And here we are once again at the Delano hotel. I don't know if you remember what happened last time, we wound up at the Mandalay and the largest suite I've ever stayed in, 1,705 sq ft in the Horizon Suite. But to be honest, we really wanted to stay away from Mandalay, and hopefully we were going to get a nice room here at the Delano.

We walk up to the desk to check in, and since we drove up during Christmas break, we were able to drive during normal business hours and arrive at the hotel just after 8:00pm. I calmly ask the clerk, Mario, if they had an upgrade available to a junior suite. He tickled the ivories of the keyboard, and came back with a yes! Awesome! But he had to get managerial approval, whatever that means.

When we arrive to the 60th floor, yes 60th floor, we got that feeling once again. Walking towards the room, we see the number is at the end of the hall, and that's always a good thing. We step inside the room and are greeted with a marble minimalist design marble console. Wow, impressive so far. I turn to my right and I see the door, and now I get happy, a second bathroom! Yay! I don't know why this thrills me so much, it just does. I love having two bathrooms in a hotel room.

We step through the foyer and we come across, a second foyer? No, more a simple open space with a large mirror leaning against the wall and a chair with the round carpet. It had a very Zen minimalist modern art installation feel to it.  I could just sit here for a good long time.

We step into the living room, and Oh My God! The interior windows have a gold tint to them, so in the evening under the room lights, the whole room is just reflective gold. Huge! A large sectional couch, flat screen TV, separate dining table with new age design chandelier and full bar with Kuerig coffee maker.

We  check out the bedroom and we have to walk all the way across the room to the bedroom. And by “all the way”, I mean all, all… all the way! Past the Zen chair. Past the business desk. Past the second full size couch in the bedroom, and finally to the final resting place. After all the suite is 1,400 square feet so this place is massive!

The bed has the Delano tufted headboard, same design we had in our previous Delano room. I guess this is a Delano theme, cool. We step in past the bed and the hallway closet, yes hallway closet. As close as you're going to get to walk in closet in Vegas. Hmmm… wait, I’m sure there are walk-in closets in Vegas. Wynn suite?

Anyway, the bathroom is nice: Double sink vanity, large soaking tub, separate water closet (toilet), steam shower! Yes, a steam shower for those mornings when you need to sweat that Tequila out. But then in Vegas, it's never really morning as its just a rollover from the previous night.

I just love the clean modern design of this suite and effective immediately this is my new favorite suite. Let me take that back, because that suite at The Cosmopolitan, although not as fancy as this suite, it did have that double balcony! And on a beautiful spring or summer day a balcony trumps all. OK now that I think about it this is my second favorite suite but it's my favourite Mlife suite, how about that!

Oh here we go! Hell's Kitchen Las Vegas. We finally get to taste some Gordon Ramsay speciality food. Our memories fade back to days of The London and that awesome Beef Wellington. And even more, London held two of my favorite culinary memories: The last time we ate there, we saw and met with Neil deGrasse Tyson, the solar systems most stellar name since Carl Sagan. And then there was the food porn picture incident, where some lady asked the waiter to tell us to stop talking pictures because the flash was bothering her. I mean, yes, its annoying when people do that, using flash in restaurants for Instagram food shots, but we were the only two tables in the place! Whatever!

Anyway, this was Vegas and this was going to be one hell of a party! Wrong! The hostess tries to be as cool and nonchalant as some nightclub hostess. Whatever, you see me you insolent little prick. And then, instead of some cool Vegas waiting area, we're forced to stand in this lame ass cheesy little roped off line. We could have walked around the lobby...foyer...area in front with a life size video recording of Ramsay saying some weird obnoxious stuff, but it was unclear if our name was being called or if we were waiting in line in the order of arrival. I didn't want the newcomers to jump us, so we waited in line like the little sheep that we are. Lame.

