I'm in Vegas, baby. Sitting on the floor in the Convention Center, outside the IBIE showroom. Bloggin.
Interesting show so far. Well, probably not to anyone not in the bakery biz. Lots of robotic arms though which is always cool.
Staying at the decidedly downmarket Frontier. Excuse me, New Frontier. Just on the edge between downmarket and scary. So far, erring on the side of downmarket. Did get into a penny slot for 38 bucks last night which brought me back to even for the day.
Had dinner at Bouchon, which is in the insanely swank Venezia Tower at the Venetian. Venezia clearly fills the need for those for whom the Venetian just Wasn't Expensive Enough. Bouchon is a straight-up French bistro. It's a branch of Bouchon in CA, which is owned by Thomas Keller (the original is just down the road from French Laundry). Gorgeous restaurant (decor by ooh-la-la designer guy Adam Tihany) which overlooks a pool/garden/atrium at the center of Venezia Tower. The bread was excellent. The wines by the glass, while not exactly generously portioned, were very good. Appetizers, including duck confit, beignets de cod brandade (which try as I might I cannot explain as anything other than a fish-y doughnut), and spinach salad, were well received by the group (Jeff, his mom Judy and her husband Jurgen). Unfortunately, by the time the entrees arrived I had hit the wall. It was probably between 9 and 9.30 Vegas time but most of my body clock was still on East Coast time, and therefore post-midnight. So although on some levels I could tell that the poulet roti was about as good a roast chicken as I've ever had, I wasn't enjoying it much.
Left the 3 Js to gamble at Venetian and walked back. Passed the saucy pirate show at TI, which was in progress and seemed just as ghastly as I'd expected from the press I'd read and rehearsal snippets Sarah and I had caught last fall. The walk cleared my head a bit and I fell asleep almost as soon as I hit the bed.
Slept for about 8 hours, which was good. Woke up feeling great. Unfortunately before 7am. Read for a while but then got up and went out for a walk. Took lots of pics (the new Steve Wynn casino is under construction right across the street) then went down to Le Notre/Paris and had a coffee and pastry
And now I'm at IBIE. Probably I won't post again until I'm back in NC
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