Sampling food from dozens of the major hotel restaurants in Las Vegas like The Cosmopolitan, Caesars Palace, Mirage, Venetian and Palazzo and more casino resort restaurants in one place is a great opportunity for a foodie.
IPW Press Brunch
This is my third IPW convention and one of the highlights of each convention for media is the kick-off Press Brunch where local restaurants offer a taste of food and beverages from many of the city’s premier restaurants.
Somehow drinking cocktails at 9:30am in Las Vegas did not seem out of the ordinary in the way serving copious quantities of alcohol before noon seemed odd at IPW conventions in Los Angeles and San Francisco the past two years.
Smith Center for the Performing Arts, Las Vegas
The Cosmopolitan Las Vegas, Marriott Autograph Collection
Holsteins Chile Verde Breakfast Taco accompanied with summer berry breakfast smoothie made with Stoli raspberry vodka.
Holsteins is a burgers and shakes restaurant at The Cosmopolitan. Holsteins homepage states their cows have attitude.
Holsteins Restaurant has an extensive beer menu. There was no plain beer or wine at the press brunch, only cocktail drinks.
Holsteins summer berry breakfast smoothie (with Stoli raspberry vodka).
The Public House at the Grand Canal Shoppes in the Venetian
Block 16 Hospitality is the company behind both Holsteins and The Public House Las Vegas. The Public House is a beer focused creation by Las Vegas renowned Executive Chef Anthony Meidenbauer and restaurateur Billy Richardson.
Beer Mimosa from The Public House.
My eyes sparkled when I saw Kronenbourg 1664 Blanc on the table. I pleaded for a simple bottle of beer, to no avail.
Fruit and beer are not a combination I enjoy. You can take the lime, lemon and orange wedges and toss those in my salad, but please don’t ruin the flavor of beer with fruit additives. I shared my opinion with the guys at The Public House on mixing fruit and beer. They coaxed me into drinking one beer mimosa. My opinion was not changed.
Caesars Palace Beijing Noodle No. 9
Chef Li Yu makes handmade noodles for northern Chinese cuisine at Beijing Noodle No 9.
This is a casual dining restaurant from 11am – 10:30pm with entrée menu priced at $15 to $25.
Nobu Caesars Palace
The opening of the Nobu Hotel at Caesars Palace on February 1, 2013 is one of the Las Vegas 2013 highlight openings. King Deluxe rooms range from $169 to $309 over the next couple of weeks.
Nobu Restaurant at Caesars Palace is the second Nobu in Las Vegas after Hard Rock Café. This is a place to be seen in the scene is my takeaway after looking over the website. Dress code is business casual, dining begins at 5pm and prices are $40+ for entrees.
Here is a review of the Caesars Restaurant from John Curtas is Eating Las Vegas if you want to read a not-so-glowing take on the menu prices that sounds like the kind of material I would write if I spent much time crafting restaurant reviews with a closing line like this:
“If you hear any critic praising it, ask them if they paid for their meal.”
Nobu breakfast pastry.
The pastry was good, but I passed on the Nobu sake mimosa accompaniment.
Comme Ça, The Cosmopolitan Las Vegas
Bastille whiskey cocktails from Comme Ça, a David Myers restaurant, were set adjacent to another Cosmopolitan restaurant breakfast dish from Scarpetta Italian Restaurant. Scarpetta’s celebrity chef Scott Conant will host 24 Hour Restaurant Battle on The Food Network this summer.
Scarpetta’s slow poached egg, brioche and fonduta.
Overlook Grill, The Cosmpolitan
Shrimp with a Bloody Mary chaser made for a cute toothpick substitute. Overlook Grill is adjacent to the pool at the Cosmopolitan.
Overlook Grill, Cosmopolitan Hotel
Tao, Grand Canal Shoppes, The Venetian
One of the dishes I heard a couple of eaters raving about were the kobe sliders at the Tao booth.
This is a restaurant I have eaten at before.
They looked good, but I did not eat one in the 100 degree heat after sampling plenty of other food.
I prefer their more traditional Asian style dishes.
Tao at the Grand Canale Shoppes, The Venetian.
Beef and carbs and drinks were taking their toll in the heat of day. Across the street from the grassy lawn park at the Smith Center interior patio were more booths and more shade from the morning sunburn.
Real Alkalized Water were talking about how their negative ion-infused water provides an optimal pH and favorable anti-oxidants level, different from most bottled water. Sounded like interesting science that I could use to restore some of my chemistry knowledge lost 20 years ago.
Real Alkalized Water was served in large ice chests as an alternative to cocktail selections in the lawn area food court. The bottled water was the most sought after item by the press bunch.
The juxtaposition of the Real Alkalized Water booth to the museum booth across the sidewalk created ironic placement proximity.
National Atomic Testing Museum in Association with The Smithsonian Institution.
Do you notice the similarity in the logo images of Real Alkalized Water and Atomic Testing?
I joke here on the imagery as these booths were close to each other at the press brunch. I truly thank Real Alkalized Water as a sponsor providing cases of water samples. This was the first two hours of 14 hours of official convention activities. The weather conditions with the hot temperatures in Las Vegas revealed the press brunch bunch consuming far more water than alcohol.
In all seriousness, I’d like to see the National Atomic Testing Museum too. I think this is an important aspect of American History to be documented and displayed for the public to see and learn.
Tableau, Wynn Resort
Chilled King Crab, seasonal melon, jalapeno, crispy prosciutto, blood orange vinaigrette.
Delicious.
Las Vegas spectacle included musicians and singers and fashion models.
There were two male models and these guys were stars in my book. Notice all the women are shaded and the guy standing out in the 100-degree sun for two hours never broke a sweat.
Meanwhile ice wrapped in a handkerchief stuffed underneath my desert camouflage hat kept me cool in the sun as the water slowly melted down my sunscreened face.
Carnegie Deli at the Mirage offered pastrami sliders and one supersized pastrami sandwich.
The booth with the food coup of the day, considering the heat, was a fruit market from Wolfgang Puck’s Postrio California cuisine restaurant at the Palazzo/Venetian Grand Canal Shoppes.
Fruit market from Wolfgang Puck’s Postrio restaurant.
Hotel Loyalty Programs and Las Vegas
In the past few years the trend has been for major Las Vegas casino resort hotels to partner with major hotel brand loyalty programs.
The Cosmopolitan is a member of Marriott Rewards Autograph Collection.
The Venetian and The Palazzo are two resorts with InterContinental Alliance Resorts available to earn and burn IHG Rewards Club points.
The Mirage is one of the 12 resorts in the new Hyatt Gold Passport earn and redeem partnership beginning June 20, 2013 with MGM Resorts in Las Vegas.
Blogger Disclosure: IPW Press Brunch food and drinks were complimentary as a media attendee to IPW 2013 Las Vegas.
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