As we're being shown to our seats, the kitchen is laid out in huge Red Team Blue Team manner. quite impressive, but unfortunately, that's the most impressive thing about that space. Just a big hall of a space ala Cheesecake Factory with half the seats removed. And pitchforks. Lot's of pitchforks. Everywhere pitchforks! I get it already, its Hell's Kitchen! I know, I just spent purgatory waiting for the place. Oh well, at least when I meet my demise, I'll be able to look up and say, "I know. I remember this place."

Good thing though, we are seated in the antechamber, the back room so to speak. At least it's a little darker, more quiet and you don't feel like you're on display. The waiter comes over, finally, and...I don't know why...but just makes me feel so uncomfortable. Just a real shark-snarkiness about him. I think he or someone must have said something to put me on edge, but either way, I was and he was not making it any better.

Oh well, so much for the Ramsay swag, the menu is rather plain, typical restaurant. Fish, steak, The Wellington, chicken. We start with the Scallops, and for some reason, I love Scallops. And I say that like, I don't know why I like them, really not much to them, but I always want them when I see them on a menu. Weird, yep, and it's actually been awhile since I had a good order of them to make it worthwhile.

Well this time, I got it right. First, there's five to a plat, so plenty to have. Most of the time, there's only 2 or 3, but with 5, Nancy lets me have a whole one, so I get 3 plump, tender and flavorful. They have just the perfect consistency, the celery root puree blandness was corrected with a touch of bacon fat flavor. The little scallions on top were gone on the second and third pieces, no need, and too sour to not annoy that subtle bacon taste.

So once the food starts coming out, first on the table was the Mac and Cheese. Truth be told, I'm on a MnC pilgrimage. Trying to feed the perfect, or at least something that comes close to the Truffle MnC we had for our Christmas dinner with friends at The Belvedere in The Peninsula years ago. OMG! That let me know MnC is in fact a grown dish that has been watered down for kids, and not the other way around. And so Gordon hits a high note here with his Gouda heavy noodle-rific wonder. But what drives it home is the crispy prosciutto on top. Yes, packs as much flavor as bacon, but in a lighter, crispier dissolves on your tongue manner. And this time, the scallions play the correct role in providing just a tippy top touch of acid. Heaven!

Finally, the Beef Wellington arrives and the presentation is just wonderful. Light and fluffy is the view with the whip potatoes, and I do mean whipped. Oozing with cream, the potatoes are light and delicate as can be. And then it happens...the first bite. And bam! Turns out I was in hell after all. The crust, light and flaky...on top. Gooey down below...please hold your jokes until the end. the meat was cooked to perfection, the mushroom sweater was perfectly uniform. And the flavor, was...gone. Both of us just stared at one another. Where was the flavor? the Scallops. Perfect. Mac and Cheese. Delicious. Beef Wellington. Check please. But of course we powered through it. I'm not that crazy. But it was just so flat. If you're a carnivore, nowhere beats Vegas. The steak houses here are insane! One of the few places in the world were if you order Kobe, you get Kobe. But this was bland. Perfectly bland. On well. And with that we head out. Not even wanting to try desert, the MnC did us just fine. I miss that original London Wellington. I know Satan, I know.

In many ways, the New York, New York Hotel and Casino  in Las Vegas represents the true essence of New York: It stands as a gateway to a new world, it’s crowded, and full of Germans and French tourists. C’est bon! 

For many years, New York, New York was the gateway to either Bellagio Hotel if you’re headed north, or Mandalay Bay for those who are southbound. You see, when you’re at either one of those hotels, walking from one to the other, the tram does not cross Tropicana Ave. You can catch a tram from Mandalay Bay to Excalibur, then you have to exit the tram, walk across the bridge to New York, New York and proceed to the Monte Carlo tram stop, or walk directly to Bellagio to enter from the front. And vice versa, once you’ve lost all your money at Bellagio and need to walk back home, because cab fare is out of the question now, to Mandalay Bay, you reverse the trip, and walk through New York, New York to the Excalibur stop. Or you can walk the strip along the outside and take pictures in front of the Statue of Liberty, but one way or another you’ve got to go through New York if you want to get to Europe or Asia. 

