For our recent trip to Brussels, as a result of heading over to Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps for the Belgium F1 GP, we were told to head out to other locations because Brussels is kind of boring, just another European city. Well…wrong! Brussels is awesome! What an amazing city. A perfect combination of a classic historic, old world city, and a new, modern urban metropolis. And to make it even more interesting, try walking around at night! What a fun spot. We walked from our hotel, Hotel Metropole, to dinner at Berlin Fabrik, up to Palais de Bruxelles, and back to the hotel. A nice little 5k walk, interrupted by BBQ and a couple pints of beer, several wrong turns and a quick stop at a random beverage store for champagne.

The pics here are some of my favorite shots.

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.