excited to finally find a Diet Coke, because 
LV unfortunately is an Evil Pepsi kind of town.

The coffee shop also featured full cases of bakery items.

New York cheesecake

to be continued...