Vegas Baby...
We roughed it at the Bellagio hotel... what a beautiful hotel. The service was a little lacking, not much of the "it would be a pleasure sir" attitude that we get at the Ritz, but good service never the less.
Went to Vegas over the weekend, to get away, decompress, relax, enjoy, eat, drink, and live a little. Was I shocked at the prices, yes and no after all it was Vegas and this was not my first trip, or my second, in fact I have been there quite a bit. Vegas has changed for the better and the worse since my last trip.
For a while there Vegas was becoming, in my opinion, too family oriented, to kid friendly, and at the same time less and less ... Vegas. If you want to ride on amusement rides and not see the fun areas of the human body because little Susie might freak out, go to Disney world. If you want to go to the one place in the world that is all about being an adult all wrapped up in glorious indulgence, excess, sex, lust, greed, shopping (according to my wife), and entertainment, Vegas is the place. Although I like (not love) to go and always enjoy myself in Vegas, I do enjoy the normalcy of my life and look forward to getting home after our typical four day vacation. One thing I have noticed is that Vegas is noticeably much more adult oriented and less kid oriented than our last trip a couple years ago, not in your face about it, but subtly. This time the shows (non-jiggle based shows) were showing or giving the appearance of more skin. More of the show promos for what I would term as non-erotic show were classily showing more.
Entertaining overall was more adult based as well as the food. Last time I remembered lost of

kids menus and kid friendly fair on the menus, not this time. Honestly, that's they way it should be in a town like Vegas. In my opinion Las Vegas has some truly outstanding chefs and restaurants, however you will pay the price more than
any other city. We ate a Segio's the first night which was about 1-2 miles off the strip. A reasonable priced, but stellar authentic Italian restaurant although the manager/host tipped himself or couldn't do math to calc the change back from dinner. We later took a seat at the Bellagio, caviar bar and had some drinks and shared some deserts. The chocolate cake to the right was topped with a crusted caramelized cookie dipped in dark chocolate with citrus cream sauce. Delightful! Caviar was up to $1200 a serving, the stuff is expensive but that is nuts.
The second day we started off with the Bellagio Pasty Shop/bistro, OJ, yogurt, danish, bran muffin, and a coke... $37.00 (Absolute robbery, good food but come on! The OJ alone was $7??). Lunch we hit Pucks at the Venecian, the beef goulash was outstanding and service was impeccable.
One of the surprises was Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill at Caesars for brunch the following day, Bobby

has always struck me as a real cocky asshole with how he acts on the food network, but this under $15 a person "grill" was first class all the way. White table cloth and cotton/linen napkins, was the absolute best service we received anywhere in Vegas, even better than Aureole. Believing that upscale southwestern food in an oxymoron, the brunch/lunch food blew us all away. Tuna tar tar was wonderful.
Aureole for dinner the third night was good, actually very good, but the wife and I just though we have had better for less money. We all opted for the $75 a person dinner, apps, main, and desert, plus an outstanding wine.. Meal total was around $450 with tip for the four of us. By no means cheap, but a good meal and a beautiful restaurant. Also, used Aureole's handy dandy pad pc used for their wine list to check my e-mail during my high rent dinner...surreal.
What we had:
TRIO OF AHI TUNA “HARVEST FLAVORS”mustard fruit tartar, walnut crusted loin, harissa infused in mission fig
AUREOLE’S CHILLED SEAFOOD “LOUIS”Florida stone crab claws, green lip mussels, jumbo
shrimp and market oysters with spicy watermelon granite ($5 supplement)
MESCLUN SALAD100 year old balsamic vinegar, apple chips, caramelized walnuts
WILD MUSHROOM RAVIOLIroasted chanterelles, sweet garlic, organic swiss chard
PROSCUITTO CRUSTED PORK TENDERLOIN
fettucini “carbonara,” twice cooked egg, truffle vinaigrette
AUREOLE “SURF AND TURF”
spice seared tuna loin, tender beef shortribs, horseradish potatoes
RACK OF COLORADO LAMB WITH SWEET GARLIC
flash grilled vegetable “tian,” tender lamb stuffed piquillo pepper
TASTING OF CHOCOLATE AND PISTACHIO
fudge brownie, vanilla pistachio ice cream, pistachio macaroon
CITRUS SCENTED CHEESECAKE WITH HUCKLEBERRY COMPOTE
crème brulée ice cream, maple brown sugar sauce
ORANGE VANILLA SCENTED CRÈME BRULEE
cinnamon spice cookie
FRESH RASPBERRIES OR STRAWBERRIES
sweet cream, chantilly, crème fraiche
The best deal for food on the stripe I believe is the Stage Deli in the forum shops at Caesars. Four of us for breakfast for under $40. Believe me that is doing pretty good in Vegas these days for food.
Great trip, just wish I would have had the stomach, time, and budget to hit more of the restaurants.