I walk through the casino of New York, New York, and I am amused by the kitchy-ness of the Time Square decor. On the outside, as I stated before the Statue of Liberty is there, the buildings are designed as the New York skyline. This is no easy feat when you think how do you build a hotel and make it look like a skyline. Hats off to the architects and engineers, and once again, this is my true passion about Vegas. The engineers that take what seems to be unbounded imagination and bring it to life. The Chrysler building, the Empire State building, the big Hershey sign from Times Square, they are all here, including my favorite, The Coney Island roller coaster. 

After all the years of visiting Las Vegas this is actually our first stay at New York, New York. All the years of walking through the casino, past the lobby, pass by Nine Fine Irishmen, I have to admit, I was pleasantly surprised. The rooms are well appointed, spacious, and practical. No fancy-schmancy stuff, just a good solid room to hang out in. And like New York where you walk everywhere, you do have an interesting walk to the rooms. Full of twists and turns like an Agatha Christie novel, this is what is needed on the inside to get the effect of the skyline on the outside. Pretty cool actually. 

The casino is classic Vegas. It has all the bells and whistles, slot machines and card tables. There is a more popular center bar, main floor and a back floor off to the right-hand side as you come down the elevator from the rooms. I really like the walk through the back alleys of New York over to Bleecker Street where the pizza shop stands, then over to Broadway and Greenwich representing the village.

We enjoyed dinner in the village Sunday night at Nine Fine Irishmen. Stepping up to the entrance, hopes were high after that awesome Irish breakfast back in March at the Rí Rá Irish Pub in Mandalay Bay. Would the Irish food superiority would continue? As we all know, if you want the finest cuisine, go Irish! All joking aside, my short rib dinner was wonderful, and it gave me one of my favorite dining features: Alfresco. I was actually relieved at the relative comfort we were able to dine on the front patio of Nine Fine Irishmen. We didn’t feel as if we were on display with thousands of people walking by us. OK, maybe hundreds. They weren’t hovering over us and drooling on our food like in the real streets of New York. It was actually quite nice and gave that outside dining feel to an indoors restaurant. Then again, maybe it was the fact that I was keeping an eye on that slot machine that seem to be playing paying off right across the walkway that made everyone else fade to my peripheral vision. 

Dining options at New York,  New York span the full range of cuisine choices. From Nathan’s hotdogs in the Village Street Eateries to casual at Nine Fine Irishmen, to diner style breakfast at America, to upscale Italian dining at Il Fornaio and fantastic steaks at Gallagher’s. But one of my favorite spots to grab an afternoon bite is just outside of New York, New York, Beerhaus, along the MGM Parkway. The boardwalk of sorts lies between New York, New York and the new Park MGM, which was the old Monte Carlo, and runs from the strip back up to the new T-Mobile arena. And halfway up is Beerhaus, a German inspired brew house that sports great beers and a great indoor/outdoor setting. Sometimes, I just want to get out into the warm sunshine and fresh air of the Las Vegas wilderness.

But to cram all of this into a single hotel, and then add a roller coaster! You had me at “keep our hands inside the car.” Of course, I didn’t, and snuck a little video. Maybe I should’ve just talk to management so I could do a full shoot on the ride, but I think sneaking this adds to the covert excitement of it all. The pool area is quite nice as well, it sits under the roller coaster and looks up at the skyline. Pool side service is good, and it does offer a relatively large amount of shade for those super-hot summer afternoons.   

I have to admit I was a little apprehensive when my wife said let’s stay here. I was imagining tiny New York sized rooms. But since this is one of three or four hotels on the strip we have not stayed, and my bucket list is to stay at every hotel on the Las Vegas strip, I knew at some point we were going to have to pull the trigger. And now, next time I’m at Bellagio, I’m going to look forward to walking back through New York, New York, and will reflect with fond memories. I think I’m going to have to visit that Nine Fine Irishmen for yet another Smithwick’s Irish beer and short ribs. And maybe this time I’ll go ahead and grab some extra cotton candy for the roller coaster ride. Aye, fuhgeddaboudit!

 

So another Vegas trip, another Vegas adventure. This time we headed off to the Cosmopolitan Hotel.

The Cosmopolitan is an ultra urban, ultra sleek, total hipster hang out kind of place. The Cosmopolitan sets between the Bellagio and the Aria/Vdara/City Center complex. And uniquely enough it's not attached to any of those. This is due mainly to the fact that the Bellagio was not part of the M life organization. As the Vdara, which sits behind the Cosmopolitan, connects to Bellagio via an internal tunnel, you would think they would just build a tunnel from the Cosmopolitan connecting the three.

But either way, once you check in to the Cosmopolitan, you are immediately hit by the glossy, glitzy entryway. Once in the room, that theme continues. The Cosmopolitan is a great space with the rooms larger than most common rooms. It reminds me of the old days of the Hard Rock Hotel being the blinged out boudoir of choice. Now those older rich guys have moved closer to the strip where the action is.

The rooms, equipped with wet sinks, microwaves, two TVs, a sitting area. This makes the rooms incredibly cozy to stay in, more like your little apartment and less a hotel room. All the finishes are top notch and high quality. I love the microwave, I don't need an oven, but to heat up some of those left overs the next morning, and then relax on the couch, awesome! Especially in the fall when football is on Sunday and you're nursing a hangover.

I love the step-through-shower concept, and will actually put it to use in some of the homes I'm remodeling. The sit down Jacuzzi tubs are awesome. Sit back and relax after a long day at the pool or after winning a fortunate on the slot machines downstairs. It could happen! Plus whats better than sitting in your tub, and looking over to the Planet Hollywood Hotel and Britney Spears images on the giant screen across the street? Way cool!

I love the idea of a balcony on a room, and Cosmopolitan is fantastic where not only do you have a balcony, but it's all over looking the Las Vegas strip. Our particular balcony allowed us to look down at the Boulevard Pool. We could also look across to Planet Hollywood, and down the strip to Paris Paris or up to Aria.

The hotel continues Hard Rock Hotel purple theme. Oh Prince, where art thou? The beds are extremely comfortable, good closet space, fantastic bathroom set up with the walk in shower, make that walk through shower, Where you walk through the shower to get to the tub. It's a cool set up definitely unique definitely 4-star. But if it does have one nuance, it's that it has no drawers. Which is OK, since 9 times out of 10 you're clothes are either in your suitcase are hanging on the closet rack anyway.

I first came across Momofuku in New York. My wife and I were there for her birthday, and I want to find a top notch foodie restaurant for her. Unfortunately I waited until the last minute and the place was reserved for the next two months. That's the popularity of such high end restaurants like Momofuku. But then why wouldn't it be popular, the guy's got 2 Michelin stars, and the restaurant is awarded "Best of..." in so many categories, including Bon Appetit and Gourmet Traveler.

We started with Crab Deviled Eggs. I love love love 'em! Deviled Eggs, but adding some salmon roe, and topping it off shredded crab meat and crispy Bonito, this sounded awesome! And it was. I know, in a Asian themed Michelin spot and I choose Deviled Eggs. Oh well, I'm not THAT adventurous, I just like good stuff regardless of the theme.

After zooming through our first glasses of wine, the entrees started coming out. She ordered the Rotisserie Chicken & Fried Bones. Tender juicy chicken thigh pieces and crispy fried wings that if you were adventurous enough, or hungry enough, you could bite right through to the bone. If only Buffalo Wild Wings were this tasty.

I got the Smoked Pork Chop. What I found interesting was that instead of a huge pork chop, it comes out sliced and tender as can be. A peach on top, and rye cognac broth underneath, it was BBQ heaven. Soft and tender, a delicate balance of flavors across a wide palette of textures. And huge servings!

To accompany the entrees, there was no way I could pass up on the Crispy Potatoes. Tender little fingerings, fried to perfection, light and airy, then topped with a truffle sour cream, shredded Parmesan cheese, chives. I didn't even notice the truffle Tofu blended in. I may have been overwhelmed by the size. How are we going to eat all of this!?! We were so stuff at this point, we took almost half back to the room for breakfast the following day.